Pink Piggy Party

Happy happy first birthday to our spunky, adorable, and joyful fourth child!  We love you so much, Hosanna Joy, and it truly was a joy to celebrate this milestone with you on Sunday.

 We had a pink piggy party for Little Sprout.  Everything was in shades of pink, even the birthday girl's special outfit. 

 I made a swirly pink cake topped with a princess piggy bank.  The cake recipe was this vanilla cupcake recipe from Glorious Treats.  I did switch out the vegetable oil for coconut oil and added a few spoonfuls of strawberry preserves for flavor and a little pink color.  The frosting was colored with beet juice (about one teaspoon of beet juice to every eight tablespoons of frosting).  Besides the cake, we served popcorn in a big pink bowl, pigs-in-a-blanket, strawberry angel cookies, and homemade strawberry lemonade. 

 Little Sprout's grandpa made a colorful birthday banner featuring photos of the birthday girl from every month of her life so far.  (The background is a bunch of bananas because "Banana" is Daddy's favorite pet name for her.)

 Besides the banner, the dining room was festooned with pink and white streamers and festive little pigs.  I made the pigs by purchasing a set of five pink fan circle decorations from Party City and then hot gluing pig ears, eyes, and noses to each one. 

 I knew from the moment she was born that Little Sprout would wear a cute tutu for her first birthday.  I followed the directions here on the Ribbon Retreat to make her a cute, very fluffy tutu.  I used bright pink and light pink tulle and accented it with a big pink flower.  For her shirt, I purchased an inexpensive white long-sleeved onesie from Walmart, cut out a "1" from pink polka-dotted fabric, and hand-sewed it to the onesie with pink thread and matching rik-rak.  Her gigantic flowered headband was a gift from a friend. 

 My darling baby girl had a grand time at her party. 

 She dove into her cake with great gusto while our other guests enjoyed the party food and played fun games on the Wii.  She enjoyed her cake so much that Grandma had to give her a quick sink bath before she opened her gifts.  A sleepy baby in cupcake pajamas cuddled with her new "babies" and fell asleep in her momma's arms.  It was the perfect end to a perfect piggy party.



Eleven Months

Holy cow!  My baby girl is getting so close to turning one year old! 

 Of course, she tries to act like a one-year-old already.  Little Sprout is quite the skilled walker by now and is trying her hand (or feet, rather) at running.  She talks constantly - most of it still pretty unintelligible to the average adult, but the siblings seem to know what she's saying all the time.  She demands food constantly, with her current favorites being baked spaghetti, bacon, and pancakes. 

The girl has a crazy amount of energy!  She has a new-found fascination with balls and will pick them up, throw them, and then go pick them up again for hours.  I confess I do allow the other children to play "fetch" with her occasionally.  Hey, it wears her and the kids out too, and then the kids stop begging for a dog.  For at least a day, anyway. 

Little Sprout's middle name is Joy, and she truly is the joy of my life.  It's hard to be down when she is around!

 

 

Next time we'll be wishing you a sweet first birthday, baby girl!  

Ten Months

 I love this face!  I love this girl!  Her enthusiasm, her sense of humor, her energy, and her affection just fill and complete our family.

She is growing at a ridiculous rate.  Babbling up a storm, her favorite words are mama, dada, Anna, m-nana (banana), and bye-bye.  Little Sprout is walking!!!!! now.  She is the earliest walker of all my kids.  It's exciting, because all the other kids cheer her on and get all-out giddy when she takes a shaky step.  Of course, amidst all the excitement, I would love to hang on to my baby just a bit longer.  Lucky for me, she is a fantastic snuggler and a great playmate.  Sometimes, after the other kids go to bed, I'll go into her room and wake her up for one more snuggle and playtime with just me.  Yeah, I'm sentimental that way. :)

Love you so much, you sweet sweet baby cheeks.  Happy ten months!

