Update

Well, I feel that it has been awhile since I posted on our life. So, this is what has been gonig on. Last Friday, my parents watched Rachel over night and we went on a date. Matt was off during the day and he has been wanting us to gets bikes for a long time. He looked on Craigs list and found one about 10 minutes away. He came home with a bike. The only thing wrong was that he needed someone to ride with. We went to a local bike store and found a really nice one for me that if comfortable. We bought it and an hour later, I tested it out to make sure the height was a good fit. I was so excited that I rode it home (it was only about 1.5 miles maybe). We dropped Rachel off and then rode our bikes to a nearby restaurant to eat. We had so much fun and the wind felt great in our faces. The next morning, we went to a bike trail a little north of us and rode on that for about an hour. We came back to town and joined the YMCA (I did my first class yesterday and made it through the whole thing! I am sore today though, but it feels great!). I had been missing my gym membership to Lifestyles, but that was not going to be the cheapest for all of us and with the Y, we get a pool! After that, we rode to Baylife Church where they were having a local car show. We met up with a coworker of Matt's and saw some neat cars. Our date was very fun and I am looking forward to taking Rachel with us on our bike rides as soon as she is old enough. On Sunday, we over to Orlando to meet Katie and Josiah. We had a very eventful evening at the Olive Garden (rain, vomit, crying, lost room keys, forgotten gift cards, three kids) and then Katie and I rented a chic flick and munched on some Oreos while the guys went on a "date". We hung out at the pool the next day, which is why Rachel has on her bathing suit. The suit is borrowed from Katie, but she does look cute in it! I didn't put her in the water because it was pretty cold and I figured she wouldn't appreciate that. Rachel is still doing well. She went through a three or four day period where she would just cry through a lot of her naps. Well, today's nap went well and the last few nights, I haven't heard a sound from her from 10:30 pm until 7:00 am. What a good baby! I have a few more smile pictures too!

She is such a model!
Hannah, Josiah, Esther, Rachel, and Matt


My new bike!
This is the actual Eleanor from the movie "Gone in 60 Seconds"

What a bum!

All Smiles

This is going to be a quick post, but I just wanted to share some smiles that will warm your heart (or at least they do for me and Matt)! Rachel is smiling more and definitely becoming more aware of her surroundings. She is harder to get back to sleep once she is woken up because she would rather see what is going on. However, for about a week and a half now, she has been sleeping about 8 hours at night! I am feeling so much more rested, although I wasn't too bad except for the first two weeks after having her. She will be seven weeks old tomorrow. It goes by quickly, but we are enjoying it. Matt and I are leaving for Orlando and will be home tomorrow. All three of us are staying with some friends and will probably hang out by the pool and go to Downtown Disney tonight. We should have a great time!

She enjoys being in her swing a lot more now and will actually follow the mobile!

This is Rachel just after a bath. Look how curly her hair is! I comb it out so it is just wavy on top. I think she gets it from her father's side of the family.

Little feet

Rachel's Nursery

I have been wanting to show off Rachel's nursery because I think it is just so cute. I also spent a good amount of time painting her room and am very proud of the way it turned out. I am not a decorator by any means, so I had to turn to some friends and family for their help. It is not completely done because I couldn't do some of the gender specific stuff beforehand. I also plan on putting up some pictures on the wall and her name. I have the letters painted, but they are not quite done. I must confess that my friend Katie has somewhat turned me into a garage sale/Craigslist person. All of the furniture except the glider is used. However, I am very proud of what I paid for the items, so I will tell you about each one.

I love walking in to see this.

Matt's parents bought us the glider. It is by Shermag and is very comfortable. I like to read her books in it. As you can see, there is a little nightstand next to the glider filled with mostly books I got at garage sales that are in nice shape.
This is an up close look at the pattern in her bedding. It is from JC Penney and is called Paisley Spalsh. I loved it because of the colors and versatility. The bedding has paisley, stripes, polka dots, and gingham. So, basically I can put any type of pattern in her room and it will still match. Great for someone who is not good at coordinating.

The lamp was purchased at a garage sale for $3 and the pink ribbon will be replaced by some kind of ribbon with the aqua blue in it.

It took me forever to find a dresser and I almost ended up buying a new one. I just was having trouble paying so much that offered little space. I finally found this one on Craig's list. It is an old piece that is heavy and sturdy. It came with the nightstand for $90. My Dad painted both white (thank you). He knew if he didn't then I would. I was not good about staying away from paints and such during pregnancy.
The changing table is by far the best deal in her room. It is from Pottery
Barn retailing for about $300 and I got it for $35 at the Fish Hawk garage sale. It is of great quality and also really sturdy. It got the bins when they were on sale at Babies R Us. I like the bins better than drawers. They really hold a lot of stuff and won't scratch up the table since they are canvas versus the wicker baskets. Another side note, I really am happy with my Diaper Champ. I read a lot of reviews before registering for this brand and am very happy with it. No smells until you open it to change the bag, but as soon as you close it, they are contained. I also like how you can use any kind of bag.
The dresser knobs that came with the dresser were old and ugly. My friend Katie and I were searching on Ebay for knobs and saw some really similar ones for $5 each. I was not willing to spend $40 plus on knobs, so we stole the idea and made our own. Katie is a master at being thrifty and can replicate expensive stuff well. Thanks for all your help. We also just made knob for the closet as well.
The closet got new doors (there weren't any on before) and shelving inside. (Thanks Matt). The stripes took awhile to come up with and then to decide on the color. But what took the longest was taping every single stripe, probably about 2-3 hours. Katie and I got better at them being straight as we progressed in the room, but you can't really tell some are crooked because of the furniture. Matt put up the chair rail for me and nice new baseboards. They are the taller ones, which were his idea and a great extra touch. You can see them in other pictures.

