The Hunnie Pot

Two Months

Where has the time gone?!? Two months old is not possible! You are still the sweetest baby in the whole world. You are getting so big and changing every day. When I pick you up in the mornings I think, "Oh my goodness, you gained weight overnight!"

You are trying to sleep through the night. You slept for seven hours two nights but you are starting to wake up just once around two or three and then again around six. Speaking of sleeping, you are like your mama sleeping with your hands above your head. I usually don't swaddle you during naps and your arms are always up.

Hands up and feet crossed!

You also have started hiding under your covers. I have to keep a eye on you because you will have your head completely covered in no time.

Yes, there is a baby under there! (And I have her Angelcare on her too!)

You went to the Atlanta zoo with your cousin Blair for the first time. As you can tell from the picture, you were enthralled.

We were also very excited when Georgia came to visit! We are ready to visit her in Atlanta next time!

You are still nursing and you have had a bottle a couple of times. You did just as well as I thought you would and sucked it down in no time. We gave you three ounces the first time and you acted like you drank a bottle every day. I am a tiny bit scared that you are going to realize that a bottle is much more efficient than nursing!

We took you to the doctor on your two month birthday and they gave your three shots. Of course you were upset, but you were back to your chipper self in no time. I think the worst part of the whole experience was seeing those huge alligator tears. We took you last week and they couldn't give you your shots yet because you weren't two months old yet. I had them weigh you since we were there and you weighed 10 pounds. When we took you back exactly a week later you weighed 10 pounds, 8 oz. That puts on on the 90th percentile for weight for height! Dr. D says that is just fine since breastfed babies tend to be chubby!

You are wearing size 1 diapers and filling out your 0-3 month clothes very nicely. I just bought size 2 diapers since you are growing like a weed. Before too much longer, you are going to be outgrowing those!

Your personality is shining through more and more each day. We have the best time in the morning after your first feeding and you smile and coo. We are blessed with your precious smile often when we talk to you.

You absolutely love playing in your crib and watching your mobile. You will stay in there for ten or fifteen minutes just smiling and kicking around while it plays music.

We thought you were going to have green eyes, but they are still the most beautiful shade of blue. Maybe they will stay that way and be as beautiful as your Aunt Mo's and Papa's.

You are keeping your head up like a big girl and you don't mind tummy time very much. A couple of minutes is all you like, but it helps you build up those muscles!

Bath time is a treat for all three of us - your GT says I am going to scrub your skin off. We have to be mindful of when we have bath times because you still like to dirty up your water :)

You also went to church for the first time and you were so funny watching the sermon be delivered. You looked as if you understood exactly what every word meant!

And you were precious in your monogrammed bloomers!!!

Here is a video of you talking during our morning playtime. We have the most fun early in the morning!

We love you so very much sweet Faegan! We look forward every day to seeing what surprises you have in store for us!
Mama and Daddy

Beach Cutie

We have had lots of firsts around the house this month and one of the most fun for all was Faegan's first trip to the beach. We went to the beautiful beaches of Fort Morgan, AL to christen this future beach bum. Of course, she loved it and is already asking us when we are going to take her back.

Faegan was wonderful on the long ride down and didn't make peep the whole six hour trip until it was time for her to eat. She continues to amaze us with how content she is. Although she was perfect on the trip down, she was a little excited to finally get to the beach and out of her carseat!

I have discovered that beach vacations are vastly different when you have a little one in tow. I didn't spend as much time on the beach as I usually do, but we did put on our suits and head down to the ocean a couple of times. Faegan, of course, stole the show with her pink ruffle swimsuit.

She wasn't super crazy about the hot, but she definitely has the whole napping on the beach thing in the bag.

Ben went fishing each morning as the sun came up and he caught some lunch for us on this particular morning. This is him pictured with a Pompano. He cooked them for us and they were absolutely delicious!

Of course we had to have some pictures of Faegan in her beach garb. Blair had this cute little outfit too, but unfortunately hers was lost on the beach trip where she wore it. I found this one on sale before Faegan was born and snatched it up. I was so happy she was able to wear it while she was at the beach.

We always love spending time with Grandma. She spoils us rotten!

This was taken with my phone so the quality is terrible, but our first family beach picture! Hopefully the first of many!!

