A Return to Blogging

I've been in such a funk lately. I reached a point where I was like " I'm not blogging again until I can do our annual Zoe update." Which meant this got put off a few weeks. I don't know why I was in that mood , but here we are. I'm back , and I'll have a few posts going up soon. I'll try to have them going up soon anyways. I have good intentions. I promise.

Anyways. Here's the Annual Zoe Update :

{ Picture to come soon promise }


At Zoe's Dr. appointment a lot of things went down. Our regular , and favorite doctor, just retired. We spent a good deal just getting to know the man who took over all our original doctors patients. He's a great guy and SO good with Zoe. I'm so glad we have a doctors office who hires such great doctors. It's situations like these that make me afraid to ever move, because we have such great things going on medical wise here in Provo.

Anyways. After getting vitals taken, which Zoe thought was SO cool , since she got to have the blood pressure cuff for the first time ever. She talked about it for the rest of the day.

So final stats for Zoe at 3 are :

Weight is 32lbs , which puts her at a 6 pound weight gain since May of this year. She's now in the 68th percentile for that.

Height is 36.5 in or if you want to do feet , she's exactly 3 feet tall. haha. so almost a good 2 feet shorter than me. I'm predicting she'll be taller than me , even though as it stands , she's currently below average for height . She comes in in the 37th percentile for height.

BMI , or her height to weight ratio , is 17.1. that puts her in the 83rd percentile , which is where her doctor wants to see her. He said they want kids to be in between the 3rd and 85th percentile at this age, so he's happy with that. Although he said it is time to cut back on the milk intake since she did gain so nicely.

Since this post has turned into kind of a novel , I'll close by saying that we learned she does still have this heart murmur. The doctor thinks it's benign , but if he still hears it when she hits puberty , we're going to have to see a cardiologist. ( Yeah , I never got it checked out last year ugh. ) So here's to hoping nothing serious is going on with her heart. She's keeping up with other kids her age , so he thinks she'll be okay.

From the mouth of babes

I genuinely wish I had a picture to go along with this post. Alas , I don't. Perhaps i'll upload one in the near future just so you can really picture this going down.

Anyways. My kid is hilarious. Most people know this from experience. I plan on adding this to her little quote book tonight or tomorrow, but on the off chance I forget to do that, I'll know it's here.

Zoe has recently learned the word "Classy" and uses it correctly 100% of the time. She gets bonus points for how funny it is when she says it. I don't deny being the one who uses this word a good majority of the time.( I'm talking 99.9% of the time) So we can all just assume i'm the one she picked it up from.

However... When I use it i'm mostly using it sarcastically. ie : " That's a classy place to put a tattoo" or " She's one classy lady"

I know I'm horrible. This isn't about me though. It's about Zoe. She doesn't  use it sarcastically. The other day she was wearing one of my dressier shirts and a pearl necklace. She's strutting ( yes , strutting) around the apartment , brushing her pearls , with her head held high saying " I'm so classy!"

Just tonight I kid you not. She couldn't get her princess dress on. She's comes to me holding out her dress and said " Mom , I'm not classy." Friends. She doesn't think she's classy unless her dress is on. According to Zoe , the second you have a dress on you are the classiest person alive.

I love this kid.

Zoe at 2 and almost a half.

On Friday I had to take Zoe in for her 30 month check up. ( Which is 2.5yr for those of you who aren't awesome at math.) I guess I didn't have to take her in , but she was scheduled for it , and I took her.

Anyways here are her stats. 

She's 24 pounds 7oz , and in the lower 8th percentile. 

She's 35 inches tall , which is 4 inches taller than at her 2yr check up. I knew she had hit a growth spurt!! This puts her in the 53rd percentile for height. 

Her BMI for anyone interested is 13.84, putting her in the 2nd percentile. 

Good news for her is that her doctor is predicting she'll be tall and skinny. What a lucky kid !! 

