Say "mama"

I'll let this video speak for itself. :)

Joe's Trees

Rachel here.  This year we decided to cut our tree down for Christmas.  Originally we weren't even going to get a tree... and then we were going to get a tree and set it up in the new house whether we were in it or not, and now... it's in the rental.  Our c/o date has been moved to January 10th due to some drywall delays, Christmas, and then New Years.  We're making the best/most of the situation, and we really did have a blast picking the perfect tree.  AND... Berks met Santa for the first time as well!!!!

7 months

Rachel here.  Berkley is officially 7 months old.  Sigh.  I saw a commercial the other day with a little baby on it, and turned to Bryan all googly-eyed and said "Bryan, I want a baby."  He looked me dead in the face and said... while holding Berks... "what the hell do you think this is?"  For the record he wants another baby, so "we have an even amount of people for roller coaster rides." :)  AND... he won't let me get rid of the baby gear.

 

We don't know any of her dimensions due to the fact that she doesn't go to the ped's office until 9 months.  I could easily put that chunkster on the scale myself... which I guess I should. :)

 Sweet babycakes is such a lovely little addition to our family... couldn't you just eat those cheeks?  She has the sweetest little demeanor.  The girls' preschool teacher asked me yesterday if she ever gets fussy.  HA!  Of course she does, but she's pretty easy to please.  She cries when she's sleepy and hungry.  That's it!

 When it comes to milestones... girlfriend can roll, and has just mastered sitting up by herself.  She's starting to raise her butt up while she's on her belly, but she has no idea what to do from there on. :)

 Berkley first said "mama", but has since decided "dada" is her favorite thing to say.  Traitor.

 Sleeping... ahhhhh... sleeping.  I had finally had enough of going in her room at 330 am to nurse her and have her fall asleep as soon as she latched on.  Our transition was short and sweet... 3 days of painless wimpering, and we were done.  BAM... sleeping through the night.  Me however... psh... I'm waking up at 330 like clockwork.  :)

 As far as eating... ay yi yi... she likes applesauce.  It's so hit or miss... frankly it exhausts me.  She pushes everything out of her mouth... the applesauce though... can't shove it in her piehole fast enough. :)

 Ugh... mushy mushy face.  I heart her so much... but I sincerely wish she would stop growing. ;)

Happy half birthday!

My sweet baby girl is 6 months old!  Rachel here.  It's hard to believe she's been here half of a year already!

 Sweet girl is 15 lbs and some change and 25ish inches long.  She's in 6-12 month clothes, spilling out of a size 2 diaper, and in a size 2 shoe (which yes is still ridiculous... but seriously... SO CUTE!).

 Berkley is still NOT sleeping through the night.  I just don't know what's happened.  She came home from the hospital a champ!  It then when completely downhill around 3-4 months, and it's taken us a while to get to where we are now.  She wakes up anywhere from 2-4 and then again around 7-8.  From time to time she still attempts to wake up before 2, but we let her cry it out.  It's virtually impossible for me to get back to sleep after her middle of the night feeding.  I have too much on my mind a good chunk of the time, so I'm pretty desperate for her to get there.  She's just too cute though, so it's hard to be mad at her.  Another issue we're having at bedtime is the rolling over.  She's finally rolling over from back to belly like a champ and often gets herself stuck in her crib.  It's quite frustrating for her. 

 We're still very hit or miss when it comes to solids.  Baby girl could take it or leave it.  She's nursing 6-8 times a day/night, so I know she's getting plenty in that buddah of hers, but she can't nurse for the rest of her life... no matter what TIME magazine says. ;)

 We've been practicing sitting up, and she's getting stronger every day.  She loves playing with her feet and has even started to scoot a bit on her belly.  Once she's mobile, I'm fairly certain my life will be over. ;)

 Berkley is such a little sweetie bug and has a smile that lights up our lives.

Tiny Dancers

5 months old

Baby Boozies turned 5 months old yesterday!  Rachel here. God I love this baby.  I mean I love all my kids, but I LOVE THIS BABY!  She makes me want to have another one... WHAT?!

