3 Months old...seriously ....

Well, Sunday came and went with little fanfare and then Sunday night it hit Justin and I. Annaleigh is officially 3 months old. My how the time has passed. I will try to post some picture tomorrow in honor of her passing this milestone!!! Here are few for the time being....

NAPTIME!

Chilling out at the mall....

Apparently she was in a very good mood after her diaper explosion...

Hanging out with great-grandpa.

A week of firsts for Mommy, Daddy and Annaleigh

Well, the Powell family has had an adventurous week!! Here is our little recap.

::SUNDAY::
Sunday was a very sad day for me. I knew I was having to go to work the next day so I cried off and on all day. I swear I held her for hours. Whenever she wanted to nap I let her sleep on my chest. I probably spoiled her a little too much. I had to get all my stuff together for work including my pump set, radio, lunch, clothes, etc. It was a busy evening. Well, I was doing okay at night until I swaddled her for bed. I cried so much. It literally broke my heart, but Justin held me in bed while I cried on his shoulder until I fell asleep.

::MONDAY::

I had to get up at 5:45 AM to get ready for my first day back at work. Well I was doing awesome, not crying or anything. Then I fed her at 6:30AM and lost it while I was feeding her. Justin woke up and helped me out the door and say goodbye to her. I laid her down to go back to bed and Justin had to console me for about 5 minutes. It was also Justin's first entire day alone with her. The drive in was not terrible. I got back to work to a lot of happy people. I spent about 4 hrs going through emails and did some minor assignments. I also found out this week was going to be very busy. Of course, why would anything be any different. By the time I got home, I just wanted to hug Annaleigh for the entire night.

::TUESDAY::

On Justin's second day at home with Daddy, I got up at 5:45 again and went through the same routine. I cried again,of course, but not as long. At work, it was like no one even knew I was gone. I was so busy on Tuesday it was ridiculous. The weirdest thing is that I am leaving at 4:30 now. It is strange. I got home and she was pretty fussy and she fell asleep on my shoulder at 7 pm and only woke up to eat. It was a lazy night for the baby. We went to bed late again because I had to get her stuff ready for her first day of daycare. I cried in bed again....seeing a trend!

::WEDNESDAY::

I got up same time and then we got her ready to go. I got her dropped off, explained all the bottles, etc. and then left. And when Justin gave me a hug before I left, I cried all over again. I got to work and went though the motions. Then came the fun commute to her house. When I got there, Annaleigh was smiling and cooing and talking to Elaine. She did so well in daycare. Overall, it went very well.

::THURSDAY:

Justin took the little one to daycare on his own starting Thursday and I fed her and went off to work. I still cried when I left, but not for long. It noticed it was becoming easier to leave. I realized I was only one day away from surviving my first week, and I was pretty proud of myself.

::FRIDAY::

Same as before with even less tears!!!


Overall, as I reflect back on all the changes the three of us had, I was sad to have these changes, but also grateful that Justin and I have found someone we trust with our child and how truly blessed we are to have jobs that appreciate us and want to have us around during this economy. I am also increasingly impressed with my new found ability to multitask. Somehow during the work week I managed to cook dinner 3 times, take care of a baby, keep the laundry up, keep the house clean, and get her stuff ready for the next day of daycare every night. I would not have been able to do half that stuff less than 6 months ago. Granted, I am only getting 6 hrs of sleep now! My inner housewife is appearing, and I do not know if Justin knows what to think about it (except that he is enjoying the nicely folded clothes!)

Well off for week two in the new and exciting world that is a working mommy!

Daycare chosen!

Well, we officially hired a daycare provider a couple nights ago. We got the number through a family member whose coworker was going to use her but decided to stay at home. She is really sweet and loves little babies. She was ooing and awwing all over her and Annaleigh was smiling at her and cooing at her when we interviewed her. The lady Annaleigh is staying with only has one other child and he is one year old.

Elaine has been caring for chidren for over 30 years. Her youngest child is Justin's age. She definitely has a grandmotherly feel. The ony downside is her drop-off/pick-up time, but we are working that out with her. I just changed my work hours so I will be leaving at 4:30 everyday to get to Wylie in time. Annaleigh will only be in daycare 3-4 days a week as Justin is off during the week usually, so she is letting us pay a part time fee. It is really going to save us some money in the long run. She is a little more expensive then other lady we liked, but we really liked the fact that she would get more one on one attention.

And on that note, I go back to work on the 23rd of March, 10 days from today. I am very sad about it, but know it is what I have to do. Having chosen a home for Annaleigh does make it a lot easier.

Well, Justin just came in the door with my lunch so I am outta here!

A few new pics!

Took the little one to my office today. She was pretty cute. The little rain boots precious!






Smiling at Daddy!

Hanging out in her Bumbo...She is not quite sure what to think about it.

Quick Pic - What a smile!

So Justin and I are currently in College Station taking a couples weekend for one night before I go back to work in a couple of weeks. This is the first time I have been away from the baby for more than 4 hours. Well, Justin's parents are spoiling their little grandbaby in our absence until .Sunday afternoon. Let me preface this pic with the statement. Annaleigh hates the camera. She will smile and talk until she sees the camera pulled out and she either looks away from it or cries. This is why we only have 2 pics of her smiling....that is until she sees grandma and grandpa. We had been gone a grand total of 4 hours and this is what she snapped! Those grandparents have the magic touch :o)

2 months old!!!

Well, it is hard to believe, but Annaleigh is officially two months old. We went into the doctors for her check-up today. She is doing great. She is still having the major congestion, but they said that is just allergies. She weighed 10lbs 5oz and was 22 inches long. She is now in the 40th percentile in weight and 45th percentile in length. Quite a jump from her 10th percentile weight 6 weeks ago.

The fun part was getting the shots. She was so happy at the doctors office. She was smiling, talking, cooing, and smiling at everyone, including all the nurses and doctors. Justin and I felt so bad because we knew what was coming...the immunizations. They did them all as seperate shots so she has 5 shots in her legs. They brought in two nurses so they could do two at a time. When they did the first shots she looked at us, pouted her lip out and then screamed hard. It was like she was saying "mommy, daddy, make it stop!" I seriously teared up during the second set of shots. It was terrible. Afterwards I consoled her and hugged her for a few minutes before getting ready to go. We did take a before the shot and after the shots picture. They are below.

When we got home she was still really mad until I fed her. Since then she was suprisingly happy, smiling, etc. She is also very sleepy. I decided while she was happy that I would do some tummy time. Within two minutes she fell asleep on her mat. I am also attaching the failed attempt of tummy time below.

Besides that, all is well. Her little personality is starting to shine through. Mommy on the other hand is getting very depressed at the thought of going back to work 3 weeks from today. I am interviewing a daycare/babysitter tonight at their house. Cross your fingers it works out. Also, I have strangely had a huge increase in my appetite over the last week. I guess I am adjusting to breastfeeding some still. It is just weird, because I had to force myself to eat after I had her. I had almost had no appetite the first few weeks I was home. Oh well. So much for losing that baby weight before ordering a bridesmaids dress.

Well, below are her new pics!

SHOTS BEFORE


SHOTS AFTER


SMILING AT MOMMY



FAILED TUMMY TIME