Christmas Recap

Isla's first Christmas can be summarized in one word: TOYS! She got a ton of toys, all of which make noise (thank you Nana Breard)! She didn't quite master opening the presents, but she loved the tissue paper. If I would have let her put it in her mouth, I think that would have been her favorite thing of all.

We spent Christmas in Little Rock with my side of the family since we spent Thanksgiving in Nebraska with Ryan's side. We usually switch back and forth each year. We went to Church on Christmas Eve and then had the obligatory viewing of It's a Wonderful Life. Although I think I passed out on the floor before the movie was over. We opened presents on Christmas morning with my dad, Sam, and MG. Then we headed over to my mom's for more presents. My mom definately spoiled Isla as there were a ton of presents and they were all for her! She got lots of great stuff and I know she will enjoy playing with it all.

Here she is with her new "laptop". This picture is pretty scary. She looks just like her dad!

Here a few pictures from Christmas Eve. She is wearing her Santa Baby outfit from Grandpa Stadter that was just adorable.

6 months

While I was traveling for work, Isla turned 6 months old. I was gone for almost a whole week and this is the longest I have been away from her. It was difficult to not see her smiling face everyday and to give her hugs and kisses whenever I wanted. I did get to facetime with her several days and that helped. I have several trips this winter for work and I'm not looking forward to leaving her again:(

I noticed the other day that I still keep saying/thinking "I just had a baby". I guess I need a reality check that is has been 6 months. It still seems like we are trying to get in a routine or get a handle on having a baby. I guess that's probably how it will be from now on. It seems like whenever we get something down, it changes. I can't get over how big she has gotten. It's hard to remember how small she was when she was born.

At her 6 month check-up, she weighed 17.8 lbs and was 27 inches long. I'm surprised how "tall" she seems all of the sudden. Hopefully she will get her daddy's height and not be a shorty like her mom. Here's a picture of her at Thanksgiving with Grandpa and Grandma Siffring.

Isla loves the jumperoo! It keeps her attention longer than any other toy. Unfortunately, it also tends her get her systems moving and can be a bit messy!

She is sitting up on her own now and enjoys sitting and playing with toys. We couldn't get her to really sit for very long until we discovered the trick. We went to her daycare for a family night and they sat her down with a mat full of toys and she was perfectly content. We weren't giving her enough toys! Now we just load her up and she will play by herself for much longer. At the family night, Santa was there for pictures and she did great! She didn't have a care in the world and gave a big smile for the camera (as always). She is quite the ham!

5 Months

Isla turned 5 months old yesterday. On one hand it seems like it has gone by so quickly, but at the same time it feels like she has always been here. It's weird. We had her first parent-teacher conference last night. What you might ask could you possibly have to discuss in a parent-teacher conference for a 5 month old? Turns out not that much! It was a pretty short meeting. She is almost doing a lot of things but hasn't mastered most of the skills for the 1 year old classroom, which makes sense because she's only 5 months! We did get to see her binder where they keep her artwork and they type up a little sheet when she does meet a milestone. She is rolling back to front and front to back regularly now. I have to make sure she is strapped into anything I put her in. She has started to get a little big for the beloved bouncy seat as well. I'm actually kinda sad about that one. It was so nice to put her in there when I need to get ready in the morning or when I was folding laundry. The little travel swing she was using also is starting to not really swing very fast when she is in it!

She is still battling ear infections. She's had three now in the past 2 months. Basically anytime she gets a cold it is soon to follow. I did figure out some of her signals now. She doesn't really cry too much but basically talks really loud or even yells. Last time she would wake up every few hours at night and just yell. We go back for a follow-up with the ENT later this month, so we will see what he says.

She is generally just a happy baby. She loves to play and chat with anyone that will listen. She has really become aware of the dogs lately. Whenever she sees them she gets a huge grin on her face and just loves to watch them play. We have been working on petting them without grabbing their hair, but that's probably a lost cause at this point! The dogs do really well with her. Evie will lay down and let Isla "pet" her. Evie really wants to lick her face, but I try to prevent that whenever possible. Milo still comes running anytime she cries and really wants to lick her feet. The cats are not at all interested. We've tried "petting" them but they do not really appreciate it. Sashimi does love to sleep in the chair in the nursery when I forget to close the door.