 

Not sure of any of her dimensions as she doesn't go back to the ped's until 6 months.  Half a year.  Ugh.  Part of me can't wait until she's running around with the big girls, and part of me wants to freeze time and keep her in my pocket. :)

Berkley still won't take a paci, but she is a big fan of sucking her thumb.  I hope this means we won't have issues later as I can't very well go cutting her fingers off.  Her thumb sucking has aided in her being able to put herself to sleep at night.  In an attempt to make sure she's getting enough to eat before bed and not falling asleep on me, Berks takes a bottle of bm.  We're up to 4 oz.  Then I gives her kisses, put her in bed, and her thumb goes right in her mouth.  So cute.

Sleeping has gotten MUCH better.  She's back to her old self.  Bedtime is between 630 and 700, she wakes up a little after midnight, and then sometimes again before normal wake up time (630-700), but I don't mind too much as she goes right back to sleep.  We began letting her cry out the first wake up each night a few weeks ago and luckily that seemed to solve all the other random wake ups.  I think what started out as a growth spurt turned into a bad habit.  If she hasn't gotten over the midnight wake up by 6 months, we'll let her cry it out.  Bryan goes in and rubs her little belly until she calms down, leaves, and then goes back in a few minutes later if she needs it.  I hate to hear her cry, but I'd rather solve the sleep issues now and train her than have her sleeping in my bed until she's 45. :)  We're also on the 2 hour time limit when it comes to time between naps. Naps are lasting from about 30 minutes to an hour each.

We started her on cereals at 4 months.  She hated them.  HATED THEM.  After a handful of tries, I gave up.  She didn't seem interested.  About a week ago, I started her on peas.  First time was a no go, but she's since learned to eat them.  We've also tried banana and applesauce... both were huge hits.  Now if I can just find a good time EACH DAY to make sure we can get them in, we'd be good to go.

Berkley is still rolling over consistently... still won't roll from her back to her belly... even though I could literally blow her over.  She LOVES her exersaucer and could probably play in it all day, and I've been able to get dinner made consistently which has been nice.  She can grab her feet but could care less about doing anything with them.  Talking seems to be a favorite pass time.  She can really get going in the car, and the big girls think it's hilarious.  I often have her sitting up in my lap with very little support... still not strong enough to do it on her own though.  We're getting closer.

Oh sweet baby... we love you so  much!

Football

Rachel here.  Reese started soccer two weeks ago.  The first week, she did awesome!  She was like a fish in water... almost like she was born to play soccer.  Home girl scored 4 goals... we were so excited for her.  You could tell she was having so much fun... so much fun.

 This past Friday... totally different story.  My heart hurt for her.  A few members on the other team were super aggressive and REALLY good little players.  She had a hard time getting the ball and missed goals on a few occasions.  She did in fact score one goal... again... we were so proud of her.  Not because she scored a goal at all, but because she was doing something out of her element for the first time... trying something new... and she was proud of herself.  We never ever ever wanted her to feel any type of pressure to be some sort of super star.  That's not what this experience was supposed to be about.  Poor thing missed a goal and grabbed her head and just shook it.  I knew she was frustrated... I could tell immediately.  She stopped, looked right at me, and she ran towards me as fast as she could... fell into my arms and cried.  She said she was so upset that she didn't make her goal and that she wanted to quit and go home.  She was done playing soccer... forever.

After lengthy discussions both with her and with one another (Bryan and I), we've been working on building her self esteem.  She's very outgoing, but she's been playing the whoa is me card quite a bit... my guess is for attention... even if it's negative attention.  We've been doing things with her that she's really good at in hopes she'll feel that she can do things... and do them well.  She also has new chores that she can help us with around the house... she really seems to be enjoying doing her tasks.  The last thing I want to raise is a super arrogant girl, but I also don't want to raise a quitter.  I get easily frustrated, and she's the same way.  It's just another lesson in raising children for us.  We're taking our time with her, trying to make her feel good about what she's doing when we can, and we'll attempt soccer again on Friday.  Raising children is hard.

 Here's what the other two do while Reese is getting her Beckham on...

Children can make you want to scream bloody murder one minute... and then moments later your heart is swelling with warmth and love... children make me bipolar... I'm certain of it. :)