4 Months Old!

Turner McCartney is 4 months old….okay was 4 months on July 10th. Yes I’m a major failure….

4 months is way cooler than the last 3 months! This is by far my favorite age!

Stats:

Weight: 13 pounds

Height: 24 inches

Clothing Size: Mostly 3 month clothes but some 6 month pajamas

Diapers: We just moved up to size 2 diapers.

Feeding: With the new j-o-b I’m back to barely keeping up! She usually eats between 12 and 16 oz at the sitters during the day and she’s nursing once in the am and twice at night. Sometimes she still gets up for a 2 am feeding.

Hair/Eyes: Eyes are still blue. Her hair is strawberry blonde and it looks different every day. I think she might be losing some of her hair so fingers crossed for no bald spots!

Sleep: Oh how I loathe bedtime. Getting her to sleep is such a struggle but once she’s finally asleep she sleeps through the night. Maybe. Sometimes. Unless John Paul is at work. Then it’s up at least once a night.

Favorites: We still love bath time and I assume this will always be a fav. She loves strolling in her big girl stroller. Sophie the giraffe is another favorite.

Fun stuff: At 4 months we’ve tried out the bouncy activity center thingy and she loves that. She also really loves to watch TV. There, I said it. Judge me…..are you done?? Because she totally watches educational stuff like Baby Einstein and maybe she watches Disney Jr. Maybe.

She also sleeps on her stomach a lot. There’s no preventing it. She flips over in her sleep and she seems to sleep much better when we let her do her own thing.

She rolls over from her back to her stomach but she won’t roll from her stomach to her back which is super weird because it seems like that would be much easier. She’s starting to hold her own bottle some and just yesterday (August 1st) she sat up by herself without falling over! Yay Team Turner Mc!

So basically to sum it all up….my kid rocks! She’s a child genius and we can’t get enough of her!

3 Months Old

My kid totally turned 3 months old on June 10th. Yes her 4 month birthday was on Sunday. Don’t hate!

She totally looks scared in this picture but I promise she’s fine!

Stats:

Weight: I’m not positive but probably around 12lbs

Height: Again not sure but maybe 22.5 inches

Clothing Size: Still wearing some 0-3 and 3 month clothing

Diapers: Still wearing size 1 diapers

Feeding: Surprisingly, the eating has slowed down a bit. She eats about 12 oz at the sitter’s house during the day. She nurses once in the morning, once in the evening, and usually twice during the night. 

Hair/Eyes: Eyes are still bright blue. Her hair is strawberry blonde and it looks super red in the sunlight.

Sleep: My child sleeps great at everyone else’s houses. Naps are such a struggle at home. Bedtime basically sucks. It’s hard to get her to sleep and she’s getting up about 3 times a night.

Favorites: Bath time. It’s the highlight of our day. She loves her “Mr. Giraffe” toy and her bouncy seat. She is obsessed with her daddy and she loves their morning cuddles.

Fun stuff: TM is the rolling queen! You put her down and she immediately flips to her stomach. She’s awesome.

She smiles and “talks” so much more now. It’s the best thing ever. Her personality has developed so much and we are soaking up every bit of her! She’s extremely vocal and she’ll definitely let you know if you piss her off. And it’s not hard for you to piss her off. I’m not really sure where she gets her attitude…..

Turner McCartney you rock my face off! I have never experienced so much joy – it’s hard to remember this at bedtime and at 12, 2, 4, and 6am. I’ve never seen your daddy happier than when he’s holding you. You are by far the best thing ever. We love you so much!

SWW

So What if……

- I still haven’t sent out those damn birth announcements. I’m gonna do it….now that my babe is 15 weeks old. I’m including a recent pic since you know she looks completely different and all.

- I meant to schedule 3 month pictures for TM when she turned 3 months but I’m a total mom fail and it looks like we’ll be doing them closer to 4 months. Don’t tell!

- I’m thinking of moving the babe into her nursery. Yes she sleeps in her crib next to my bed. Go ahead and judge. I’m waiting till hub's next off pattern because I don’t want to sleep alone in my room!