As far as vocab goes she's talking SO much ! I try and write down everything she can say but my goodness, you'd get so bored! We enjoy being able to have conversations with her, and Gregg appreciates that he doesn't need me to translate so much anymore. We are entering the phase where she repeats everything though. Just yesterday her and Gregg were talking and she laughed and said " That's stupid daddy." Uh-oh. 

Her favorite things to do are play peek a boo, read books , and make animal noises. 

Her favorite food is Cheese , and her favorite drink is Milk. 

The other day she stacked 6 blocks on top of each other and then pretended to be a dinosaur and knocked them over. 

She knows all her letters , numbers 1-10 , and colors , but most of the time if you ask her to tell them to you she'll play dumb. But I know she knows them because I hear her reciting them to herself in bed as she falls asleep. 

The newest things she does is sing Twinkle Twinkle little Star and fold her arms for prayers then Say Amen when they're over. Occasionally she'll say prayers , but she'd rather listen to us say them.

As far as clothing goes she's officially in 2T clothing although I try and stick her in 18 month clothing still. Can't do it so much anymore because she's so tall! She's in size 7T shoes , although I predict in another month or 2 she'll be in size 8T. 

Little miss is quite the fashionista and is often seen doing hair , makeup , putting jewelry on , and will only put on her princess dresses that twirl the absolute best. Her favorite is Belle. 

Her favorite movies are the Despicable Me movies and yes , we can both quote them. 

Gregg and I feel so blessed daily that we get to raise her and be her parents. It's so fun watching her grow into a smart girl.

Zoe's Vocabulary at TWO

Zoe at TWO !!

Zoe has been two for like. Two weeks now. I'm such a slacker , but we've all been sick , Gregg's schedule hasn't really been accommodating to blogging and I'm just in denial maybe? Anyways I figured I'd  go ahead and get this post done while Gregg is off shooting with his bestie.

*I might be a little butt hurt that he went without me and left me at home.*

Anyways here are Zoe's Stats :

She weighs 23 pounds putting her in the 25th percentile
She is 31inches tall and is in the 1st percentile for height. She is SUCH a shrimp. Which is why we call her our little shrimp nugget. We've always called her that though lol. She's always been itty bitty.

She has a heart murmer which we're supposed to get checked out by a cardiologist soon. No exact date yet because I haven't scheduled it yet. oops. Her doctor thinks it's an immature murmur that she'll outgrow , but wants to get it checked out just in case it turns out to be something serious. We're all praying it's nothing too serious.

She wears size 5.5 -6 shoes , is in size 4 diapers , except we're currently potty training , so expect a post on that soon. she's doing amazing with it though so i'm thinking maybe by next week we'll have her out of diapers.*fingers crossed*

For clothes she's anywhere from 12month -2T. Mostly in 2T's , but she has a few 12 month pajamas and pants that I put her in. She's in a 2T pant length wise , but she's just so skinny that 12 month -18 month waists fit her perfect. It's really weird.

She talks so much. I plan on spending tonight writing down all the words she says , but she can talk in 3-4 word sentences and be perfectly understandable. Other words I have to translate for everyone ( including daddy) .

After her birthday party we took some family photos so here are some of my favorite shots of our favorite little 2 yr old.

Zoe at 15 months (almost)

This is not even the most recent picture I have of my daughter and I'm totally bummed that not all of the pictures from my ipad transferred over to the computer. Anyways. She's looking so grown up these days and this is the first picture that made me realize she's not my baby anymore. She's a toddler. Crazy!!!

She's doing so many cute things that I just had to do a post with updates.

She's got her top two First molars and her bottom left one if you're looking at her.

We've had to start using a time-out chair. In summary , she dislikes it. A lot.