Nine Months and Narcissism

 It's already time to post a monthly update on little Miss Sprout?!?  I am seriously freaking out now - I want to hang on to the "babyness" as long as possible.  Is that so much to ask?  I can't help it that she is just one stinkin' cute baby! 

With this sassy little one, there is no need for any other entertainment in our house.  Little Sprout knows that she is the center of attention and feeds off it.  She wakes up every morning cooing and chattering, just waiting to get to her audience at the breakfast table.  If no one deigns to pay attention to her, she demands attention by throwing food and chanting her name.

Yes.  You heard that right.  She knows her name and can say it.  Repeatedly.  Our fourth child's first word is "Anna."  She knows the world revolves around her!   See for yourself here. 

"Touchdown!"

Growing up in my family meant you liked football.  Or at least tolerated it.  We didn't have a TV so we listened to all the Philadelphia Eagles' games on the radio.  We all had our favorite teams - I liked the Eagles but told everyone my favorite team was the Denver Broncos.  I made that decision based purely on the fact that their mascot was a horse.  And I liked horses.  Ah, the reasoning of teenage girls! 

Every week, my mom would draw up a chart of the NFL teams that were playing each other that week.  We then predicted the winners of each game.  The person with the most correct wins had bragging rights that week.  See - no gambling! There was really nothing to be gained.  Except for arguments and bickering, that is.

Anyway, as we listened to those games on the radio, we never tired of hearing Merrill Reese's "It's Goooooooood!" as the Eagles scored another field goal.  "Touchdown!" was even better, naturally. 

It stands to reason then that I would carry on some of these football traditions in my own family.  Unfortunately, we live entirely too far from Philly to hear "It's Gooooooood!" on our radio.  My kids are too young to vote on game results.  As for favorite teams, I am not influencing their decisions at all.  I just point out that we don't really live in "football territory" anyway (the closest team is the Seattle Seahawks) so picking Mommy's team just seems like a natural thing to do.  Oh, and I may just have unpacked a tiny Eagles cheerleader outfit that the Drama Queen wore at a year old. . .

One football tradition that we have faithfully carried out with all four children is teaching them to raise their arms when you say "Touchdown!" before their first football season starts.  The reasons for doing so are numerous.

1.  It's incredibly cute.  So cute, in fact, that you will keep saying "Touchdown!" over and over again just to see them do it until they give you the mom-please-stop-my-arms-hurt look.

2.  It immediately identifies you as good parents.  When you are out and about and the word touchdown causes your little one to immediately raise their arms, other fans think, "Wow, those parents are doing it right.  They're teaching the most important things first."

3.  It is invaluable to undressing your child quickly.  To this day, when I am helping the Spud or any of the other kids take off their shirt to get ready for bed, I say "Touchdown!" and their arms shoot up, greatly expediting the process.

4.  Once you have trained them to do "Touchdown!", there really is no limit to what else you can train them to do.  Giving high fives, blowing kisses, breakdancing - all of these are a piece of cake for your toddler once they have mastered the "Touchdown!"

It is with great pride we carry on the tradition with Little Sprout.  Please click on the following video and observe the cuteness:



"It's Gooooooood!"

Wordless Wednesday: Happy Hummus Baby

the girl likes her hummus. . .

linking up at 5 Minutes for Mom...

Eight Months - Why Does Time Fly By So Fast?

 I feel as if I just wrote about her turning seven months old!  Time is certainly speeding along, and this momma is clutching at its heels and begging it to slow down just a little bit.  This time around, I am really savoring all the moments that I know from experience don't last.  Even when she wakes me too early in the morning, I eagerly take her from her crib, smiling at the sweet chubby legs dangling over my arm.  Her two-tooth, wide grin gets me every time.  I impatiently wait for her to show it off again.  Everything about her - her squishy tummy rolls, her drooly face, her loud baby chatter, her hilarious cackle - is precious to me. 

