Thursday, October 31, 2013

halloween

happy halloween, nora! 
better late than never, right?! i was hoping i'd be better about updating your letters... 
anyway, here are some pictures from your very first halloween!  you did not have a costume this year, as most were too big for your tiny little body!  you had plenty of fun halloween outfits though!  

we started off by celebrating with the favia's for a halloween brunch the sunday before.  




each day the week leading up to halloween you sported a different halloween outfit... so many to choose from!

on halloween, you went trick-or-treating to gigi & grandpas then to grandma & grandpa's.  we ended our night at the favia's for a spooky halloween dinner!  you got lots of cuddles in this night with some of your favorite people! 




our final halloween adventures ended with a fall fest at brooks' house.  of course, i forgot to take pictures that night!  you met a few other babies that night!  

i  hope you enjoyed your first holiday!  i'm already thinking about what you can dress up as next year.  i know i have a few more years left of choosing your costumes then you'll want to choose them yourself!  i promise i won't make you wear anything you don't want to wear!! 

happy halloween, nora!
xoxo
mom & dad

our lil punkin posing with her pumpkins (and lucy!)

ok i know this was mean, but it was too funny not to take a picture! 

Sunday, October 27, 2013

2 months

little miss nora,
you are two months old today! i have loved every minute of the last two months with you.  i am so grateful to be your mommy :) every day you change so much and i love being able to watch you grow.  


we took you to the doctor for your two month appointment this past week and you weighed in at a whopping 9 pounds 3 ounces (can you sense the sarcasm?!) you are still quite the tiny peanut.  you are 21 1/4 inches long.  at your doctor's appointment you had your first round of shots.  i think this was harder on me than you :( you were such a trooper! we took you straight home and gave you lots of cuddles all day long! you were otherwise healthy at this appointment.  we are still doing physical therapy with you and it takes up a lot of our day!  we go once a week to see sarah, your physical therapist and we do stretches with you 8-10 times a day.  i hope we'll start to see improvement with your neck soon! 

you still have your beautiful blue eyes (i wonder if they'll stay blue?!), long fingers and toes, little legs with hardly any rolls, and light brown hair.  in some pictures it looks a little reddish, but not up close or in person.  most people say you look like daddy, but our baby pictures look identical! 

the past three weeks or so we've been on a semi-regular schedule and you seem to be loving the predictability of life.  i guess you are your mama's daughter! you eat every 3 hours and go down for a nap about an hour and a half after eating.  you've been sleeping in your crib for all naps and nighttime. recently, we've called you "no nap nora" because you've been boycotting naps any longer than 20 minutes, especially in your crib! i guess that just means more snuggle time for mommy & nora! (it's exhausting some days, though!) you're still learning how to self-soothe and still prefer taking naps in your swing.  AND... this past week you've kinda have been sleeping through the night.  i guess i shouldn't say through but definitely longer stretches.  we do a bedtime routine every night of bath, books, & bottle.  you go right to sleep after this around 9pm.  i think we will start to give you an earlier bedtime because you've been skipping your evening nap and getting really tired before we start our bedtime routine!

you still are wearing 0-3 month clothes, although they are fairly big on you.  you've gotten a lot of new outfits lately and i am excited for you to wear them! 

your favorite things are still the swing, the stroller & walks, your play mat, and your pacifier!  oh man, what would you do without that pacifier?! (ugh...) i put you in the bumbo once this week just to try it out and you didn't hate it! you enjoy mirrors and black & white books, too.  you love looking at lights and fans--they always catch your attention!


rolling over! 

this past month you started smiling and cooing!  hearing you talk is just the sweetest sound!! i wonder if you'll be a chatterbox like your mama :) you are holding your head up much better these days, too!  you don't seem to hate tummy time as much and are so alert when you're awake. you even have rolled over a few times! you roll tummy to back and always to the right side. 

we had your first road trip, hotel sleepover, wedding, baby playdate, and visit to the pumpkin patch this month!  

thank you for letting us be your parents... it is the best job in the world! 
all our love,
mommy & daddy xoxo





my lil punkin with the pumpkins! (you were so not happy about this!)
with all your yoga baby friends! (clearly you didn't get the memo about looking to the right...)

happy 2 months! 



Tuesday, October 22, 2013

wedding weekend

hey baby girl!
you had such a big weekend meeting some of the most important, special people in mommy's life!  you got to meet aunt kate, aunt brandy, and aunt jill this weekend (aunt joce was there too, but you already know her)! these are my nearest and dearest friends from college.  although we all live in different states, we are still as close as ever.  i know these aunties of yours will always play an important part in your life.  my wish for you is that you meet friends like these girls--there's nothing better than good, true friends who love you for you!  



some of my favorite people ever
the reason we were all together this weekend is because IT WAS AUNT BRANDY & UNCLE JOSH'S WEDDING!! (a day we've all been waiting for!) 


of course, no weekend with these ladies would be complete without your future hubby brooks! 

brooks was totally into you... you, not so much (don't worry, there's still time for a love connection!) isn't he the cutest?!?

aunt brandy was the most beautiful bride and you can tell how in love she and your uncle josh are! i loved being able to celebrate this weekend with them and i am so happy you were able to be a part of the day, too.


this was your first time traveling away from home.  we slept in a hotel room and brought your pack n play.  i was so worried about traveling 3+ hours in the car with you and sleeping in a hotel, but as always you amaze me and were perfect! 

we had a great weekend celebrating our first wedding as a family of 3!
love you, baby girl!
xoxo,
mama


you were so done with the photos...

