Ady // 7 Month Update

Stats: 
Weight: 20lbs 7oz 
Height: 26.5in

Sleep:  We finally had a few 11 hour nights this month! Honestly, I've never minded you getting up around 4a or 5a to nurse as you go back to sleep pretty well and it's good for my supply, but it feels good to get 8 hours of sleep myself! Naps still really aren't scheduled but you're getting closer to that. Generally you'll take one in the morning and one in the afternoon.  

Food: All breastmilk for the liquids again this month! You tried some new foods like pears, carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, bananas and apples. Bananas seem to be your favorite right now.

Diapers: Still wearing FuzziBunz size medium. 

Clothes: You are mostly in 12 month clothes except for a few 9month pieces that still fit. 

Talk: You talk all.the.time. I'm pretty sure you're going to be a vocal little girl. I know you've made the momma and dadda noise a few times, but we're not considering either your first word until we really know you're saying it. Also, you have been doing this adorable growling thing and I'm trying my best to capture that on video!

Teeth: 2 on the bottom with no signs of anymore coming anytime soon.

Milestones: Full time sitter as of 6 months and 3 weeks old. Also, you moved to the convertible car seat at 6.5 months.  

You also had your second bout of a 'severe' double ear infection this month. I use the word severe only because the pediatrician did. It was really painful for you to eat and we had a few rough sleeping nights but the clingy snuggles were a-ok with this mommy!

And lastly your personality has definitely been shining through more and more. We call you 'sassy pants' for a reason and I think you are going to be one feisty little girl. But one thing is for sure; you are always happy. You have no stranger danger and give the biggest, open-mouth smile to everyone who looks your way!  (.... especially mommy) :)

And a few that didn't make the cut...

Playdate City

When Derek goes out of town, I like to set up playdates. Anyone else do this? They keep me busy and it forces us to get out of the house. So this past weekend was a total of four playdates, two for each of the kiddos!

Saturday morning started off some fun with Drew's BFF Jack. These two have known each other since they were 3 months old and it's adorable watching them play together.

Then on Saturday afternoon, a new friend had a playdate with 4 moms that we all got to know at a local breastfeeding support group while on maternity leave. Ady was the youngest (but 2nd biggest) at 6.5 months and the oldest was 7.5 months. Loved seeing these babies together!

Side note: here's another example of why I hate being so tall. Does this next picture not make me look like an elephant? Ugh.

Then on Sunday I had a couple girlfriends over who had babies just before Ady. The other two didn't really want to sit for a picture and Ady just sat there smiling away like a happy little lady.

For fun, here's a comparison of them at 2 months and 6.5ish months! (yes, the two next to Ady flipped positions for the second picture)

And then on Monday morning, I was off work and met a girlfriend and her kiddos for breakfast. Afterward we went to a local place where they could play and we could catch up!

Sometimes I'm not sure if playdates are better for the kids or moms. It's nice to let the little ones run around while we all chat away!

Randoms

First of all, thank you for all your sweet comments about Lacy's final post. It's been a rough couple of days but we know it was the right decision and that we'll see her again in heaven someday.

Now to shift gears, just a few randoms I'd like to touch on lately. First, I think we are all finally getting healthy. A month ago we were all fighting sickness and Ady had her first double ear infection. As she was starting to get better, Drew caught strep throat and then as he started to get better Ady came down with another 'severe' (per the doc) double ear infection. Last Wednesday and Thursday she was absolutely miserable and super clingy.... which I kinda love. The clingy part, not the miserable part. As of a couple days ago, she's much better and back to her smiley self.

Also, someone rode in the top of the grocery cart for the first time last week!

I also feel like the tantrums with Drew have been maybe a bit better. He will have a couple awesome days but then will just explode on another day. I'm trying my best to have patience, but I wasn't born with a ton and it's been a struggle for both of us. Rewarding the good days with suckers is happening a lot over here.

Hope you're having a great week!

Crossing the Rainbow Bridge

At 10:10am this morning Derek and I said our final goodbye to our old girl. Our 'first born' and the one who has been with Derek and I all but 6 weeks of our entire relationship. As much as it was a tough decision to make, it was just time and we knew it had to be done. She was 12.5 years old and her quality of life had diminished quite a bit over the past year. The hip dysplasia was hindering her ability to stand and walk and even in the past few days it took a big toll on her body. Her kidney issues were leading to excessive water drinking and led her to lose around 16 pounds in under 3 months. She also lost quite a lot of her bladder control and seemed depressed to us. We couldn't stand to see her fall again and it was quite sad to not see her wag her tail anymore. We decided last week that we didn't want to drag out her life until she was in constant discomfort and that it would break our hearts if she passed in a painful way. So the appointment was made.

To give a brief story of her life, she was rescued in 2002 in Lawrence, Kansas where Derek and I were attending the University of Kansas. We were seniors and I volunteered at the Humane Society weekly. I would often drag Derek along with me and after a couple visits with her and her brother, we knew we wanted to adopt her. So we did it. And we changed her name from Rue to Lacy. (This was after only 6 weeks of dating and needless to say, our parents weren't too happy). Anyway, Derek was the president of his fraternity so he had his own room. She lived there for 3 months until he moved at semester to an apartment. Hey, you don't always make the best choices in college, right?!

She was the most adorable puppy though and really was a wonderful dog. She crate trained quickly, was very smart and always was a calm pup who enjoyed sleeping in bed with us. 