She's learned to say "night night." the other day I told her it was time to go night night. (at 2am I might add. ) She looked at me with her big hazel eyes and said " Night night ? already? awww." My husband and I laughed and said told her "yes , already. "

We discovered during Thanksgiving dinner that she also knows how to say gross. We discovered this as she threw her green bean casserole and her stuffing on the floor and shouted "GROSS! GROSS GROSS!" we laughed.

She can also correctly use the word ouch now , and uses it all the time. She'll throw her toys on the ground and say "ouch!" Or she'll fall and hit her head and say "OUCH!" and when she's annoyed with us for picking her up to go change her diaper she'll yell " ouch , ouch , OUCH!"

She loves when we read to her. She'll bring a book to us and throw it on us and stare at us until we read it to her. 15 times in a row. Then she'll go pick another book and do the same thing. 

Obviously we think she's the funniest person on the planet. It's crazy to me how fast she's growing up. It amazes me how fast she picks up on things. Right now our biggest things we're working on with her is picking up her toys , and obviously keeping her out of stuff that can hurt her. (ie ; the dishwasher , trashcan , and the oven.) Hence using the time out chair. I can't believe my baby is turning into a little girl right before my eyes!

On having a daughter.

Zoe at exactly 1wk old 

I've been putting off writing this post because I'm really afraid I won't be able to express what I want to say in just the right way. Documenting all your emotions on having a baby as perfect as Zoe is just need to be documented as perfect as she is. Right? Still it needs to be said. Perfectly worded or not.

Throughout my life, okay mostly as a teenager , I prayed so hard that I would have all boys. Not that girls aren't great. Boys just seemed like they'd be easier to raise. Boys are supposedly more active , but way more laid back right? Don't have to deal with boy problems because boys just typically don't care. Easy peasy.

Then we found out we were having a girl. I was thrilled and terrified. Mostly terrified. I don't know how to be a mother , much less a mother to a girl ! Here I was being told we were going to have a girl. So I got excited over all the cute little girl clothes we'd get to buy , and all the hairstyles I'd finally get to learn because I'd have a girl to practice on! ( hello french braids!)

Then Zoe was born. I still have no clue what I'm doing as a mother. I still have no clue how I'm going to be a mother to a daughter. I have no idea how I'm going to give her the talk. I have no clue how to handle her first period. Or her first bra. Or her first boyfriend. ( Okay , no , I know how I'll handle that. I'll freak out and probably worry and cry a lot. )

What I do know is she's my BEST FRIEND. Seriously. I had no clue I could love a little girl anywhere near as much as I love her. I know that she loves cuddling me and hasn't outgrown it yet. I know that she already tells me secrets. I know she's about as stubborn as I am. I know that she knows what she likes. I know she's the smartest person I know. I know that we'll be okay. We're going to figure this whole life with each other out. Oh , and she knows exactly how to cheer me up when I'm sad. Even when I don't think it's obvious that I'm sad , she seems to know and she knows exactly how to cheer me up.

So even though I didn't think I wanted a daughter , I'm glad my Heavenly Father knows me better than I know myself and knew I needed a daughter. I'm learning who I am , by helping her become who she's meant to be. I'm so glad Zoe is my daughter. I'm so glad I get to be her mom mom.

1 Year Stats !!

 

 Stats

  Zoe , I can't believe how much you look like a little toddler now. It makes me sad , but at the same time so proud and excited to see the little girl you're turning into. At you're last appointment you were 18Lbs 10oz. You were 28in long. I forget how big your head was though. I'll have to look it up. 

Teeth

Oh my goodness. You have 6 teeth now , and are in the process of cutting your 7th tooth. You busted your gums the other day , but the doctor and the dentist have both looked at your teeth and say you have great , well rooted , strong teeth. So we're pretty happy about that.

Eating 

  You're kind of turning into a picky eater. It's a battle getting you to eat fruit. Anything else though you'll eat it. You mostly just want whatever mommy and daddy have in their mouths even if you have your own plate of the same exact food. Guess ours is better.

