Lent

This year for Lent, I decided to give up Facebook. This was an easy decision for me to make seeing as though I often get sucked in to all of the gossip it holds. I will miss posting pictures of my sweet Karaline for friends and family to see, but I will update more on here. The time that I used to spend on Facebook will allow me to do something more productive.

Joey gave up his debit card. He has a habit of stopping each and every work day at a 7-11 on the way home. He's gotten better at what he buys (now only a drink refill), but it still adds up. He's been talking about giving me his card, but instead, yesterday he cut it up! For those of you who don't know him, my husband is the MOST EXTREME person you will ever meet. This is just one example of this.

In other news, Karaline is now 4 months old... time goes so quickly!

Daddy's Girl

Karaline is definitely going to be a Daddy's Girl. Anytime Joey enters the room, Karaline instantly smiles, laughs, and coos. It melts my heart to see them together. The other night while Karaline was fighting her sleep (a trait she got from her Dad) and Joey was sitting on the porch, I opened the blinds to show him that we were still awake. When Karaline saw him, she began to laugh and smile. I'm LOVING this time in her life!

We went to the doctor yesterday for her 4 month check up. She weighs 16.7 lbs, is 24 3/4 inches long, and can start eating foods! CRAZY!!! The shots of course break my heart, but as always, she was a gracious baby.

Milestones we've reached:
*rolling from tummy to back
*putting paci in mouth
*scooting around on play mat
*reaching and grabbing for toys
*attempting to roll from back to stomach - getting caught by shoulder.
*gives kisses and LOVES getting them!

I'll leave you with a new picture of my beautiful baby.

Rolling Already!

Saturday we went to see Nikki's volleyball team play in Orlando. It wasn't the original plan, but with traffic and bad planning on my part, it's what happened. :) The tournament was pretty amazing...there were 25 volleyball games going simultaneously. Karaline was on stimulation overload!

Karaline got to see Aunt Nikki again and finally got to meet Nana Robyn, too! I'm soooo happy we were able to see them :) Here's a picture of her with the team.

Once we made it home, we put Karaline on her playmat on her tummy. We've been doing tummy time for a while now, but on Saturday, she propped herself up on her arms just like we would. I was already amazed by that but then she had to go and out do herself by rolling over!!! It wasn't a mistake either...she really rolled from her tummy to her back so gracefully. It's completely bittersweet....she's growing far too fast for me! She rolled again today, too! I keep telling her to slow down but she's not listening :)

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Lots of Love and Alligators

Sam came over on Friday to take some Valentine pictures of Karaline. I absolutely LOVE them. Basically, Karaline is the most beautiful baby ever!!! It really makes me want to get a good camera. I'm going to start saving for it now :)


Here are a few:
In other news, the Alligator Man visited our school on Friday. He brought lots of critters with him~ an alligator, a weird lizard, a scorpion, a tarantula, and a huge snake. A few of my kids freaked out when he brought out the alligator. One was crying so hard that he had to go inside and sit with our director. I held part of the huge snake and alligator. I am not a fan of these things, however, I had to show my kids that I was brave and that these animals were not going to hurt them. Here's two pictures from the visit:

Catching Up

So, it's been a while since I've last updated. I am steadily learning my new daily routine. Thankfully, the days seem to go by quickly. Sadly, the evenings do too. That's the part of the day that I'd love to pause for a while. Most afternoons, Karaline takes a pretty long nap. It's nice because I'm able to get everything ready for the next day, but when we get home, I just want to cuddle with her.

She's growing so fast. We went to the doctor today and she weighs 15 lbs., 11 oz. Last night we bought her some new outfits (all 6 months) and one pair of the 6 month pants are too little!!!!