I am happy to report that Little Sprout is FINALLY drinking formula!  It took a lot of effort and countless bottles thrown across the room, but she now will drink either Target's Up and Up Gentle formula or Costco's Kirkland formula.  At least she's frugal. :)  She weighs just about sixteen pounds - still petite for her age.  And if you look closely at that cheesy grin, you'll see two tiny teeth emerging from her lower gum.  They popped out last week.

This girl is so full of life!  Naptime is a battle every day as she just wants to stay out with her brothers and sister and party!  She is sleeping better at night, only waking once or twice during the night now.  We were blessed to have a friend drop off several baby and toddler toys for her.  Now she has toys just for her, although she still gravitates to the Hot Wheels and Barbies. 

Ah, I adore her so much!  Can you tell?  In the midst of the busyness of playing with and working with my six-year-old, five-year-old, and four-year-old, it is relaxing and just plain fun to have a baby around.

I think we'll keep her. 

Little Sprout is Seven Months

Little Miss Sprout has turned seven months old today.

The pictures speak for themselves - this little gal is way ahead of herself in motor development.  She is pulling up on anything that she thinks will support her and is taking shaky steps all around the furniture.  Occasionally she will venture out and try to walk without any support, but this always ends in a faceplant.  We had to make a trip to IKEA to get a special baby gate to fit across our stairs.  Now you can hear me hollering a million times a day to "don't forget to close the baby gate!  We don't want your baby sister falling down the stairs."  Of course, at the rate she is going, I wouldn't be surprised if she had the skills to rappel down the stairs. 

Unfortunately, momma's milk is gone.  I have spent a lot of time in the last few weeks trying to get this girl to take a bottle, a sippy cup, a regular cup, a medicine dropper, anything to get more hydration and more nutrition into her.  She is quite stubborn - I have no idea where she gets that from.  Currently the combination of coconut milk and a certain kind of bottle seem to be working okay.  Night time is the hardest.  Miss Insomniac gets up at least two to three times during the night and expects to be brought into bed and nursed back to sleep, essentially.  Now I'm shoving a bottle in her face and begging her to go back to sleep.  It's not fun.  Emotionally it has been hard on me.  I am sad that this bonding time with my baby girl is gone.  I am however very proud that I was able to breastfeed her for almost seven months. 

Who needs TV when the kiddos have a charming baby sister to chase around and watch all of her amusing antics?  Despite the feeding and sleeping troubles, I would say that this baby is the most fun one we've had yet! 

Little Sprout is almost fifteen pounds and is wearing 6-9 month clothing.  She is tiny for her age, but she still sports some fat rolls that are beyond adorable.

On to eight months!  I wouldn't be surprised if she were walking by then!

Six Months - Yes, Really

Little Sprout is officially half a year old today!  Our sweet girl is amazing me every day with her newfound skills and happy spirit.

 This month, the girl decided to speed things up and mastered the art of sitting up independently, crawling, and pulling herself to a precarious standing position in her crib, all within the space of two weeks.  

 The siblings are starting to realize that they had better put away their stuff or baby sister might get a hold of it and destroy it!  Little Sprout loves demolishing pancakes, bread slices, crackers, and pretty much any food she can get her hands on.

 She has some favorite toys now - this IKEA bear being one of them.  She also has a yellow Toad (of Super Mario fame) that the Nerd gave her way back at Christmas.  She loves that thing - slobbery legs and arms are evidence of that.  Little Sprout is also becoming quite attached to a certain animal-print blanket.  Of course, it is a thick, fleecy blanket - so perfect for summertime.

This is the face of a definite mama's girl.  She loves her daddy and grandparents too, but if I am in the room, she wants me.  Unfortunately, breast feeding has become a bit of an issue this month.  She still loves nursing and hates bottles, but at the beginning of this past month, she decided she didn't like one of my breasts and chose to only nurse on one side.  I've tried hard to keep my milk supply up, but I can tell it is quickly diminishing.  I think it will soon be time to wean, but stubborn baby girl hates bottles and refuses to take them.  Anyone have any good ideas on going from breast to bottle?  My other kiddos never had any trouble with it, although this is the longest I have ever been able to nurse one of my children.  