• Rice Cereal
• Squash - you love 
• Sweet Potatoes- you don't really care for, but you'll eat.
• Sweet Carrots - you LOVE these. 
• Bananas - You're allergic to them 
• Peaches- I don't know how you feel about these actually because you've only had them mixed in your rice cereal. 
• Ice cream - you love
• Chocolate pudding- you HATE. 
• Mac n' Cheese - you like 
• Frosting/Icing - you like 
• Cupcake - you don't really care for. 
• Broccoli and Cauliflower - you love cauliflower , don't really care about broccoli. you'll eat it , you just don't love it. 
• Ritz Crackers - you love
• Graham crackers- you love 
• Mashed Potatoes - You only like them with gravy. 
• Peanut Butter -You LOOOOVE peanut butter
• Ramen -You love that stuff too. 
• Oatmeal-Love it
• Green Beans- You love those
• Orzo Pasta- You eat like candy

I can't think of all the other stuff you've tried , but you've tried a lot of food and you like most of it. It's nice.

Awesome stuff you do 

• Lately you sleep pretty great. Asleep by 7:30 or 8pm , wake up at 7:30am to eat . Then you'll take a nap from 10 to 11am and are up for the rest of the day.
• You are still such the cuddle bug. You will just lean into us so sweetly.
• You are loud. You talk a lot and loudly. You also love to shriek. 
• YOU WALK!! Like a pro. So fast and so amazing. You're into everything.
• You color with crayons!
• You can drink out of a straw !!
• You Blow kisses. It cracks me up.
• You can make puppy noises. It's adorable. 

A quick letter to Zoe

Zoe , I was on facebook and saw the following piece of advice. I really agree with it , and if there's only one thing you ever learn from me , I want it to be this.

"You are beautiful. You are enough. The world we live in is twisted and broken and for your entire life you will be subjected to all kinds of lies that tell you that you are not enough. You are not thin enough. You are not tan enough. You are not smooth, soft, shiny, firm, tight, fit, silky, blonde, hairless enough. Your teeth are not white enough. Your legs are not long enough. Your clothes are not stylish enough. You are not educated enough. You don’t have enough experience. You are not creative enough.

There is a beauty industry, a fashion industry, a television industry, (and most unfortunately) a pornography industry: and all of these have unique ways of communicating to bright young women: you are not beautiful, sexy, smart or valuable enough.

You must have the clarity and common sense to know that none of that is true. None of it.

You were created for a purpose, exactly so. You have innate value. You are loved more than you could ever comprehend; it is mind-boggling how much you are adored. There has never been, and there will never be another you. Therefore, you have unique thoughts to offer the world. They are only yours, and we all lose out if you are too fearful to share them.

You are beautiful. You are valuable. You are enough."

You my beautiful daughter , are perfect just the way you are. Please don't ever change. Always be you. If you can do that , you will make me the happiest mother

Looks into our typical day...

Sorry I've been absent lately , and hopefully these turn out okay , but here are the videos of what a typical day looks like with Mobile Zoe. Oh , and that first video? It was taken at 11:45pm. We were SO tired.

9 Months

 Stats

  Zoe , you grow so much every day , so going to the doctor is really just a trip to validate how much we see you growing. At your appointment these were your stats. You currently weigh 17Lbs even .You're 27 inches long , and your head is 18inches around. You're still a little shrimp nugget , but you're growing nicely. 

Teeth

You finally got Two teeth over our trip to Georgia , and you were such a champ about it. I think you might actually be getting your top two now , but I'm not 100% sure. 

Eating 

  You are such a GREAT eater. We didn't even really have to convince you to eat great. We'll just let you try something and usually you really like it. It took you a bit to like baby food chicken though. I love how much you love your veggies though. What a great girl you are !

