A Half-Year Old

While Molly was busy turning 6 months old (!!!!!), Eva had her first dance recital! Her class danced to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and Eva was so poised and proud that I seriously sobbed and sobbed watching her dance! She loved being the belle of the ball and was also very happy that I volunteered to be stage mom so I could be behind the scenes with her on one of the show days. 

Eva even let her sister wear her recital tiara! Now THAT's love!

"Is my tiara on straight?"

Don't Scare Your Mother!

Molly stopped breathing. 

Do you feel the weight of how scary that is????

Molly is now up often at night to nurse and snuggle. Due to her reflux, I usually hold her inclined on my bent knees after nursing her at night and I started to notice that she would pause in her breathing as she slept on my knees during those times. So I borrowed a breathing and movement monitor from a friend and the first night we used it, it went off. In order to make the monitor siren go off, the breathing needs to pause for at least 20 seconds. When I shot out of bed and reached to her in the pack n' play next to our bed, sirens still sounding loudly, she was motionless. I shook her in a panic and she simple resumed breathing. She did not wake. Did not cry. Did not even gasp. Just resumed. I cried for hours...

The next morning, I called the pediatrician as soon as the office opened. We had an appointment early and he seemed very confused because she was much older than a typical child who suffers an apnea event. He discussed its relation to reflux and focused mostly on that, but I got extremely frustrated. I could care less if she is spitting up...SHE STOPPED BREATHING! let's focus on that!

So the infant apnea program at our hospital called and set us up with an appointment. They brought over a breathing and heart rate monitor (shown above) and Molly wore it 24/7 for two full weeks. It tracked her breathing and her heart rate. The first night she wore it, it went off 8 times indicating pauses in breathing that frequently....

It was bulky and LOUD, but gave me great peace of mind in those two weeks because I started to get paranoid that she would stop breathing when sleeping in the car or in the swing and how would I know? This monitor went everywhere with us so I could always be vigilant.

After two weeks, we brought her to the infant apnea program and the data was reviewed. It seemed that she was in full control of her breathing and that it was, in fact, most likely related to her reflux. So in other words, the sneaky child would feel a burp and hold her breath until it passed, even in her sleep...

SCARE THE HELL OUT OF YOUR MOTHER!!!

5 Months of Molly-April 2013

At 5 months old, Molly is rolling front to back and back to front and is very close to sitting up on her own for short periods of time. She is laughing and loves to watch Eva play and dance! She is still up every hour-3 hours at night and loves her nursing sessions more than pretty much anything!

In April, we celebrated Molly's first Easter! Eva had a great time dying eggs while Molly looked on and made sure to fill a basket for her sister when hunting! Molly's easter basket was filled with baby food and spoons for her upcoming introduction! 

Eva went on a field trip with her class to the farm. It was the first time I was not able to go with her because I had to work, which was super upsetting because I only work one morning a week!! Her daddy was able to go, though, so it was special day for the two of them! She was most excited about getting to ride a school bus!

March 2013

Crazy hair, no doubts!

My adorable bed hog!

Super smiles for this puppy!

Our first long walk around the neighborhood!

We now have a nickname for this little one: Mushy. She is our Mushmallow!

Happy St. Pats!

Everything in the mouth!

PJ Day for these girls!

3 Months Old

3 balloons for 3 perfect months!

At 3 months, Molly has not lost ANY hair! It is starting to show signs of lightening in color as is golden underneath. Molly is trying desperately to laugh, but she coughs on it whenever it starts to bubble up! Her reflux is still bad, but doesn't seem to bother her: just a laundry issue for us! She is showing more interest in toys like her play mat and rattles. She hasn't been sleeping as well lately and still HATES bottles! She smilies anytime we sing "You Are My Sunshine"!

February 2013

Molly was caught on camera smiling  *nearly laughing* at her big sister! 

This is Molly's constant request! All she wants to do lately is nurse! When will this growth spurt end!??!

Eva LOVES to write lately! She practices writing uppercase letters and has great fine motor control--look at how she can fit them in these tiny lines! She impresses me everyday!

LOVES the bath! 

Eva started dance class in the fall and has been loving it! Molly and I attended Family Observation Day and she loved showing off all that she has learned so far!

Sisters UNITE!

My two forever Valentines!

A little sister playtime!

Eva at 3 months (left) and Molly at 2 months (right)!

2 balloons for 2 perfect months!

At two months old, Molly is up 2-3 times a night, but has slept through the night a few times in her life. She is gaining weight like a champ, which gives this nursing Mommy confidence! She smiles at her family, especially her big sister, and loves to snuggle. She doesn't seem to mind tummy-time too much and has VERY strong legs! She is still sleeping in the bassinet in Mommy and Daddy's room and hates bottles with the fire of 1000 suns!

A New Year: January 2013

My beautiful girls!

Eva woke up one cold, white morning asking for a haircut! What my big girl wants, my big girl gets!

She loves me! 

Would you just look at this beautiful baby!!?? I want to just eat her!

Our cheerless-cheerleader today! 

Shirts made by mommy=dreams coming true!

Molly's first smile in response to an object! Ooooh she loves mama owl!

Molly actually taking a bottle! This does NOT happen anymore. She has been outright refusing for weeks! 

Daddy and his littlest buddy, all snuggled tight on a cold January morning!

A First Christmas

Merry first Christmas to Molly! Eva was so extremely excited to see what Santa brought her, but it was also very important to her that Santa knew Molly was new to our family and that he should bring her special things as well! She was overjoyed to see that Santa was very generous to both of them! 

I shed tears this morning of the happiest kind because I got to see our stockings hung, representing a family of four. This is something I have been desperate to see in our home and am such a lucky woman to have this dream come true!

Santa brought Eva her Baby Butterscotch horse! She is head-over-heels in love with her!

Mommy and her beautiful girls on Christmas morning!

It was a white Christmas this year!! Eva was thrilled to get to go play outside in the snow with her Daddy and Brady! No one loves snow like our Brady boy!! They went sledding, built a snowman and made snow angels. Molly and I played (aka, nursed and farted and slept) inside and had hot chocolate prepared for when the adventurous crew came inside for a break!

One of the most gorgeous pictures I have ever taken of my sweet girl!

Merry First Christmas to my goofy little girl!

One Perfect Month

One balloon for one perfect month!

At one month, Molly is up 1-2x per night and nurses like a pro. She is eating every 1.5-2 hours, with longer stretches at night. She is easily put back to sleep when she wakes and easily calmed when upset. She loves bath time and snuggles with her Daddy at night. She loves to watch Eva play and act like a goof! She has reflux and can puke so much that it projectiles 3feet away! She farts like a grown man, which shocks everyone who meets her! Her most adorable feature is her thick head of beautiful dark brown hair! Everyone loves how feathery soft it is!!