Ah, my heart aches as I look at these pictures, knowing how fast they grow up!  I will try to hold fast to the moment today...

Little Sprout Vs The Watermelon

Little Sprout Vs the Pancake

Five Months

Where does the time go?!  And why don't five months go by this fast when I am pregnant?!  Little Sprout has been growing like crazy, and I'm pretty sure I don't like it one bit!
So, what has the little lady been doing in her fifth month of life?  Well, she started eating "solids", much earlier than any of my other three did.  So far she has had the prerequisite rice cereal of course, carrots, bananas, pears, green beans, and peas.  She has also dabbled in whatever we are eating - pancakes, sandwiches, and mashed potatoes have been gnawed to mush by her toothless little mouth.  The kid loves to eat!
Physically, the girl is way ahead of schedule and scaring me just a little with her attempts to be mobile.  She can already get up on her hands and knees, rocking back and forth until she lurches forward.  I see crawling in the not-too-distant future.  It's crazy - she can't even sit up unassisted yet and still is practically mobile!  I love her little fat rolls - Little Sprout now weighs a solid 14.2 pounds.  Give her a couple more pounds and she will have doubled her birth weight.
Also, this past month we switched Little Sprout from 'sposies to cloth diapers.  She now sports a brightly-colored gDiaper wherever she goes, and I must say she looks awfully cute in them.  (She's got the red one on in the pictures).  We changed over to cloth for a variety of reasons, but mostly I am trying to save us some money.  The gDiapers make the transition much easier than I thought, and since I do laundry every day anyway, washing diapers is not a big deal.
Oh, and (knock on wood!) Little Sprout is finally starting to sleep for longer stretches of time at night.  In fact, the last three nights, she hasn't awakened until 4:00 am to feed - a feat that this very tired momma is so thankful for.  Let's hope it continues!
Happy Five Months, baby girl!

Little Piglet

Ah, Momma's milk just isn't enough for this little piglet anymore.  Thus we have begun our adventure in "solids."
Here she is giving her take on rice cereal.  Not bad, Momma, but the pureed pears you gave me yesterday were infinitely better than this!
Yeah, I should have held off on the liquid sugar a little longer...

One Third of One Year

That's the amount of time we have been blessed to have this cutie hanging out with our family. Like her middle name, she surely does bring us a lot of joy! I am in awe some days that God found me worthy to be her mama. And then there are the days in which she screams pretty much all day, and there is no awe, no joy, no wonder at it all. Ha!

At four months old, Little Miss Sprout weighs about 13 1/2 pounds and is one chunky monkey. She is working hard on maintaining that double chin and her adorable squishy thighs by eating all the time and keeping her mama busy. I am pleased to say that I am still nursing her, which feels like a great accomplishment after failing miserably with both boys.

Her favorite activities include eating her fists and her feet, which she discovered a few weeks ago. She also loves watching her siblings play and enjoys beebopping around in her exersaucer. Daddy has discovered that our newest little is very ticklish, and we get such a kick out of hearing her little cackle. The girl never stops moving, I tell you! Even in her sleep, she scrambles all over her crib and ends up snoring on her tummy. And yes, I know it's "Back to Sleep" but what is one to do when her baby automatically flips over onto her tummy every time she is laid down?

Little Sprout definitely looks interested in the food that I serve up to the rest of the family; so perhaps in her five-month report, I'll be sharing all about her reactions to "people food." Until then, she can slow it down a little! I am in no hurry for my baby to get older!

Baby Circus

Anyone else in the baby circus mode of their life???

You know what I mean. The baby needs a little entertainment - so you put her on her activity mat while she happily bangs away at the dangling toys and babbles nonsense to the world around her.

For ten minutes.