• Rice Cereal
• Squash - you love 
• Sweet Potatoes- you don't really care for, but you'll eat.
• Sweet Carrots - you LOVE these. 
• Bananas - You're allergic to them 
• Peaches- I don't know how you feel about these actually because you've only had them mixed in your rice cereal. 
• Ice cream - you love
• Chocolate pudding- you HATE. 
• Mac n' Cheese - you like 
• Frosting/Icing - you like 
• Cupcake - you don't really care for. 
• Broccoli and Cauliflower - you love cauliflower , don't really care about broccoli. you'll eat it , you just don't love it. 
• Ritz Crackers - you love
• Graham crackers- you love 
• Mashed Potatoes - You only like them with gravy. 

I can't think of all the other stuff you've tried , but you've tried a lot of food and you like most of it. It's nice.

Awesome stuff you do 

• Lately you sleep pretty great. Asleep by 7:30 or 8pm , wake up at 7:30am to eat . Then you'll take a nap from 10 to 11am and are up for the rest of the day.
• You are still such the cuddle bug. You will just lean into us so sweetly.
• You are loud. You talk a lot and loudly. You also love to shriek. 
• YOU CRAWL!! Like a pro. So fast and so amazing. You're into everything.
• You've started to stand and walk along the furniture. I'm sure you'll be walking any day now.
• You clap and say yay now. It's so cute!
• You wave goodbye now. Sometimes. When you feel like it.
• You give "kisses" But mostly to me. I love it. 

6 months

 Stats

Zoe , my how you've grown. At your appointment on Thursday these were your stats. You currently weigh 15lbs 10oz .You're 25 inches long , and your head is 16inches around. They say by this age most babies have doubled their birth weight. Well , you've tripled it haha.

Teeth

You don't have any teeth yet. The doctor thinks you'll get some this next month and has prescribed you fluoride to help strengthen your teeth when they do come in.

Eating 

 Your eating is really weird. Sometimes you want to eat other times you don't. Sometimes you want to eat but won't let us feed you. You're crazy. You have been introduced to some solids though so let's start there. You've officially had :

• Rice Cereal
• Squash - you love 
• Sweet Potatoes- you don't really care for, but you'll eat.
• Sweet Carrots - you LOVE these. 
• Bananas - You're allergic to them 
• Peaches- I don't know how you feel about these actually because you've only had them mixed in your rice cereal. 
• Ice cream - you love
• Chocolate pudding- you HATE. 
• Mac n' Cheese - you like 
• Frosting/Icing - you like 
• Cupcake - you don't really care for.

Awesome stuff you do 

• You sleep pretty great. Asleep by 10pm , wake up at 6am to eat , again at 8am , and then you usually sleep to noon.
• You are such the cuddle bug. You will just lean into us so sweetly.
• You are loud. You talk a lot and loudly. You also love to shriek. 
• You're finally getting in the crawling position. ( according to your father. I have yet to see it happen.) You're a pro at backwards scooting , so I have no doubts once you figure out forward crawling you'll be crazy fast.
• You cough. A lot. We're always worried about it , but the doctor says you're fine. You do it the most when you're excited or feel like you need attention.
• You don't like my music. haha. That's fine. You're daddy is proud that you like the stuff he listens to. 
• Daddy let you " play" his guitar the other day. You loved it. Maybe you'll be a musician ?
• You dance. I have no clue where you picked it up, but you sway side to side and recently you've added a little wiggle to the sway. Cracks daddy and I up. You're hilarious. 
• You gave your cousin Nick a kiss the last time we were down there. You just grabbed his ears and pulled his face to you and plopped a kiss on him. It was so sweet. 
• Although you don't like my music , you do sleep just like me. Blankets have to be tucked up right under your chin or else you will not sleep. 

I can't wait to do your next update at 9 months !! It's so fun watching you grow and learn new things. Although sometimes I wish you'd just stay little forever. You're starting to look like a little toddler and I can't believe we've already flown through half a year!!