After graduation we moved to Jacksonville, Florida for a year where she loved being our "baby". And I mean, like for realz. Over the next 8 years we treated her like our kid and she was our entire world. Heck, she even helped Derek propose by wearing the diamond ring around her neck!

She LOVED the sun and would sunbathe with me whenever possible. She never really played with dog toys but walks were her thing. If she heard her leash move, she would spring up and run to you beyond excited to go on a walk.

In 2007 we thought she was bored at home all day and therefore rescued another lab mix from a different shelter. Lacy took Bailey under her wings and was the best older sister ever.

My parents even bought us a professional portrait session in 2009 because they knew these dogs were our everything.

These two videos show how happy and healthy she was earlier in life and although blurry, I love them! 

When Drew was born I knew there was no worry of having her (and Bailey) in the house and I was right. Same with Ady. She loved those kids and would let Drew do anything to her. Sure she'd sometimes get bitchy with other dogs if they sniffed her butt at the park, but she loved people and would always offer her paw to rub. Weird, we know, but that dog LOVED her paws being rubbed.

In total she lived in about 8 different homes in 3 different states and never had any issues transitioning. 

We will miss you sweet girl. Even though you were quite a handful over the past few months and annoyed the crap out of me from time to time, I will still miss you deeply. Despite your stinky breath and constant shedding, it was still hard to make this decision but we know you are happier now. As our 'first born', you will always hold a special place in my heart.

We hope you enjoyed your walks this week as well as your McDonalds cheeseburger, peanut butter bone and ice cream treat yesterday. I know you're in heaven playing with all of your friends and eating pacifiers/bottles to your hearts desire. I will never forget you sweet girl. Never.

Goodbye my old girl.
I hope you'll find me in heaven someday.

My Love Bugs

Happy Valentine's Day from my two love bugs! 

Vday Mini Sessions

Although I'm primarily an outdoor, natural light photographer, I've been dabbling in the studio world a bit lately with a cake smash session and now Valentine's Day Mini Sessions! Personally, I prefer to walk around with a family and capture moments with them using nature as my backdrop, but this new venture has been fun and a nice little extra income during the winter. In fact, it was so fun that I'm already working on my Easter mini session setup!

But for today, I had to share a few of my faves from the sessions! Pics of my own kiddos will be posted soon....

I always try to send a 'crying' picture once and a while to the parents if I feel it's adorable. This is probably one of my most favorite pictures ever. So simple and sweet.

Also, if you're interested in supporting my photography business and Facebook page, feel free to click 'like' below:

I appreciate it!

Sledding Fun

Every single weekend we have tried to go sledding this winter, it's been too frigid or the snow melted too fast. This past weekend it was finally "warm" enough (ie; over 30 degrees) and therefore we decided it was time. 

We found a small hill that was a perfect size for Drew and I'm pretty sure he went down a total of 49 times. He traded off going by himself and with Derek, me and his Uncle Bean who was in town for the weekend. 

The little one even got to break out her snowsuit and enjoy her first ride. She absolutely adored being pulled around on the sled. 

.... but loved mommy and daddy's warm snuggles the most.

As much as I'm a warm weather girl, I've always loved sledding and can't wait to share in that fun many more times with these 2.

Breastfeeding My Babe

**Disclaimer: no boobs are visible in this post....sorry internet creepers. And thanks to Steph for the inspiration to post some nursing pics! 

Well I did it. I beat how long I nursed with Drew and I'm quite proud of that. I made it 5.5 with him and we're almost to 6.5 months with Ady. She's a champion nurser and my 'ladies' performed much better this time around. And the best part? We're SO not done! 

The problem is supply. When I ended maternity leave I had like 160oz saved in the freezer. Lately she's been eating more than I'm pumping and it's been slowly depleting my stash leaving me with about 75oz or so. At this rate, I'm assuming I'll have to start supplementing with when she's around 8 months old. I've been told by a lot of working moms that this is normal and am taking pills, chugging water and eating oatmeal daily to help, but formula is most likely on our radar in the next few months. And I'm A-Ok with that. No comments about how there's no need to supplement please, I know my body and with running more and watching my calories, my supply has been dwindling. I still plan to nurse her until she's a year old, we just might have to be about half breastmilk/half formula. 

Her distraction level has definitely been something we've been working on lately as well. If she hears the TV, my phone, Drew or the any other noise, she pops off and looks around. Per the suggestion of some friends, we've been going to her room and dimming the lights. I hum or talk to her while she's nursing and she doesn't tend to pop off as much. I was also told this is a phase (especially with the solid foods) and that she'll come back to love nursing again soon.

It's amazing how much easier it's been for me the second round. On top of that, I feel it's bonded Ady and I so deeply. Not saying Drew and I weren't bonded, but breastfeeding was just so painful and a struggle with him from the get-go. Sure it sucks that I have to pump 4 times at work everyday, but at least I get to do it in the comfort of my own home!

Did you breastfeed? If so, kudos on however long you made it. If not, kudos on choosing to use formula. Either one is a great choice!

Sitting Practice

Our little girl is beating her brother in the sitting world by a few weeks. Drew could sit 10-15 seconds at 7 months of age and Ady isn't quite 6.5 yet. She's pretty consistent for a few seconds, but has made it up to around 20 seconds one time. She does the best job when she's naked so I use that as my excuse to have nakey time! 

Soon enough she'll be fully 'ploppable' (a term my friend Shannon coined) which is seriously what she is wanting. She doesn't really enjoy laying down anymore and loves to sit up and watch the world!