She started eating rice cereal every few days after her 4 month appointment with the pediatrician. She wasn't a big fan.

"Daddy, why are you making me eat this?"

Since then we have tried carrots which she likes a little better. I think later this week we may try some oatmeal to see if she likes that any better than the rice cereal.

Isla's First Halloween

Isla started off her first Halloween with a party at school. She "painted" a pumpkin at the party. Here is her first outfit of the day.




Later she dressed up to hand out candy to the trick-or-treaters.





Then she discovered the candy bowl...




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Warrior Dash

Yesterday Ryan and I ran in the Warrior Dash. It was a 5K with about 12 obstacles ranging from rope climbs to cargo nets and even jumping through fire. It ended with a crawl through the mud pit. Ryan stayed with me throughout the race even though I was really slow. I attempted all of the obstacles, but there were two that I couldn't do, the ones that involved scaling the top of a wall. I didn't think that was too bad for being four months post-partum. Overall it was really fun and everyone had a great time. We couldn't have asked for a nicer day. Ryan's parents came in town for the weekend to watch Isla while we ran. After the race some friends came over for dinner and shuffleboard. We are pretty tired and sore today! Plans have already been made for Warrior Dash 2012 in KC!

Here is the group before the race.




Ryan coming out of the mud pit.



I was trying really hard not to get all muddy, so of course I fell in and it was all over! I don't think I've ever felt that disgusting before. You basically have mud EVERYWHERE!





Group shot after the race.



Warrior Baby!!!



Shoe donation pile.




-Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Ear Infections

Isla now has her second ear infection in one month. We had to pick her up from daycare yesterday since she was running a fever. Luckily I have today off so it's no big deal. When we took her to the doctor yesterday she suggested we go ahead and see the ENT. I think tubes are in her near future. Apparently it is a pretty bad infection, but she only got a little fussy the day before and didn't really cry. She's got another round of antibiotics now so hopefully she will feel better soon.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

12 weeks

Isla is 12 weeks old this week. I went back to work two weeks ago and everything is going well so far. Isla is going to a daycare near our house and she seems to like it. Her teachers are very nice and take good care of her. Some of the highlights of her first two weeks include lots of tummy time, smiling, and sensory time with a coffee filter and ball of foil. Within the past few weeks she has really started to smile with purpose. We can almost always get a smile out of her. It is like she woke up and you can really start to see her personality. She has discovered the TV which is not good. We sometimes have to turn it off so she will quit trying to look at it! She is very good at holding her head up and her neck control just gets better each day. Here are a few pics from the past month.

Isla and Daddy



Getting carried around by Mommy, her favorite activity.




All dressed up (by Daddy) and ready to cheer for the Huskers!



Isla loves to swing!


Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

8 weeks

Isla is 8 weeks old now and I only have 2 weeks left of maternity leave! It seems as though those first few weeks took forever and then all of the sudden we were in fast forward. We have a good routine going now and she is sleeping for a good stretch during the night. This has definitely made me feel more human and less like a zombie. Isla has her two month check up next week and has to get shots. I am not looking forward to that :( She has really started smiling now and you can almost always get a smile or small giggle out of her!










Isla had her first trip to Pi pizza last Friday and she was great. It was our first real dinner out with her and it went really well. It was so nice to get out!









Last week Isla got to meet her aunt Samantha. It was only for an hour or so and hopefully we will see more of her when we are back in Little Rock in October.









Today we are meeting Ryan for lunch with some co-workers and to do some shopping.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

6 Weeks

Isla is 6 weeks old today. While it has been a long 6 weeks, it has also been wonderful. I will admit that those first three weeks were miserable. The lack of sleep was worse than I could have imagined and the post partum healing wasn't exactly fun either. However, it was really nice having my mom here the first week and Ryan's mom here the week after. It was a relief to be able to hand Isla off after nursing (which felt like all I was doing) so I could go back to sleep or get something to eat.