4 Months

 Stats

Zoe, my Angel baby, it's been a while since our last update , but today you finally had your 4 month check up on Tuesday. You now weigh 12lbs 14.5 oz. You've grown beautifully , although I couldn't tell you how long you are because the computers are down and we didn't get a print out like we usually do. Your head has shot up on the charts which makes me laugh.

Teeth

You Still have no teeth , and your doctor doesn't think you'll have any until you're 7 months old "give or take 4 months." Whatever that means. 

Eating 

 You eat every 3 hours. We're pretty sure you're allergic to the regular formula, no matter what your doctor says , so currently you're on a soy/regular formula mix. Mostly because you keep soy down wonderfully , but it stops you up , so we have to keep giving you regular formula too , so you'll poop , but not have diarrhea.  Also you're eating 3-4oz every 2-3 hours. I feel like you should be eating more , but you keep gaining weight , so I guess I don't need to worry too much.

Awesome stuff you do 

• You still don't sleep great , but you'll go to bed around 9:30 every night and wake up around 11am. It's really nice. Or would be if you didn't wake up twice a night to eat. 
• You LOVE your hands. Anyone's hands really.
• If it can go in your mouth , it does. Which leads to lots of wet toys , remotes, and cell phones. 
• Daddy calls you his wookie baby because you make this noise that sounds almost exactly like a wookie
• We've noticed that you really don't like to sit down anymore , and you don't really care for your stomach. Solution ? We got you a Jenny Jump Up. It hangs in your doorway , and we put you in there for your "tummy time" well I do anyways. Daddy still puts you on your stomach. You love the jump up though. It's lovely. 
• You're still a HUGE cuddle bug. Most of the time you won't sleep unless I've got you cuddled right up against me. 
• You love when I read you books. I can lay down with you and you're content to listen to me read to you as you turn the pages. 
• Bubble baths are still your absolute favorite. You'd kick and splash in there all night if I'd let you.

Zoe at 2 months

 

 Stats

Zoe, my gorgeous daughter , it's been 8 weeks since our last update , but today you finally had your 2 month check up. You now weigh 10lbs 4oz. You've grown 3 inches and now are 21.75 in long. Your head , in case you wondered is 15in around. We say you have such a big head from everyone telling you how pretty you are.

Teeth

Still no teeth, but you have started gnawing on your hands and your Honey and I think it's a sign you might start teething soon. My other claim to this is how fussy you've gotten lately. Good thing you're getting a teething necklace for Christmas.

Eating 

I feel like your eating is kind of everywhere lately. Some days like Sunday you eat like crazy. Other days you just snack all day. I really wish you'd just start eating a predictable amount at some point. 

Awesome stuff you do 

• you're finally sleeping pretty good at night. You'll go down around 10pm wake up at 12am , wake up at 5 am then finally wake up at 7:20am every day. You take your morning nap pretty regularly around 9:30am
• You finally decided you like your crib. We're not sure what happened there , but  it just clicked. You don't sleep there all night , but you always start out there. 
• You laugh. Oh my goodness you laugh. Your dad and I spend most days trying to make you laugh. We get so excited when we actually succeed. Like when I did itsy bitsy spider on your stomach. You laughed so hard. I now do it multiple times a day to try and get you to laugh. 
• I can't wait for you to really talk to us , because you babble to us non-stop now. We almost can't get you to be quiet so you can eat. it's almost frustrating. 
• You can hold your head up like a pro. You're also really good at standing up with our help. 
• This is more cute than awesome , but you love to snuggle up with a burp rag while you sleep. 
• You also loooove ducks. We tell you duck stories all the time.
• Bubble baths are your absolute favorite. You'd kick and splash in there all night if I'd let you. 

Anyways , I can't wait to do another one of these posts in January after your 4 month check up. Oh and brownie points to you for being decently happy , if not clingy , after your shots today. I've never seen a baby smile as much as you do after shots. Don't get me wrong , right after the shots you were screaming. By the time we got to the car you were all smiles though. Thanks for that.       

