The Past Week In Pictures

Every week just gets easier and easier!

This week, Mazy has slept extremely well! She is napping for an hour or 2 at a time, where before it was only around 30 minutes each time. That was rough because I knew she wasn’t getting adequate rest! Also, at night, we are putting her down around 9:30 or 10, and she doesn’t wake up until 3:30 to eat most nights, so it feels like a full night’s sleep! She will go back down again and sleep til about 6:30 when I feed her, and go back down til about 8:00. She is feeding every 3 hours almost on the dot, which is something I am actually really trying to make work – to get her on a schedule. It was very difficult the first 6 weeks because of all the issues we had with me and her. Though now I feel like we are in a groove and I think she is loving it too!

She is just a smiling away these days! After naps, she is just as happy as can be (especially after I feed her), and we can play for a few hours until she is ready for a nap again. I suppose you could say we are doing the Babywise thing, but at the same time, we are off a few weeks, so I am more or less just applying the principles of the matter. The whole Feed, Wake, Sleep idea. She seems to be doing well on it, and it makes our days a bit more predictable. For instance, I am not going to run into town if I know she will have to eat in a 1/2 hour of getting there. Because I know she typically stays awake for a bit after feeding, I will play with her and then when it’s time to jump into the car, I can bet that she will fall asleep and stay sleeping while I run my errands. Granted I am not gone for long periods of time, but having her on a system helps and makes this mama a bit more at ease when it comes to taking her places.

Mazy still loves sporting events and being outside, so I have taken her to a few baseball games, and on walks when I can. In fact, if she is having a meltdown, I just step outside for a few minutes and typically she calms down within 30 seconds. I think she just needs different scenery and a breath of fresh air. Don’t we all need that sometimes!

We did have to up her dose of acid reflux meds, since she is growing! That seems to really be helping, since her spit ups were quite mucousy and she would cry when she did spit up. Now, I think we have found a happy medium again. She loves her little squeaker toy, Lamaze doll (still is her best friend), us kicking her legs, baths, and really anytime we talk to her. She is just so playful!

By all means, Dan and I have a long ways to go in getting this parenting thing down, but we are definitely making strides! We continue to learn and embrace every moment we can because there IS so much to learn! It still has been one of the most fulfilling, rewarding, yet challenging things we have experienced, but we cannot imagine our life any other way. God has prepared us all those years for this moment – having Mazy. Oh how I LOVE waking up to her every morning and seeing her beautiful and glowing face! I still cry, well, tear up everyday, just thinking about what a miracle she is! I wish I was exaggerating, but I am not! She brings tears to my eyes daily, as I tell her how much I love her and how she is an answer to so many prayers! And when she looks at me with those big blue eyes, how can one NOT tear up?