Friday, October 11, 2013

scenes from our week

nora baby,
here are some pictures from our week!  you turned 6 weeks on tuesday and we were quite the busy family! 


after a rough night, we had a lazy sunday in our pj's 
waiting for our x-ray & ultra sound... we had a busy day at the doctors on tuesday.  you got an x-ray of your neck and an ultra sound of your hips... fortunately, all is okay! :) 
modeling your baby gap threads

big yawns on our walk with mommy's yoga friends
of course you slept through most of the pumpkin patch visit

our trip to the pumpkin patch

you wanted to call it quits with our photo sesh 

wearing tyler's pumpkin hat... my little punkin with the pumpkins! 
tummy time
oh so attentive! 

xoxo,
mommy & daddy 

Friday, October 4, 2013

one month birthday

dear nora, 
wow... people aren't kidding when they say that time flies!  i'm sure i start every letter to you with this statement, but i really do feel it's true.  it seems like just yesterday we were changing you into your going home outfit and putting you into your car seat for the first time, anxiously awaiting to take you home!  now here you are, one month old!  it's hard to even imagine what life was like before you.  although it's only been one month, it seems like you've always been part of our lives.  

you are adjusting well to life these days!  lots of new things and firsts.  

we took you to your one month well visit at the doctor and you weighed 8 pounds 6.5 ounces, which puts you in the 25th percentile for weight.  you are 22 inches and 7/8ths long.  the doctors are happy with your weight gain and so are we!  you didn't get any shots this time around, thank goodness!  the doctor continued to follow up on your head tilt and officially diagnosed you with torticollis and suggested we start physical therapy.  we started immediately and we'll go once a week.  hopefully everything works out sooner rather than later!  
tummy time with lucy
your sleep is still pretty up in the air.  sometimes you'll sleep 4-5 hours at night and others you will make it just 2 hours.  you are however, getting much better at putting yourself to sleep.  you have been taking naps in your crib lately, too.  you hate it at first but after a few minutes of crying you are fast asleep for HOURS!  

you have been eating so well lately, too!  you nurse and take a bottle very well.  every morning dad gives you a 4 oz bottle that you just suck down! you are one hungry little girl.  you still do this barracuda-like face when we offer you the bottle, as if you are just so excited to eat! you do the same thing with your paci :) it makes us laugh! 

now for the saddest part (well, for me anyway) you have officially outgrown a majority of your newborn clothes.  i thought for sure you'd be in them for months, but you are just growing so fast!  the 0-3 clothes are still a little big, but you seem more comfortable in them.  you also made the switch to size 1 diapers this past week too.  wow baby girl, you are growing so fast!!

recently we introduced a few more "toys" to you and you love it!  we've been using the black & white books, the playmat, & other noise-making toys.  you still love the swing, your lamby pacifier, and the ergo carrier.  

this past weeked your uncle kyle came home to see you!  he got to feed you and help give you a bath.  i wish he could be around more often to watch you grow, but i know he reads these letters often and i send him way too many pictures of you!


so here is the best part of this letter... your milestones from this month!  you've gone from this squishy little newborn to this alert, engaged infant!  you have been holding your gaze at us for awhile and even seem to recognize mom & dad!  just yesterday when grandma was holding you, you turned your head and SMILED at me!!! and not once, but TWICE!  (grandma was a witness!) i'm waiting for you to do it again! dad didn't believe me, so hopefully he'll get to see one of those priceless nora smiles soon, too! you also had a "date night" with brooks this past week too!  of course, you were crabby and brooks fell asleep.  i guess that's how your dates will go for now, but hopefully you two will enjoy some play time together soon!

throughout my pregnancy i took prenatal yoga and water aerobics classes.  i met some wonderful friends in these classes, all whom were due within a month of me.  well, this past week the last girl had her baby... and all 5 of us had girls!  we are looking forward to having some play dates in the future.  it was great having such a great support system during pregnancy and now i know that we'll continue our friendship as we watch our girls grow up.  

i have to admit that lately i have been looking forward to the future a little too much.  another blogger put my feelings perfectly into words.  she says it here better than i ever could, but she mentions that she is always looking toward the future, not necessarily living in the here and now.  there is a quote that i have been trying to focus on lately.  "don't count the days, make the days count".  i find myself looking forward to the days when you are a little bit older, bigger, laughing, sitting up, etc. and it makes me sad when i do this.  i need to remember to enjoy each and every minute with you.  you will never be a tiny newborn again and i'll never get these sleepless, tiring, but oh so rewarding days back.  pretty soon i'll be back at work and missing you terribly and would give anything to have these days back.  so for now, i am going to try to make each day count and just stare at your incredibly perfect self!  

with all my love,
mama


some pictures from our one month photo shoot...