Who needs yoga??

So to catch up from missing the first 3 months I'm going to try and recap some of the things that have happened, including posting some of our favorite pictures...

First attempt at a family picture...

We took this picture when Idella was a little over a month old. It was our first "family" picture, and of course she was crying. She cried a lot during the first month, especially at night between 5 and 730. At first we thought we were defective parents, then we thought we had a defective child. We soon realized that she was normal, we were normal, and that we just needed to take a deep breath. One day we decided to turn on the music and turn it up. She loved it! As soon as the music came on (she prefers either Top 40 Hits or classic rock) she's instantly quiet. I soon found that the yoga class I was missing and wanted to go back to was not needed. After an hour of bouncing/dancing around with her every night I didn't need anything else. My quads, calves, and arms would all ache by the time I was done. At this point, I've had enough practice that I consider it warming up for when I go running at night.

We are fortunate enough to work in a family business where I can bring Idella to work with me. She comes in with me Monday - Thursday and hangs out with her Grammie on Friday since that's my busiest day. She has been nosy since the beginning, always trying to look around with her big blue eyes. We think this is why she hates falling asleep, just like her momma, afraid to miss something. Anyway, being at work with me I couldn't hold her everytime she took a nap so she started holding onto the stuffed Giraffe we bought her when she was at the hospital. Mr. Giraffe is soft and she loves hugging him to her chest, covering half of her face with him, and basically making out with him. She will spit out her pacifier and will suck on his ear, face, arm, etc. It is the cutest thing to see, she gets so excited when we bring him out. She will hold him (just like in this picture) and "talk" to him for like 5 minutes and then pass out.

Once she was able to semi-hold her head up she decided she didn't want to be on her stomach at all anymore. She likes sitting on the couch and hanging out with daddy. I love this picture because it looks like she is really paying attention to everything he is saying and showing her. My little business girl already! Since she started holding her head up she likes being supported while standing and facing outward in the carrier. She likes it at work when I bring her upstairs and she can look around at the shelves, produce, and everything else we come across in the store. I try to explain it all to her, the colors, shapes, smells, etc. She has started reaching out now, trying to figure out her hands and how to make her arms do what she wants. The past few days she has also started trying to pull herself up by holding onto my hands/fingers while laying down or when she's in her bouncy chair.

It seems like it's been forever since we brought her home. She has changed so much already. Everyday when she gets up and I bring her into our room (she has been in her own nursery since she was 2 months old) to "sniggle" with me she'll smile and coo and then curl up into what we call "bean form" and fall back asleep. I can usual enjoy a good 3o minutes of this before she wants to get up and eat and get ready for work with me. I know some might say this is a bad habit but it works for me. There is nothing better to start my day then to hear her voice and see her smiling face. I wouldn't ever trade that time with her for a yoga class....

Hard to believe...

It's hard to believe, and even harder to accept, that it's been 3 months and 11 days since Idella was born. Being a big fan of family memories, stories, pictures, and our daughter in general, we decided to start a blog. We have family and friends spread out everywhere so this will be a good way for everyone to keep tabs on us. We already feel like so much has happened that we've missed recording, hopefully we'll be able to remember some of it! There's no better place to start than at the beginning...

Being pregnant with Idella was definitely an experience. She was breech the entire time and was so far up under my rib cage I couldn't breathe. She kicked constantly and always had the hiccups. I was on my feet the entire time and continued to work until the day before I had her. Jacob blames me for her need to always be moving. Towards the end of the pregnancy things got bad fast. I started showing signs of pre-eclampsia and had extremely high blood pressure. After a routine visit we ended up at the hospital for an emergency c-section. We were told I was far enough along she would have to be in NICU for a day or two but that was it. That is not what happened.

Right after she was born before they took her to the NICU

Idella was born June 18th of this year, five weeks early. She was stubborn from the beginning and wouldn't eat unless it was on her terms. She was in NICU at EMMC for 8 days with a feeding tube for 6 days. This was the worst experience ever. Recovering from a c-section at the same time I think I was just on auto-pilot. Jacob was amazing, he had to take care of her from the beginning since they wouldn't let me out of bed. She was born just in time for Father's Day so he definitely got the best present ever. She was so small we started calling her Idella Bean which has now evolved into Bean, Beaner, Beansie, etc. We're kind of starting to think that she isn't going to know her real name. We're trying to make an effort to call her Idella more so she will respond to that! When we did finally get Idella home it felt like we had stolen her from the hospital. We felt pretty confident on our first night "alone" with our own child, since we had been at the hospital for so long we already had practice feeding, bathing, and changing her. However, the first few bottles we made when we got home we stupidly made with tap water... This resulted in a screaming crampy child, frustrated confused daddy, and crying exhausted mommy. We knew better than that, had been warned about it, and had simply forgotten to pick up distilled water on the way home. Luckily since we live half a mile from the store we got some distilled water and started using that for the bottles. It took two days for her little belly to adjust, it will take forever for me to not feel guilty.

Idella about a month old with her daddy

Since that first night home with her we've learned a lot. I now know that turning up classic rock music on the TV and dancing with her will calm the worst crying fit, she likes being naked, hates getting out of the bath, and many many more things. At this point she is going to bed around 8:30pm and sleeping until 5am. She doesn't really cry anymore except for when she needs something, but when she does cry it's awful ear piercing screams. She hates going to sleep and this is when it's the worst. She is awake most of the day except for a few naps between eating (which is only every 4.5 hours). We couldn't ask for better, she is amazing.

There is so much more we are going to be able to experience with her and I can't wait. The last thing I want to do though is wish away time. So for now I am trying to enjoy every minute, even when she's screaming.