Everyday she is doing something new and different. I cannot begin to express the amount of joy she brings to our lives. Her sweet coos and smiles melt my heart. Before having her, I was that person who would make comments about parents. I never understood why parents did or didn't do specific things. I am beginning to completely understand and am kicking myself for being judgmental. In fact, one of my friends on Facebook has the perfect status and suggestion: "Before you have kids, you should make a list of things you'll "never do" as a parent. It'll be good for a laugh later on."

I'll try and be better about posting, but with working and trying to do the "to dos" at home, I haven't had much time that I feel like blogging!

Survival

I survived my first week without Karaline and back at work. Monday was a difficult day but I made it through with lots of prayers, encouraging calls and texts from family and friends, and hugs.

Linda, Karaline's sitter, loves her. This is a huge blessing to me. Not that I thought anyone could not love Karaline, but I'm her mom...Karaline has done wonderfully with her bottle and is on a pretty good routine with eating and napping. PRAISE THE LORD!!!

I'm thankful to have the job that I have. It's been an adjustment being back- not just being away from Karaline but actually being back at work since I've been out since September. My kids were very excited to see me. I've loved seeing how much they've learned and how much they've changed since I've been gone. I'm still working on getting back into all of the everyday routines but so far we're making it.

Thank you all for your prayers and support. I feel lots of comfort so I know the prayers are working. God is so good.

Too Soon

The day has come waaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy too soon...I go back to work tomorrow and Karaline goes to her sitter's. We are very fortunate to have a lady, Linda, who has kept kids for over 25 years at her house to watch Karaline. She's got 2 other kids who are 2 and 3 {I think...}. I know Karaline will get lots of love from both Linda and the kids. Even though I know this, this past week has been horrible for me~lots of crying at random times, very emotional, and tons of mood swings. I've had plenty that I should do to prepare but the only thing that I've wanted to do is hold my sweet baby-so that's just what I did.

Not only have I had the sickest feeling ever about leaving her, but we've been struggling with Karaline taking her bottle. Back in early December, Karaline took a bottle wonderfully. I was relieved because I've heard of babies who do not do well with this transition. Joey and I decided that we'd try and put her on the baby sitter schedule 2 weeks before I go back. Well, 2 weeks ago, I tried feeding her during the day as planned and it was horrific...traumatic for both me and Karaline. She cried the entire time. I read on the La Leche League website that some breast fed babies will not take a bottle from their mom. So I decided that I would pump for Joey. It was a little struggle, but she ended up taking it from him with minimal fussing. Unfortunately, this did not last. These last 3 days have been major fights...this has only added to my stress. However, the most amazing thing happened. During one of our crying bottle feedings, I decided to say a prayer aloud. Immediately after I said, "amen," Karaline took the bottle like a pro. Of course I believe in the power of prayer, but I have never seen the immediate result.

The Lord has surely heard my prayers. Today after church I went to Target by myself to kind of prepare myself for tomorrow. When I got home, Joey was feeding Karaline a bottle without a fight. ~YAY~ AND, the best part is that she took the bottle from me without a fight, too. Thank you Lord for hearing and answering prayers. It makes me feel a million times better knowing that she will eat. I know she will not starve...believe me, I'm not blind, and I know that my child who is now in the 99 percentile of weight for her age {13 lb. 9oz} will not allow herself to be hungry for long; but I worry about her being a stress on Linda.

A side note about my chunky monkey...Yesterday, we went to Lakeside Village for an outing. While walking through the Belk shoe department, I walked past an older lady who of course looks in the stroller and compliments/insults my sweet baby. Here's what she said, "Oh, what a beautiful baby. She's precious. Looks like she's about to bust. " HA~ Seriously? I said, "She keeps growing." I just love her cheeks, chins, and fat rolls...each and every one.

Well, since I'm going back to school, I can't promise that I'll be blogging as often. I hope to take the time, but we'll just have to see. It has been a loooooooooonnnnnnnnnnggggg time since I've worked...remember bed rest in September? PHEW...what an adjustment. I'm excited to get reacquainted with my kids and other teachers.