Then she fusses like a nagging wife until you move her to another place of entertainment - the exersaucer. Unsteadily propped up with towels, she wobbles from one shiny plastic object to another and beebops to a twangy version of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."

For eight minutes.

Then the dancing quickly turns to tantrum tears and an "I-am-so-done-with-this" face. So you lift her up, cuddle her for a few minutes, and then put her in the Bumbo seat in a place where she can watch you do something exciting, like folding laundry or washing dishes. She stares at you with a half-interested look on her face and stays calm.

For about six minutes.

Then the sobbing and the attempts to twist herself right out of the chair begin. You soothe and comfort as best you can until another offspring shouts from the bathroom that he may or may not have plugged up the toilet again. You hurriedly tuck her into her swing, turn it up on high, shove the pacifier in her mouth, and try to tiptoe away to handle the bathroom fiasco. She fusses but falls asleep with her head turned at a strangely unnatural angle.

For about thirty minutes.

And then the three-ring circus starts all over again. Same acts, slightly-more-weary mother every time.

I should sell tickets to this kind of entertainment.

Bed Ninja

I don't pretend to be talented at many things. My skills as a housekeeper leave a lot to be desired. I have never been able to complete a cartwheel successfully. I'm terrible at video games - my three-year-old can beat me every time. I have no balance whatsoever, and it took me a long time to be comfortable as a driver. True story.

However, I do have one skill that I have mastered quite well. I began practicing this talent way back when our first offspring made her appearance into our lives. I can confidently say I am now a master at the art of bed ninja.

Being a bed ninja definitely takes practice, a lot of finesse, and hopefully a bed that doesn't squeak too much. It is helpful to do practice bed ninja runs during the day when the moves are not as critical. At nighttime, though, being a bed ninja is absolutely crucial to getting any sort of sleep whatsoever.

You must begin using your bed ninja skills immediately after you have fed the baby. Gently burp the baby if necessary and watch for eye movement. If her eyes even flutter in the slightest, hold her close, wrapped in a warm blanket, while you plot your path back to the crib or bassinette. Carefully ease yourself off the bed and walk heel-toe to the place of baby sleeping. No tiptoeing - it always ends up in tripping or awkward squeaking. The next move is difficult to explain, but I am sure many of you are talented pros at it. You must lower the baby into the crib while simultaneously wrap her in a warm blanket. When baby is lying comfortably asleep in the crib, strategically position the pacifier on the mattress close to her head and walk quietly back to bed.

Now comes the tricky part. You must get back into your own bed, settle yourself comfortably under the sheets, and do all of this without making a sound. I know this because the slightest bed squeak or rustle will immediately awaken my precious sleeping cherub. And once awake, she will howl loud enough to raise the dead. In fact, the other night the Nerd used his decibel reader on his phone (I told you he was a nerd!) while she was screaming, and our little vocalist clocked in at 102 decibels! But I digress - I only share this information to help you realize how vital bed ninja skills are in this house.

I would guess it takes me about five minutes to silently slip under the covers, adjust my pillow and blanket, and let out the breath I've been holding for that long. It takes another five minutes while I lie still as can be, waiting to be sure I did not disturb the Princess of the Night.

Sometimes being a bed ninja requires other, more advanced movements. These may be needed when I get up to put the baby in her bed and return to find the Nerd has filled the vaccuum left by myself. It is very tricky to move a large sleeping man without making any noise and without strangling him, as I am often tempted to do in my delirious, sleep-deprived state. I also have to employ the stop-snoring-right-now technique when the Nerd decides to let the entire world know that he (not his wife!) is getting plenty of rest that night.

The one bed ninja skill I have yet to learn is dealing with small, extremely noisy children that come bursting through the bedroom door demanding water or another blanket or some other such thing. Despite flying up out of bed in an admittedly awesome kung fu move to stop them, I have never been quite fast enough to keep them from waking the baby.