Each week has gotten better and better though. We are starting to get into a routine, although I'm still not sure where most if the days go. It's like I look up and it's 4pm and I didn't accomplish anything that I had planned. I've basically learned to lower my expectations and just try to get one thing done each day, but sometimes even that one thing doesn't get done. I do try and take photos as much as I can because I know it will go by so fast. Here are a couple...










A lot of times Isla wants to be held in the afternoon/evening or else she screams. So I bought the Moby which is basically just a really long piece of fabric that wraps around you and the baby so you can wear your baby. It is a little hard to get used to but it allows me to get some stuff done while still keeping her happy. I would recommend buying it from a store though so someone can show you how to put it on. I never thought of myself as the baby wearing type, but I've decided I'm whatever type will keep her happy and QUIET!

Isla also really likes her bouncy seat and I would like to hug whoever came up with that one! The jury us still out on the Mamaroo. Sometimes she likes it and other times she just fusses and kicks her legs until I take her out. Maybe she will like it more later on.

Here she is in the bouncy seat.



Overall things are going really well. Isla is doing well and seems to be pretty happy so that makes us happy.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Isla 1 Month!

Well I still don't have much time for blogging, but hopefully I will get caught up eventually. Right now I'm still using any free time to try and nap! Isla turned a month old last week. While it is hard to believe she is a month old already, on the other hand it seems like she's been here a lot longer. Here are some pictures we took this weekend. Thank you Great Aunt Stacey for the adorable dress!
















- Posted using BlogPress
from my iPad

Isla's Arrival

On Tuesday June 7th, I started having contractions around 6am. Ryan and I debated on whether he should go into work, but we decided he would work in the morning and then go with me to my 1pm appointment. By around 8 I was thinking my water had broken. I called the doctor's office and from what they described I figured I might just not be able to control my bladder due to the contractions. We packed our bags and took them with us to the appointment. Well my water had broken so I was admitted to L&D around 2pm. I was only 2cm at the time but I knew they would want me to deliver within 24 hours due to my water having already been broken. I made it to 5cm before getting the epidural, but really the contractions never got to the point where they were unbearable. Getting the epidural was no big deal compared to the scary idea I had in my head. Once I had that, I really didn't care what was going on. It is amazing! It did slow down my labor though so I had to get pitocin to speed things back up. I started pushing around 5am and Isla was born at 6:24am June 8th weighing in at 7lbs and 5oz and was 20" long. She is perfect and has a full head of hair! She was so alert that first day and it was amazing to watch her take everything in.

I'll try to write more as I get time and will get all caught up (eventually)!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Week 39

Nothing much more to report this week. We've basically just been playing the waiting game. This was my first week of maternity leave and it was pretty nice. I was worried about being bored so I made sure I had something to do each day. I worked on cleaning one room of the house each day.The time ended up going by a lot faster than I expected. I did accomplish most of the items on my to do list though. Now I'm not sure what I will do this next week! Maybe I'll finally get caught up with Gossip Girl and read some books.

Isla is doing well as far as I can tell. I'm still doing a kick test twice a day. One day last week, Ryan freaked me out by telling me about a lady that was 8 days away from her c-section and lost the baby. So then I was paranoid that she wasn't moving enough. We ended up going out to buy a heart rate monitor to hear her heartbeat. I would not recommend this product. It was pretty much a waste of $30. We eventually found what we think was her heartbeat, but it took forever and we mainly just heard static. Also by the time we did all that, I felt Isla move the recommended 10 times so she was fine.