Month One Survival Guide

I have discovered that babies are a great excuse for a messy house! I can't ever get everything clean and most of the things around the house belong to the smallest member of our family. There are so many great things that make caring for a baby more convenient and I have compiled a list of my favorite things so far. These are definitely not needs, mostly wants, but I enjoy having them nonetheless!

1. Chicco Lullaby Play Yard. Quite possible the most wonderful baby invention for families who travel. Since we don't live in the same state as my family, this has been a fabulous addition to our baby gear. It is super easy to pack up, portable, and most important of all very convenient. It grows with your child since it has both a bassinet and crib option. Not only do we take this on trips with us, but we also use it at home. We have this in our bedroom and we use it for Faegan's crib at night. (Blair still uses hers too! She knows they bring "that bed" to Aunt Linnie's when they come!)

2. Swaddle Designs Swaddle Blanket. LOVE this blanket. Faegan has always loved to be swaddled and I received one of these blankets in some hand me downs from my sister-in-law. When I realized how wonderful it was, I ordered two more and I am so happy I did. It is so soft and it stays swaddled really well. I think one of my favorite things about it is the size. It is a pretty large blanket and it makes for a great car seat cover when you are out in public and don't want people touching your baby. (I didn't know it until I was searching for them, but Blair has one of these too. She obviously isn't swaddled, but she covers up with this blanket every night!)

3. Bob Revolution SE. I am not a jogger, but this beauty makes farm living with a stroller fun. I have already used it around the farm and it goes wherever you want it to. You can literally push it with one finger and it turns on a dime. It is easy to fold up and is not heavy. Ben loves this one too. When he pushed Faegan in it for the first time he said "Man, this thing will go!". Yet another recommendation from my sister and Blair!

4. Nursing Tank. Built in bra makes nighttime feedings so easy. My mother-in-law found mine at Wal-Mart but I am sure they have them at other stores. I am now the proud owner of every color and I could not be happier.

5. GumDrop Pacifiers. These are a fairly new purchase for us. We started out with Dr. Brown's orthodontic pacifiers and Faegan liked them, but we started having some latch issues after I introduced them. Faegan loves a paci and I was desperate for a solution that allowed her to continue to have one. After lots of research I found these and I am so happy that we are using them. It took a little time for her to learn how to keep it in, but the latch problems are gone and she loves her new pacis as much as her mama. They are soft and don't make marks on her face like the plastic pacifiers did and you can boil them to sanitize them. They are also made in the USA!

6. Wipe Warmer. Ben made fun of me when I was setting up the wipe warmer saying that I was already spoiling our child and she wasn't even born yet. That was until he changed Faegan in the hospital and she screamed at the top of her lungs when you put the cold wipe on her. When we got home to our warm wipes, changing diapers was a much calmer event and now Ben is thanking me for our frivolous item. Definitely not a necessity, but Faegan sure does appreciate her warm wipes! We did have to tape a card over the front of the warmer because the light on it is pretty bright at night!

7. Diaper Champ. There is nothing worse than finding you left a dirty diaper in your kitchen trash for a little too long! This does a great job of containing the smell and your dirty diapers and you don't have to buy special refills for it - it uses a regular kitchen trash bag.

8. ERGObaby Carrier. This is also a new purchase for us, but I already love it. I wished so many times throughout the first weeks that I had a baby carrier when I needed to do something that required both hands and Faegan wanted to be held. I have had this for a week and I have used it so much already. Faegan enjoys being in it and it is comfortable for me too. I chose the organic style because I can't buy anything without reading a million reviews and the consensus was that the organic was definitely much softer. I also got a cute print instead of plain jane black or brown because Ben said he wasn't going to use it. However, now that he has seen it in action, I think he might be sporting the print sometime very soon! *Note: You do have to have an insert for using it with an infant.

9. Boppy. When I was in the hospital, I didn't think I was going to like my Boppy, but now I use it for every feeding. It is nice to have support for your elbows and wrists during feedings and we also stick a blanket under the opening and use it to prop Faegan when she wants to see what is going on without being held.

10. I don't have a picture for this, but the thing I use the most BY FAR is my iBaby app on my phone. It keeps up with feeding times, dirty diapers, growth, sleep times, and anything else you want to keep track of. I only use the feeding times now, but this was a huge lifesaver during those first sleepless days and a great recommendation from the lactation consultant at the hospital. It cuts down on me watching the clock and allows me to have a record of every feeding since she was born.

Hopefully my list will help someone out if they research everything to death before making a decision. Like I said before, they are not necessities, but they sure do make life easier!