- After the horrendous car ride a few weeks ago we’re considering going back to the beach next weekend. Hubs wants to go in case we can’t go again this summer due to my new job. I’m not convinced it’s worth it but he thinks it’s a fab idea! (and so do the grandparents)

- I’m totally nervous to start a new job. I’ve worked in the same office for 9 years and I hate change.

- We switched to U-verse and I haven’t cancelled our Direct Tv yet. I hate “break-ups.”

What are you saying SO WHAT to? Go link up with Shannon! 

Baby Mama Drama

Being a mother is the hardest and most rewarding experience. And seriously this is not intended to be an overly dramatic post. Just honest and maybe informative.

I love being a mommy and a lot of times I wish I could stay at home with Turner McCartney every day. But then on days where sleep is non existent, I’m thankful for the time I have away from the babe. And honestly I think it makes me love her more!

I always thought the hard part would be getting the baby through the vag and into the world. Wrong. Everyone says that your lives will never be the same and I promise they are right. For the most part. YOUR life will never be the same. You will sacrifice and you will never sleep again. You will spend your free time pumping, doing 17 loads of laundry, and washing bottles and pump parts.

You’ll lose the baby weight because there’s no time for you to eat. And when you find time to snack, your baby will immediately cry. You’ll learn to do things with a baby in your arms. You’ll multi task like never before. And while your life is completely changed, your husband’s life continues like normal. Sure he’s a dad now, but his obligations do not match those of yours.

Playing with the babe while you do laundry, wash dishes, clean the never ending sink full of bottles….all these things are helpful. He’ll change diapers and feed the baby and try to keep her entertained. But if he needs to shower he does. If he’s hungry, he eats. Needs to run to the store, done. You’re going to be lucky to bathe weekly. Trust me there are plenty of other things you can be doing while the babe takes a rare nap.

Bedtime will test your marriage like nothing else. If your baby naps and goes to sleep like a perfect child, please don’t tell me. Jealousy is an ugly thing.

I love my life as a wife and a mommy. I long for the days where I play with a baby all day and I survive on 5 hours of sleep a night. It’s hard but there’s nothing I would rather do. Except maybe eat. A baby changes everything….for the better.

Traveling with a Baby

I thought I would do a post on the things we took with us on our first road trip to the beach….leave me a comment and let me know anything you think would be great for road trippin’ with a wee one.

The first thing you need is a bigger car. What’s that? You have a super huge SUV??? Not big enough. Rent a U-Haul. This is the first thing we realized and my small SUV is no longer cutting it. We are in the market for a new-to-me larger SUV. Just sayin. Plus you know you’re going to buy all kinds of baby stuff while your gone. And where are you gonna put all that stuff???

These are the things that my husband actually let me take made the cut:

Pack n’ Play

*This is not the one I have. I can’t find that one online. Probably because it’s a piece of sh*t. But I suggest getting one with the detachable changing table. This one looks pretty nifty.

I took the pack n’ play for TM to sleep in. Go ahead and laugh. We all did. She definitely did not sleep in it. Ever. But I did use it to change her diaper. I doubt we would take the pack n’ play again. But if your kid sleeps in one it would be worth it. You could also take it down on the beach.

Stroller

Love our Bumbleride stroller. Umm we used it once but we were shopping and it was worth it. And our car seat snaps right in. Love it!

Bouncy Seat

TM loves the butterflies on this bouncer. We used it at the house and we took it out on the beach with us. It was a life saver.

I also took my boppy for nursing and we got a bumbo seat while we were there – at a consignment store.

I pumped before we went and I pumped in the car so we wouldn’t have to stop – but we still stopped along the way.

I suggest taking a baby tent or a canopy to set up on the beach. The canopy my parents had was fabulous and offered excellent shade.

Ours was similar to this one:

We also had a camping blanket that we could anchor to the ground. This was great for laying TM on to change diapers, play, etc. And since it anchored to the ground there wasn’t a lot of sand on it.

I packed a few of TM’s favorite toys and books to try and keep her entertained. I also took lots of gripe water and Tylenol. We The hubs and Poppy had to venture out at midnight for Mylicon because TM was having a major melt down and I couldn’t figure out anything other than her stomach. Maybe it was the oysters I ate??

