Thursday, March 31, 2011

8 weeks.... I'm tired.

Happy 8 weeks to Audrey.  I'll post pics, videos, and more updates when she turns 2 months old in a couple days.  She hasn't been sleeping as well at night the past few days.  She had done SOO well.  Going to bed by 8 or 8:30pm and sleeping until 4:30am.  So I was spoiled.  Last night, she slept from 8pm to 12:45 am.  Then was back up at 3am.  Then up again 5 minutes after putting her back down.  And then up at 6:45am.  I didn't get much sleep so I'm tired.  I hope we get back to more sleep soon.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

7 weeks . . .

Audrey is 7 weeks old today!  I weighed her on our scale  yesterday and she is 10 pounds!  I can't believe it.  Paul & I tried to measure her length , but we weren't sure if you go from top of the head to the tips of her toes or to her heels.  To her heels, she is 20 inches.  Her cheeks are much much fuller ... squeezable now :)  She's got a couple of rolls on her upper thighs and upper arms and an adorable double chin.  Her eyelashes are growing longer, but her hair is receding on both sides.   I hope she doesn't lose too much!  The back of her head still has plenty of wild hair.  It curls when wet but is mostly straight when dry.  She is a smiling girl now too.  I'm just in love with her smiles.  She does it a lot on her changing table, but also during playtime.  Paul and I go nuts when we get those smiles and coos.

Audrey is still playing in her gym, but is also enjoying her Play and Learn Puppy that Uncle Andrew gave her.  I make it sing and talk while she's on the changing table and she gives lots of squeaks and smiles.  We do some reading too, but she's not that into it yet.  Her head control is still doing good.  She holds her head up on her own when held.  I've put her in the Bumbo seat for the past few days and she can sit in that for a couple of minutes.  Then her head starts to bob and I know that's the end of that.  She still loves looking at faces and the ceiling fan.  No one will ever replace the ceiling fan.  She kicks her legs like crazy and loves to move her arms and hands.  Stretching is her specialty.  She grabs her hands too.

I have to admit that I love dressing her up in cute outfits.  Having a girl is so much fun.  We try on different clothes and I put bows in her hair.  Love it.  She likes her paci (or papi as Paul calls it) more now... only the Soothie kind.  But she can't keep it in for very long.  She doesn't get too upset when it falls out and we don't even use it at night at all right now.  Overall, she is a very happy baby.  Her main complaints in life are gas (she grunts so hard when she's trying to fart... Mylicon helps though thank goodness) & being hungry.  She does like to whine sometimes so that I'll snuggle her.  I don't mind at all though :)  We always swaddle at night, but lately miss priss as been busting out.  So last night, we did the escape proof swaddle (look it up on YouTube).  It was amazing... I'm a total believer.  She slept 8.5 hours, woke up to eat, and then slept another 2 hrs.  AMAZING.  I know it may not last, we go through good and better nights, but I love it when she sleeps that long!  It makes EVERYONE feel better!  I know that no one other than Paul & I care about all these details I just gave.  Honestly, I mostly did it so I can look back and remember! 

Ok, I'm done now :)

Sara

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Squeaks & Squeals

I just love all of Audrey's noises and coos :)  Enjoy!




Meeting Aunt Hannah on March 13

Monday, March 14, 2011

Short & sweet

Just a quick post to say Go Heels for being the regular season ACC champions!  I hate that we lost to Dook in the ACC championship game, but it's fine.  I look forward to watching the NCAA tournament and seeing how my bracket does.  Speaking of which, I need to do that today.   In other news, the cold that Paul gave to me has been passed to Audrey.  Thankfully, she doesn't have a fever, but the poor baby is so congested and is coughing and sneezing.  I hate seeing her like that!  Last night, she woke me up (through the monitor) coughing and gagging.   It scared the crap out of me.  It's just hard on a baby since they can't get that gunk out very easily.  We are doing a lot of suctioning and using her humidifier so I hope that helps.  I ordered the ultimate nose sucker called the Nose Frida too, and it should get here Wednesday.  Google it if you haven't heard of it ... it's gross but I hear it works great!  Anyways, Audrey & I are just going to relax and rest so we can both get over these colds!

Friday, March 11, 2011

Finding money in all the right places...

So, here are some financial things I have been reading about lately.   First, the Bailout Banks are aboutt to stick it to us common folk!  There are talks about these banks limiting debit card purchases to $50 or $100.  The reason for this?  The banks charge the retailer 44 cents per card swipe.  With the new Wall Street reform, they will only be allowed to charge 12 cents per swipe.  These are the same banks WE bailed out with our tax dollars!  How gracious they are for our help.  Here is an article explaining it a little more...Bailout Banks... "screw the little guy, thanks for keeping us open though".

If any of you bank with the large Bailout Banks, make sure you keep an eye on your checking accounts.  These banks are also going to start charging fees for checking accounts that were free.  So, if you have a free checking account with a BofA, Chase, Wachovia/Wells Fargo, etc you might be in for a surprise.  Do business with your local banks or credit unions!! 

So we went and talked with our Insurance agent today, well an agent.  We have been in Aiken since January of 2009 and I have yet to meet our agent.  She worked at another office when I was off on Mondays, so I go in today thinking I will finally meet her, well.... no.  Needless to say, the poor fella who helps us every time we come gets no commission from us and does all the work.  Anyway, back to the real story.  We made some changes that will save us about $130 dollars a year!  I have learned to re-assess our insurance plans every year.  Shop around to see if you can get better deals.  Actually look at your policy and make sure you are getting the discounts you are supposed to be getting.  And what I have found to be most important, re-assess your financial situation and if possible, raise your deductibles!  Also if you are driving a car that is more than 8 - 10 years old or has high mileage, get rid of that Full coverage and go with comprehensive. 