Dear Zoe

Dear Zoe ,

I love you , I really do.  These 3 short 15 minute naps you take during the day though are killers. That's right you take a grand total of THREE naps during the day. Usually they're 15 minutes long. If i'm lucky 30 minutes. But that's as long as I get out of you.

You'll sleep for dad like a champ now though. Only at night though. He'll stick you in your pack n play and you're out for 5 hours. Is it sad that we consider 5 hours straight a night a good night ? Especially when your friends are sleeping 8 hours a night straight ? I make the excuse to myself that it's because you're small.

During the day though , you're fussy. You won't take your bottle unless you've decided you're starving , but you'll whine and cry because you're hungry. Which means you don't sleep either. Girl , we're gonna have to work on this. I'll give you brownie points for putting yourself to sleep in your CRIB last night though. Also for sleeping in there for half an hour before deciding you were starving.

Moral of this letter is to please, please , please  start sleeping better.
                 
                         Love ,Mommy

A blessing

Mommy and Zoe

Our little family

Daddy and Zoe

So on Sunday November 4th 2012 we had Zoe's baby blessing. This also happened to fall on her 2 month birthday. I can't believe it's already been 2 months! Anyways , all our family (grandparents , aunts , and cousins of Zoe's ) congregated in Provo for her blessing. There are so many more pictures , but I didn't save them all on the computer , so they're happily sitting in my inbox.

Zoe was blessed and her grandpas , uncle , our friend TJ , and our neighbor and good friend Derek were all in the circle of special people in our lives who were willing to be a part of one of the 3 biggest days she'll have in her entire life. The blessing was amazing , and I wish I had written it down or something so I could have something for her to remember it by aside from the beautiful dress my mom made for her. ( Which was HUGE on her. lol. we have such a small little girl!)

She didn't cry during the blessing , but cried before and after it. So I guess we have a lot to be thankful for in that area. Afterwards we all met back at our place for a luncheon and it was soo good. Other than that Zoe's 2 month appointment where the poor girl gets her shots is on the 20th. So I'll be posting her stats on that date probably!

My little Monsterr

She's so adorable , I know. To be honest though , she was in this costume an hour and a half before she peed right through the onesie she was wearing underneath this AND this costume. Then she got to spend the next 2 hours sitting in a pee soaked costume because I thought before we left " surely she won't pee through 2 layers of clothes in a 3 hour time span." False. She did. and we had no extra clothes.

I feel like it needs to be mentioned that it didn't seem to bother her any. She also got to experience her first snow of her life. Lucky for her she was in her carseat bundled up under a blanket. So she did okay with that too. She actually came inside the house warmer than both Gregg and I . What a trooper.

Desire.

A weird name for a blog post I realize , but it's the only word strong enough to define how much I want Zoe (and any other daughter I  may have) to know what I'm about to write. 

The biggest thing I want my daughter(s) to grow up knowing or whatever, aside from the love that the Lord and their parents have for them ,  is to be happy in their own skin.

By that I mean I don't want them to feel ugly or too fat or feel bad because they might not be what the world defines as beautiful. That doesn't mean I want them weighing in at 400 pounds , because then I'd worry about their health. I just want them to be happy with who they are.

So what if they're a little chunky or have a little more meat on them than the models these days do. I want them to be happy being just the way they are. I want to be able to set that example for them. Sure my goal is to weigh 135 , but that's a healthy weight for my age/height. ( I looked it up )

The other day this song came on and I sang it to Zoe to get her to stop crying , and I just sat in the car and cried my eyes out because it's exactly how I feel about her , and how I want her to feel about herself , and know that her father and I feel that way about her.

That ends that part of my blog rant. In addition to that video can I add a video I listen to EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. because I'm that addicted to the song. Yes ? good.