Okay, I'm done bragging now. I'm sure all of you mamas out there have some great bed ninja moves of your own, whether it be pirouetting past a stray Lego on the floor or muffling the sound of a flushing toilet.

P.S. I need to teach the Nerd my bed ninja skills. He possesses none of them. The end.

Dear Fisher Price

Dear Fisher Price,

Apparently I am a difficult child to entertain these days. I have the cutest pink bouncy seat, but generally I am pretty fussy in it. Don't bother to turn on the vibrate option - that really gets on my nerves and I will let out several piercing screams to let everyone know just how much I don't like it. My parents got me a swing because swings were a "godsend" when their other children were babies. It's okay, I guess. If all my toys are lined up on the bar just right and the insanely annoying music is NOT turned on, I might enjoy my time in the swing for five or ten minutes. Then I get carsick and make sure Mom knows it's time to remove me from the swing.

My parents are not the brightest people on the planet. It takes them a while to figure out the right things for me. I don't know why because I try to let them now as loudly as possible what the wrong things are. They did finally figure out that I do like to be upright as much as possible, leading them to get me one of those Bumbo seats. It's fine and all, and I do like looking around and watching my siblings argue and throw Hot Wheel cars down the stairs. Only thing is, my neck can't support me for very long and I grow tired of the Bumbo seat quickly.

So Friday night Mom and Dad went to Toys R Us to scout out birthday present possibilities for my older brother. While there, they decided to go check out the baby section to see if possibly there was still some entertainment option left for me. Dad was talking animatedly about exersaucers. Hello?! Remember the whole my-neck-can't-support-my-head-for-very-long issue? Then they saw your Discover and Grow Kick and Play Piano Gym. I was immediately very interested in the bright colors of your product. Dad remembered some cute time in the bathtub when I was kicking my legs a lot and giggling so he thought I would like this piano gym. (I don't specifically remember this moment as I have a lot of cute moments.)

Anyway, my mom, cheapskate that she is, immediately looked at the price and said no way. (And really, Fisher Price? I mean I really wanted that piano but even I thought $55 was a bit steep.) Dad saw a sign that stated the piano gym was on sale for ten dollars off. Mom suddenly remembered that she might have a coupon for it and dug out her embarrassing coupon notebook to look. Now they were looking at a $40 piano gym. Wouldn't you know it, my parents stood there for twenty minutes debating whether or not to buy that piano gym?? If they had just taken a moment to look at this face,

they would have purchased it right away. But thankfully they finally did decide to buy it (whew!) and I got to play with it the next day.

I'm not sure what my favorite part of my new toy is. The mirror makes me laugh, and I think the animal rattles are adorable. I could just eat them up! (and I try to, on a regular basis...) My brothers and sister love to watch me pound out a tune on the piano with my feet, no doubt wishing they had such talent. Oh, and when I accidentally roll over? My mom can just lay the mirror and toys down and I get some valuable "tummy time,"' whatever that is.

So thank you for saving my desperate parents and for giving me something that is actually fun to play with. (Yes, I know I'm not supposed to end my sentences with prepositions, but give me a break. I'm only three months old!)

Keep up the great work!

Sincerely, the Drama Princess

****no, I was not contacted by Fisher Price to endorse/do a review on this product and certainly was not compensated in any way (although, FP, if you're interested, I really want that musical dino!). We simply want other desperate parents to know there is hope out there. And it is worth every dollar.****

Tres Cute

Well, the Little Sprout officially turned three months old yesterday. Don't ask me where the time went, but our little sweetheart seemed to turn into a "not-very-newborn-anymore" overnight! I am trying to enjoy every second of this all-too-brief phase in her life.

She weighs in now at a little over twelve pounds; so she is still mostly sporting clothing in the 0-3 month range. The sweet knitted cape in the photos was made especially for her by a dear lady in our church.