I packed tons of clothes for TM because we go through so many at home. You need to over pack just in case. It’s also good to keep a couple outfits handy for the car ride in case of any blow outs.

I wish I had taken a dvd player. Suggested by LG, and TM’s tub. It’s hard to bathe her in the sink and she can’t sit on her own for a real bath in the tub so this was difficult for me.

These are the big things we took. I packed tons of diapers and wipes so I wouldn’t have to buy any while we were gone.

Also, bedtime at the beach was 10 times worse that bedtime from hell at home. Sorry Amber….don’t be discouraged. Maybe bedtime at the beach will be better for y’all.

Let me know of things you couldn’t survive without.

Beach Trippin’

I have never been happier for a car ride to be over! Once we arrived I planned to head straight to the beach. But alas, once the babe finally went to sleep and the grands were ready to take care of baby girl, it started storming. So nap time for all!

We did make it down to the beach the next morning and TM loved it! I think. We had a canopy set up, and we took her bouncy seat. We didn’t plan on keeping her down there very long since she’s still too young for sunscreen and we def didn’t want a burnt little baby.

First time seeing the ocean!

This was her favorite beach spot!

Playing in the sand!

Her hair looks red in the sunlight. Love it!

She really liked the sand. She wasn’t so sure about the water. I think it scared her at first.

We kept her out there maybe 2 hours. It was nice and cool under the canopy and there was a great breeze the entire time. We took her out around 6 the next night and that was much better for her. Her face still got a little red even though she stayed under the canopy most of the time.

Yes I rocked a 2 piece with my post baby belly. The beach where my dad’s house is at is pretty private. So in all fairness only my husband and parents were subjected to my post baby belly.

Our little rock star!

 

We had a great time. We had a few rough moments but I’m pretty sure I would do it again….maybe. The car ride on the way home was much better! She slept 4 of the 5 hours and was happy when she was awake. It was amazeballs!

I’m going to do a post on what we took to the beach for those who care. :)

Happy Wednesday!

Road Trippin’

Okay more like trippin’ because we took our 12 week old on a 5 hour road trip to the beach. Go ahead and laugh marvel at our bravery. My parents – dad and stepmom – have a house down there and we decided to join them for the weekend. Y’all I had this fabulous plan to get up with TM when she first woke up, usually between 6 and 7, nurse her and head on our merry way. She would take her 2-3 hour nap in the car and all would be right with the world. :)

I wish I had a picture of our car but by the time I thought about it, it was too late. I had no clue what we would need so we pretty much took everything baby related that we own. I decided to ride in the front – for about I don’t know 30 or 45 seconds. That’s how long it took for TM to start crying. We weren’t out of the driveway and I was already reconsidering. I was also afraid for the safety of my marriage. There’s just something about being trapped riding in a car with the hubs for extended periods of time that completely works my nerves. Maybe its his horrendous driving?

We made it about an hour before we had to stop for a diaper change. I had pumped but I only warmed one bottle – you know because of the long nap she was gonna take. So my 1 warm bottle was gone about 30 minutes in to the trip. After the diaper change we headed on our way. For 15 minutes. We stopped because Turner McCartney was screaming. SCREAMING. I nursed her to try and get her to sleep and we headed back on the road. And she pooped. So we pulled over for another diaper change. *Please note: we are also stopping for JP to pee because of his old man diuretic.

She finally took a nap and we made it 3/4 of the way. Then the meltdowns began. She was tired of being in her car seat and nothing was going to calm her down. It was rough. My dad called because we were slightly behind schedule and he was concerned. My child screamed but we finally made it – and it only took 6 hours. My plan didn’t work but we survived the road trip – barely. And I mean barely….JP probably would have felt better if he had let me out on one of those deserted back roads…and left me for the deliverance people.

I’m gonna post about the fun parts too….later. I just wanted to document our first road trip with the babe. It was rough and I’m still not positive it was worth it. We did have a good time but we also had some rough moments too!

Thanks for hanging in with my no picture post!