One Month

 Zoe is one whole month old today. well technically in 2hrs and 57minutes she will be , but that's so late at night that I figure we get to celebrate all day. Which Zoe did by being super bossy and needy. Meaning she refused to finish a bottle in one sitting and decided to either nap , look around , or whine instead.

That meant I got zero sleep. Although her sleep schedule is finally kicking into gear. Which I'm loving. Getting 5-6 straight hours of sleep every night means I don't have to be sad when she wakes up , but I still have to be tired.

Anyways this precious baby finally did some chunking up this week. I think she's sitting at around 7lbs. She hasn't gotten weighed in a week and a half so it's all just guess work right now , but that's what I think. She's also big enough that Gregg isn't so afraid of her anymore. In fact he's crazy in love with her. He always has  been , but now he can't get enough of her.

Zoe reciprocates the love and occasionally will cry *screambloodymurder* until Gregg picks her up. Even when I'm holding her. If  I hold her and she starts to cry and I know she's not hungry , I can go lay her down by Gregg and it's immediate silence. Oh it's nice , because now I get to have breaks every now and then.

She's also eating 4+ oz at every feeding and going longer in between feedings. She stays awake during most of the day , which drives me crazy because I got used to sleeping for 12 hrs at night before and during pregnancy , and then I got used to sleeping when baby sleeps . Now she sleeps for maybe 6 hours of the day. Maybe. Usually it's 4 or 5.

Anyways i'll finish this up and take advantage of the fact that Gregg is awake , the baby is sleeping , and I can nap. 

Zoe - 2 Weeks

 Stats :
Zoe my baby girl , you are growing so fast ! You were born weighing 5lbs 3oz 17 in long. At your 1 week appointment you were 5lbs 13oz 18in long. On Thursday at your 2.5 week checkup you weighed in at 6lbs 8oz ! They didn't tell us how long you were this last time , and I'm in bed too lazy too look it up on your charts , but although you're still on the small side for babies your age , you're moving up ! The doctor has been extremely pleased with how well you're growing !

Teeth :
Well of course you don't have any teeth yet , you're only 2 weeks old , but you do know how to use those gums of yours ! If I don't get food to you fast enough or if you're upset enough with us ( or me at least ) you will bite down on whatever body part of mine is closest to you as hard as you can. Which is hard enough that I notice it !

Eating :
My goodness you are a little pig ! We ( your father and I ) often joke with you about how we're not starving you , because we want to fatten you up to eat for Thanksgiving. Sometimes I feel like a bad mother for joking like that with you , because I would never actually eat you. We also joke how you eat as much as your father , but eat it slow like me. It takes you almost an hour to finish 3oz of milk. Also you're eating more. Some feedings you will eat 4oz of a breastmilk/formula combo. We're having a little trouble with how you nurse , so we have to supplement you with an ounce or 2 of formula every now and then.

Awesome stuff you do :

• You finally figured out how I keep your binky in your mouth and you will hold it in by yourself sometimes. You can even put it back in most of the time ( aka when you're not too lazy ) by yourself too. 
• You've decided you only want the binky at night. During the day your thumb suits you just fine. 
• You babble. You still don't do it a whole lot ,but you do it enough that people notice now. 
• You are super alert. You will stay awake for 5 hours in the evening just hanging out. You just love to look around at your surroundings
• I love how you stroke things while you eat. Whether it's the bottle or my chin. 
• At night as I'm cuddling you to put you to sleep , you'll make a fist and put it up by my mouth for me to kiss. You do this over and over and over again. So I know it's not just you stretching. You just like to have your hand kissed. Then as you're just about to close your eyes you'll put your hand on my cheek and just rub it. Finally the second you fall asleep you drape your arm across my chest. Oh how your nightly sleep routine melts my heart.

You are just the sweetest little girl and I love the fact that I get to be your mommy and spend lots of time getting to know and raise you! I can't wait to do another one of these posts in November after your 2 month check up!!