Well, that's my financial spill for the week.  Some good places to get your learn on in regards to finances... CNN Money, Bloomberg, Forbes.  There are many others, but those are the ones I have been reading the most lately. 

Enjoy!

Paul "the bad math financial guy who is good at math when a dollar sign precedes the math"

Whew, its been a long time......

but not quite as long as the last time South Carolina had a sane governor... heeeyyyooo.  So I have been horrible about blogging lately.  Sorry about that, but I have been busy.  Work duties call and Audrey does too.  Not too much has been going on tho, so you yall have not missed much. The Tar Heels have found a point guard and a leader, and guess what, they started winning.  Surprise surprise... I would be willing to bet that is one of the first times a starter has left his team in the middle of the season and they got better.  I guess it shows what ONE person can do to a TEAM, bad or good.


Well, some updates are in order I spose.  I have done great things in the yard.  A great new wall of Aiken has been constructed around the garden of Eaten (yes I spelled that correctly, its called word play).  Stoney has not attempted to enter the garden since the fence has been constructed, I am willing to bet it will not be long before he tries it.  Speaking of Stoney, he is getting larger by the day.  Still smart as a whip tho.

Sara and Audrey have been bonding alot lately.  That is good! I can not wait until she is old enough to go with daddy to go to the garden and eat dirt!  Speaking of the garden, i got some collards, turnips, cabbage and burssel sprouts planted, for the early garden.  Won't be long til the real garden has been established.  Got me a new freezer too.  So there will be some freezing being done this year.  Gotta catch me a mess of fish to store up this summer too!

Well that is about it, atleast pertaining to the life of us.  Look for the post talking about debit cards and the bailout banks new ideas on what they are going to do with checking account fees and debit card purchase limits.

Paul   

Pics!

Here are a couple pics from March so far...
Sleeping baby Tarheel
Look at that big belly!
Meeting Aunt Leila... March 5
Meeting Uncle Andrew
Meeting Steph's earrings... she thought Steph was ok too :)
5 week old baby girl... March 10

Thursday, March 10, 2011

5 weeks old!

Happy 5 weeks to Audrey!  Time is flying by.  She's growing so fast... she can't fit well into any of her newborn onesies anymore!  0-3 are still a little big but that's what she's wearing.  I don't have an official weight for her since we don't go to the pedi again until April, but she is getting up towards 9 pounds.  I couldn't believe it when I weighed us on the scale!  I'll have to check it again to make sure.   We are still breastfeeding and she does great with it.  Daddy gives her 1 bottle of expressed breastmilk in the morning.  She likes her gym more and her mobile.  She loves the music, lights, toys, and has learned to hit a toy with her hand.  She loves staring contests with Mommy and has even snuck in a couple smiles which melt my heart.  She has become more interested in her paci as well... only the Soothies though, but she's not needing it to go to sleep.  Speaking of sleep, knock on wood, she's doing well and we are so glad.  Last night she slept 8 hours.  She eats around 7 or 8pm then goes to bed and can sleep until 3 or 4.  2 days ago she went till 4:45!  Makes me soooo happy!  I hope it lasts!  I've been a little sick with a cold so the extra sleep has been much appreciated. 

I plan to post pics and a video later today or as soon as I can!

Sara

Thursday, March 3, 2011

One Month Old!

I can't believe Audrey is 1 month old already!  Where has this month gone?  Seriously, it's flying by.  Everyday is over before I know it.  It's just a different world taking care of a newborn.  I love that she is becoming more interactive now.  I love the smiles I get when she is nursing or falling asleep.  It really makes that 2 am feeding a lot better!  I look forward to when she smiles at us with a purpose!

Audrey is doing well overall.  We are learning to deal with her fussiness in the evenings and she is still sleeping fairly well at night.  We try to get out of the house for walks with Stoney or to run errands a few times a week.  We have been having great weather for a couple weeks now so that makes it easier.

Audrey weighs a little over 8 lbs (8 lbs 2 oz according to my scale).  She is up nearly 2 lbs since birth!  The girl likes to eat!  She is wearing some 0-3 clothes now, as well as newborn still.  She's in between sizes.  

She will meet her Aunt Leila, Uncle Ryan, Uncle Andrew, cousin Connor, cousin Eli, and Aunt Stephanie this weekend!  It will be a fun time for sure!

I'll leave with a video taken last week at 3 weeks and some pics!





Sara

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

We're still here!

It's been awhile since we last posted!  We've been transitioning to Paul continuing to work and me being home with Audrey by myself.  We've also had more visitors including part of the TH7, Ana & Danielle, and their men as well as their dogs and baby Santi!  We had a lot of fun cooking out and catching up!  The weather was wonderful and it was nice to hang out on the patio.  Pete & Stoney had a marvelous time as well :)  Other than that, we're just still working on getting used to our daughter.  She's become much more vocal lately, so that's been interesting.  Unfortunately, she's the most fussy around 6 to 8 pm . . . right when Paul is getting home and we are trying to eat dinner and spend a little time together.  It's been difficult and I hope it passes soon!  We're doing the 5 S's which help but it's still exhausting! 

I truly can't believe Audrey will be one month in just 2 days.  I can't tell you where this month has gone.  I'll make sure to update then with her weight and what she's been up to.  Oh, and I'll add some pictures!

Sara