We have many pet names for our newest family member, but lately I've taken to calling her "Fuss-Bucket" and "Chunk-Bucket." She can be quite the cranky one, especially at 5:00 pm and following. A few mild cries will quickly turn into wall-shaking screams if she is not attended to immediately. She really isn't happy unless she is surrounded by family that is paying attention to HER. We may have to rename her the "Drama Princess" for blogging purposes. As for "Chunk-Bucket," the poor babe spits up. A lot! She eats and is hungry an hour later because she spit up most of what she ate. We have been having to supplement with formula to help her with this. It took several brands, but apparently Similac Sensitive is doing the trick, at least for now.

As I mentioned in the last post, Little Sprout is now rolling over and doing it all the time. Many times it is to get some toy she can't quite reach. The girl loves her toys, in particular a giraffe rattle and some musical car keys. Although, she is currently shaking her fist at the giraffe and screaming, so I am not sure if that happy relationship will continue.

I love this age, even with the extra fussing and spitting. The smiles and constant baby chatter make it all worth it. happy three months, Fuss-Bucket!

Mind Rush

It's Saturday night. The insanity has settled down. Three deliciously sweet children are curled up in tight corners of their beds. One especially stubborn baby is swatting at the cheerful frog on her new play mat while simultaneously rubbing sleep from her eyes.

I am sitting crisscross applesauce on my bed while gathering children's church materials and planning curriculum for the next several weeks. I am having trouble focusing on the tasks at hand as my mind busily runs through the past week's activities. Around here weeks fly by so fast that sometimes it's hard to be aware of what exactly went down.

I got my hair cut this week in an a-line cut. It's easy and chic and gasp! age-appropriate, AND I still like it several days after the cut, so that's saying something.

Little Sprout startled me one day by rolling over and getting quite a distance across the room in this fashion. I don't remember my other littles doing that before three months old. The Beast keeps asking me now to "make Baby Bean do her special trick."

A dear friend moved all the way back east this past week. We had one last girls' night while our kiddos played together and ate spaghetti. I miss her already but am so excited for her and this new directions in her family's life.

Miss Suzie, the Beast's speech therapist, and an autism specialist came over to our house on Friday morning to conduct an observation and evaluation of our Beast. The results of that evaluation will determine whether or not we will be eligible for more special services. I was a bundle of nerves before they came but thankfully the ladies were able to put me at ease. The whole thing went rather well, considering I had to stop and feed the baby in the middle of it all.

Time to take a deep breath and put the swirling thoughts in my head to rest for another day. I'm thankful for a baby that finally gave up the fight against sleep. I'm thinking I should take my cue from her and get some shut-eye too. good night world.

Warning: Cuteness Overload

Thanks for all the prayers and kind thoughts. As a whole, we are doing much better. We are still waiting on test results, though, so until we get those, sweet Hosanna has to keep taking the bottle while I pump. So not fun.

Meanwhile, I realized that I had 172 pictures on my phone - apparently I use it a lot more than our actual camera to capture moments around the house, especially of our new addition. Here's a few (okay, more than a few!) pics of little miss Hosanna Joy to show how much she's grown over the past month:

*waiting at the hospital in January to have an ultrasound to test for hip dysplasia*

*first smile at just a month old*

*love this face*

*getting ready for church at one month old*

*playing with Daddy - of course she adores him*

*another church photo (and the lock screen on my phone, I love it so much)*

*she is definitely not a leave-her-in-the-swing-or-bouncy-seat baby - she wants to be with me. all the time. so here she is in the laundry basket...*

*found these antennae at the store on clearance and couldn't resist*

*trying on her piggy hat*

*hooray for the bumbo - she loves to be upright due to her stomach issues so the bumbo works wonders for us*

*just last night, after she screamed for an hour and I couldn't get her to calm down. We finally put her in a warm bath, and this was the instant result.*

I promise not to make every post about the baby; in fact, I'm working on some "interviews" with the other three kids, and maybe I'll worm in something about the Nerd too. Still, these pictures are just too cute to not share with the world, am I right?