We had some friends over on Saturday evening. This helped to motivate us to really get the whole house picked up. Now if we can just keep it that way for another week or so. I also tried out some of the old wives tales for inducing labor. Ryan tried massaging the pressure points on my ankles and I made the famous lemon drop cupcakes that are supposed to start labor. So far nothing has worked. I'm pretty sure that Isla will arrive when she is ready and nothing we do will change that! I have a dr appt today, and hopefully my next post will be about Isla's arrival!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Week 38

This week was my last week of work before starting maternity leave. We are required to start our leave 2 weeks before the due date. It will be nice to have the time off and focus on Isla's arrival instead of work. I'm also glad since I am so sick of my maternity work clothes. I can't wait to pack them away. I think I will start saving now so that when I loose the baby weight and go back to work I can get a new work wardrobe! It will be strange though to not be working for the next 12 weeks. I don't think I've had that much time off since I started working at 16! I know once Isla arrives there will be plenty to do, but until then I'm just trying to find ways to stay occupied.

Isla is still the size of a watermelon and may gain weight, but won't really get much bigger (thank goodness)!

Since we aren't supposed to leave the immediate area, we stayed home for the holiday weekend. I sucked it up and got a maternity swimsuit even though I swore I wouldn't. We went to the main neighborhood pool a few times and I was reminded why I used to pay extra to go to the adult only pool! It was certainly a different experience, but I guess we need to get used to all the screaming kids!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Week 37

Well we are all still here! Honestly, it really would have sucked to make it through 37 weeks of pregnancy just for the world to come to an end. I would have been pretty pissed! We hit several big milestones this week. First, Ryan and I have been married now for 4 years. It is really hard to believe that 4 years ago we had just gotten married on Peter Island in the B.V.I. and our toughest decision was what cocktail to have next! Things have certainly changed. It's a little scary to think that our decisions now will affect more than just the two of us. Second, we made it to 37 weeks which means Isla is now considered full term and can be safely delivered any time now. Third, we made it to the three months that I needed to be at my current job in order to get the 12 weeks paid maternity leave! It is a big relief to have made it past that deadline.

Physically I'm pretty much feeling the same. My swelling hasn't gone down at all and I can't wait to have ankles again. I haven't had any contractions yet, not even Braxton Hicks ones. Any time I turn over or get up I usually make a noise and Ryan is on high alert as to whether it is a contraction. He says he is ready for Isla to come now. I'm not so sure. I think if she waits another 3 weeks that will be ok with me. It's still hard to fathom she will be here by then. That has always been something that will happen in the distant future and now it's more like the immediate future! Yikes! People keep asking if we are ready, which I guess we have all the stuff, but how can you really know if you are ready for something that will change your life so profoundly? But I guess, ready or not, here she comes!!!!

Week 36

This pretty much sums up how I am feeling most of the time now... worn out. I had a doctor appointment on Monday and everything was good. I was tested for Strep B which about 1/3 of women have. I haven't received the results yet, but if I do have it I will need to take antibiotics while in labor. The doctor also checked to see if the baby's head is down and it was. Hopefully she stays that way for another month. I am feeling her movements more and more now. I can tell she is getting stronger and running out of room. She usually gets in several good shots to my ribs each day.

On Saturday we took an infant care class at the hospital. It was a pretty good class. The teacher hit on all the high points like swaddling, diaper change, baths, and infant CPR. I'm feeling a little more confident but still pretty nervous.

I think I've started to get the nesting bug. Today I packed a diaper bag, finally took some bottles out of the package so we can wash them, and we made a run to Target to pick up the remaining stuff we think we need. The whole plan in going to Target was to use our 10% off registry completion coupon, but of course I realized I left it at home as we got in line to check out! We also put together a diaper change caddy for the basement and a bath caddy. We plan on using the kitchen sink for the first few weeks while we are doing sponge baths. I've started to pack for the hospital. I have most of my toiletry items packed and I packed Isla's going home outfit, blankets, etc. I can't believe she will be here in a month. Even though it feels like I have been pregnant forever, it is still pretty overwhelming that soon we will be a family of three!

Little Rock Baby Shower

This weekend, some good friends from home threw me a shower in Little Rock. The food and decorations were fabulous. A special shout out to Katie Cooper who couldn't be there, but still made the most amazing cupcakes E-V-E-R. It was so good to see everyone and catch up since I don't get home as often as I would like. Tara and Eric were nice enough to host the shower at their house. We got to meet their daughter Olivia, who is adorable and sweet as can be. We at least remembered our camera this time around, however, I didn't really get any pictures together with everyone. Here are the pictures that we did get. Thanks MG for being the photographer, even though you turned your nose up at our point and shoot camera!