One Month

Dear Sweet Faegan,

I cannot believe that you are already one month old. Time has flown by and we are blessed beyond words to have you here with us. I am a little sad you are already growing up! You are the sweetest baby in the world. You rarely cry and when you do, it's because Mommy and Daddy missed your hints and you are reminding us to pay better attention! You love to snuggle and I have to tell myself that I can't hold you all day long. You feel so good!

You are eating like a champ and we both think you have gotten a little chunky over the past couple of days. We weighed you on our scale last night and it said you were 9 pounds! That is a big difference from two weeks ago when you weighed 7 lb 6 oz at your two week checkup. During the day you are eating every 2-3 hours. Your last feeding is usually around 8:30 and you go sleep your longest stretch after it and sleep until around one o'clock and wake up again around four When you wake up at night to eat, you don't cry, you just grunt and move around until you break your arms free of your blanket. You go right back to sleep after your one o'clock feeding, but lately you have been wanting to socialize after your 4 o'clock feeding. If you don't go to sleep your Daddy takes charge and lets one tired mama sleep for a little while longer.

You love to be on the go. You usually fall asleep when we are in the car. We went out to dinner for your Daddy's birthday and you slept the entire way through. Everyone at the restaurant was so impressed with how well you behaved. You also love to be outside. You were fighting sleep yesterday so I took you outside in your bouncer and sat you in the shade. You looked and looked until you finally went to sleep and slept for two hours!

You are taking a bath in the big (for you!) bathtub and you love bath time. However, you do not like lotion time. You enjoyed your first bath so much that you graced us with a nice surprise just as we were getting ready to take you out. Needless to say, you had two baths that night!

We are still swaddling you at night and you love your paci. We don't give you a paci during the day much, but you like to have them when you are going to sleep. We just got some new ones that Mommy loves and you seem to like them too.

You are still fitting in your newborn clothes but you are going to outgrow them in the length before too much longer. I have started putting some 3 month things on you, but they are all a little big. Not too much longer and you are going to be growing out of those too!

We are so blessed to have such a wonderful daughter. We love you so much and thank God every day for a happy, healthy, beautiful baby girl. We love you!

Mama and Daddy

The First Week

*I started this on Monday and am just now posting so this is a little behind!

One week ago today we woke up in our own bed with a new addition under our roof! The week has gone by so quickly, but then again it feels like we have had our sweet Faegan forever.

She really is the sweetest baby and she has made our new jobs as parents so easy. I know it is going to change constantly, but we are semi on a schedule and she is so patient with us. I was having to wake her up for every feeding because we have a sleeper on our hands, however, the past few days she has been waking up and letting me know when she is hungry. We are nursing every 2 to 3 hours, except at night, where she is giving me a 4 or 5 hour stretch. My pediatrician was not super excited about this, but I have tried forcing her to eat when she is not ready and it is impossible. Nursing is going well now - she wanted to eat her bottom lip at first, but we broke the habit and now she is nursing like a champ.

She usually has two wakeful times during the day. One in the morning and one around dinnertime. She usually isn't fussy during these times. She enjoys sitting on her Boppy and looking outside the window in the morning time and usually during her wake time at night she prefers to be talked to and held. She is definitely a snuggler and loves to be held. I think she would take every single one of her naps lying on someone's chest if we would let her.

During the day she sleeps in a bassinet that was made by Ben's great-grandfather, and at night she is in our room in her pack and play. She sleeps well in both of them and loves to be wrapped tightly in her swaddle blanket.

She doesn't mind bath time too much. She is not crazy about washing her body, but as soon as we wrap her up and start washing her hair, she immediately quiets down. She already loves beauty parlor time! These are pictures from her first bath at home. As you can see she was not super excited about it!

For her first few days she would scream at the top of her lungs when we changed her clothes or her diaper, but she seems to be adjusting to life outside my tummy and has calmed down when it comes to changing. She had a dirty diaper in the middle of the night last night and didn't even make a peep. I was so proud! (Oh, the little things that make me happy now!)

We had our first trip to the pediatrician and everything looked great. She weighed 6 lb 13 oz when we left the hospital and she weighed 6 lb 11 oz at six days old. Our goal is to be back up to birth weight by this Thursday.

We are so blessed to have such a beautiful, happy, and healthy baby. Her daddy and I are stealing all of her kisses and falling in love more and more every day!