The crib was another great steal found on Craig's list. It turned out this person lives on our street and I actually knew her from youth group. I got it for $150 plus a really nice Sealy matress too. It is in great shape with just a few scratch marks.

I had just finished reading my Babywise book, which I loved, and they recommend getting your child used to their playpen for independent play time and sleeping. So, I decided she needed to start spending some time in her awesome pack n play. It is made by Combi and I really like it. It seems spacious so she will have room to play in as she gets bigger. She will start taking one nap a day in here because in a few months, this will be her crib for a week when we travel to St. Louis.

She went to sleep right away as if it were her own crib and she looks so at peace!

Another personal opinion as a new mom on Babywise. I absolutely love it. She has been on a three hour schedule since she was born. I didn't completely start implementing the eat/play/sleep cycle until she was about 1.5 weeks old. I really try to make sure she is awake after each feeding except her nighttime one. The goal is to wake her to eat during the day, but at night, let them wake on their own. She has very steadily gone longer and longer periods of time at night. For the last 5 nights straight, she has gone between 7.5 and 8.5 hours between feedings. That is awesome news for me and I am so proud of her! I am still getting up around 3:30 to pump, but that is faster than feeding her and putting her back to sleep. I would like our day to start at 7 am, but sometimes she wakes at 6:30 hungry and I feed her. I then adjust the rest of her schedule so that we get back on track. I have a bedtime routine with her that I use for naps and bedtime. I swaddle her and then hold her in the upright position over my shoulder. I don't do anything to her but hold her. No talking, patting, rocking, nothing. She cries for about 2 minutes and then calms down and goes limp. When she is calm and awake, I put her in her crib. She doesn't cry much anymore and if she does, it is only for a minute. She really is a good baby when it comes to sleeping! I love the flexibility, structure, and predictability with the Babywise way of thinking!

Rachel has a First!

We had an eventful weekend with Matt's parents and grandma coming in town for five days. Rachel was dedicated on Mother's Day during church and then we feasted at my parent's house afterwards. She has become very gassy lately and therefore fussy sometimes. However, she seems to be the worst when other people are holding her. She is usually very good for me at home, but I think it is because I know her routine and usually what she is crying about. To combat her gas, I am going to give her gas drops with every feeding and hopefully that will help her discomfort. I noticed some redness and bumps on her cheeks and thought maybe she was getting a rash so I took her to the doctor. It turns out she has baby acne. It looks slightly irritating, but I guess it isn't. While at the doctor, she weighed in at 9 pounds 9 ounces. She also got her second Hepatitis B shot. She did a hold her breath scream while the needle was in, but once I picked her up, she was perfectly fine.

So, you are probably wondering about the title because it implies that Rachel did something for the first time...well, she can roll over now! I put her on her tummy and stepped out of the room for about 30 seconds. I come back to her being on her back. I called my Mom because I was so excited. I then tested Rachel again and she did it again! She was not happy with being on her tummy, so I think that got her squirming and moving enough to get her on her side and then roll over. However, tonight she calmly rolled over and I got it on video. So, here she is:

I love this dress, so I just had to put a picture of her in it.

Mommy & Rachel all dressed up for church. This won't happen often.

This is actually a real smile. I was just waking her up.

This is Mika's newest spot. She can still watch everything, but be out of the way.

My Little Darling

I know I am her mother and all, but Rachel is just too cute! She is finally able to wear clothes 0-3 months and she wore this adorable outfit on Sunday to my parents. I asked them to take pictures of her in it and here they are:

Mom is well rested!

Rachel is four weeks old today. The time has gone by quickly, but I sure am enjoying being a mom. We celebrated a friend's birthday last night so my parents watched her. She got her last bottle around 10:30, which was right before we picked her up. She was asleep already. I officially put her to bed at 11:30 and then went to sleep. She usually wakes around 3 or 3:30 in the morning for her feeding, but not last night. She made it all the way until 5:30. As soon as I saw the clock, I started calculating the hours she had been asleep and not disturbed me. 7 hours between feedings! I was so happy. She ate quickly and then went back to sleep until 10 am. This is the most rested I have felt in four weeks. Praise God!. He must have known I needed it after Sunday, which she did not sleep well and then off to church and a busy day.

Rachel is definitely spending more time awake, so I am trying to get in tummy time and play time (as much play as she does at this age). She also gets to meet her other grandparents this weekend! Matt's parents and Nana are flying in Thursday and staying until Tuesday. We are very excited for them to meet and spend time with her. With Mother's Day coming up and baby dedication at church, we have a busy weekend planned. I will put pictures of all of that next week.

Apparently tummy is exhausting for both of them.
She really is trying to get her head up.

She did actually touch the toy a few times during "play time"
Any advice on how I can turn this picture. On my computer, it is saved horizontally, but when I uploaded it, it got turned.