Ryan wanted me to hold the baby to see how I acted. I guess he was trying to test me. Not sure what he was going to do if I didn't pass his test. It's a little late now! So here's a picture of me looking very uncomfortable holding Olivia.

Here's Eric, Ryan, and Erin's daughters Maddie and Mo.

Celeste with the awesome wreath that she "threw together" for us.

Ryan modeling a lovely watermelon outfit.

Tara, Anna, Erin, Celeste, and Doug (holding Olivia)

It's a girl sign from Cookie and Marc.

Cookie, Sam, Ryan and I.
Blanket handmade by Sam!


Thank you again to Anna, Tara, Celeste, Katie and Cookie for a great shower! I'm so lucky to have such amazing friends and family.

Week 34 - Cankles and More!

6 weeks left and counting... Isla is now about the size of a pineapple and weighs around 5-1/2lbs. She has been very active this week. Her movements feel more like pushes and rolls than sharp jabs now. However, whenever she hits my ribs that is still a pretty sharp pain! I've been doing kick counts each day where I make sure she kicks or moves 10 times within an hour. She usually passes the test well before the hour mark, especially if I do it right after I eat.

Sleeping is still uncomfortable, but not as bad now that I have the new pillow. As the title of the post states, the cankles have arrived! Oddly enough, this was the one symptom that I was really hoping I wouldn't get. They have been coming and going for the past few weeks. The swelling would usually go down after I slept or elevated my feet. Nothing really helps now. It doesn't really hurt, but my feet feel tight and it just looks really gross. For anyone who doesn't know what cankles are, here you go...

I saw the doctor on Monday and everything went well. Isla's heartbeat was good and all of my stuff - weight, blood pressure, etc checked out ok. I have another appointment next Monday. On Tuesday night, I am taking a breast feeding class at St. Luke's. I'm hoping this will help mitigate some apprehension I'm having. I've read a few books, but it still seems very overwhelming.

Dreamgenie pillow

Quick update: Evie is also enjoying the pregnancy pillow.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Nursery and Week 32

Just finished week 32! Only 8 weeks left to go! That seems so soon and we are starting to get a little nervous for when Isla makes her arrival. I went to the doctor on Monday and everything seems to be going along just fine. Isla's heartbeat was strong and my blood pressure, weight, etc. was ok. The doctor confirmed that I passed my blood glucose test so I don't have to do the three hour one! It was a quick visit and now I have to start going every other week instead of monthly.

Sleep wise, things have not been going well. I am getting less and less sleep. It is just really hard to get comfortable. Even when I do get comfortable, it doesn't stay that way for long and I wake up. I did buy a new body pillow that has been helping. The latest one is the dreamgenie. I would recommend it to anyone who doesn't want a huge pillow that takes up half the bed. There are a lot of pregnancy pillows out there. I bought the Snoogle awhile back and it works ok, but I usually end up throwing it off the bed at some point during the night.

So for the nursery...

We put some finishing touches on the nursery this weekend. Here's a before pic when it was still our office (please excuse the mess).

Here are a few during pictures:

We used a bead board wallpaper and put up a chair rail that we painted to match the trim.

Here is the chandelier we purchased at Home Depot.

Furniture , Bona Vita Peyton Collection,purchased at Treasure Rooms and Kate bedding from Serena and Lily.

Door letters from Lynn's husband Kris!

Our project this weekend was the mirror and shelves. We found the mirror at Home Goods and the shelves at Lowe's. We painted them Laura Ashley Tulip to coordinate with the yellow fabric in the cornice (from a decorator here in NewTown: The Grateful Thread) and I think it turned out well.

The chair we ordered from Nebraska Furniture Mart. We still need some artwork and things for the shelves, but I think we've done all we can for now.