A Day in the Life...

Tomorrow little miss starts day care (already???). I have captured the 'day in the life' she and I have been sharing. I will always cherish the quality time she and I spent over the past 3 months bonding - well - 12 months really since the 9 before were technically just she and I as well. :)

*********************************************************

I sit in my chair watching mommy and daddy get ready for the day.



I snuggle in my papason taking a little snooze.



I sit in my bumbo watching mommy run around the house - do you ever sit still, momma??? (The answer to that question is... no! haha)



I sit in my swing watching my Baby Einstein video - I love the colored liquids the best!!



I love taking my afternoon nap in my carrier - nothing better than being snuggled up to mommy. I sleep sooooo good!



I bounce in my jumparoo talking to the little blue bear who dances around!!! So much fun! (Thanks Aunt Amy!)



I splish-splash in my bath talking to mommy and daddy about my day!



I love lying on my changing table looking around my room! There is the best wall hanging above it that I can look at for long periods.



I get rocked and cuddled by mommy and daddy.





I get all snuggled up and sleep in my comfy crib for as long as I can. Sometimes it's not as long as my mommy would like but she still looooooves me very much! Night Night!



Disclaimer - the above picture is just an example. Mommy didn't want to take a picture of me at night truly snuggled in - that might wake me up and we don't want that!!!!

2 Months Old!

Our little bundle is 2 months old! Her check-up went great and she was a champ through the shots! She cried for a short time and then that girl slept - boy did that girl sleep - all through the night (yay!) and the next day as well! (Must have been the 1 dose of tylenol!)

9 lbs 13oz
22 in long

Sasha Elise - 2 mnths (8/18/09)



A look back :)

Then (6/30/09) 12 days old:



Now (8/16/09) 2 mnths old:

It's all about - SASHA!

June 18th, 2009 you came into our world and made it brigther than we could have ever imagined.



You are our sweet cuddly little lamb and we look forward to the day you will frolic, run, jump and play.



When I say your name, "Sasha Elise Montgomery (SEM)" I think of beautiful flowers growing on a vine.



You bring so much color and delight with your gazes as we rock you and get to know you better each and every day.



We are so thankful you have come in to our lives. Mommy and daddy love you more than you will ever possibly know. You are such a beautiful, bright, sweet - strong willed little princess. We love you!

Sasha Elise - 8 weeks (8/13/09)



(Beautiful little pink onsie provided by Great Aunt Shirley! :))

'IT' finally happened!

'IT' finally happened... the thing that all moms talk about in small hushed circles... the thing that all NEW moms really really hope never happens to them (and quite honestly all seasoned moms hope NEVER happens again). The thing you try to mentally prepare yourself for... build yourself up and have a plan of action in place if 'IT' does happen... and when 'IT' does happen you realize you are never really prepared... but you put your game face on... it's GO time! 'IT' finally happened to me last night... I saw it coming... slow motion... the face and noises gave it all away... 'IT' was on the way...

Yes... Sasha pooped in her tub.

HAHA - I'm glad I can laugh about it. It's about all you can do. Let it happen, lest it happens all over you, clean it up and start the bath over!!!! :)

Perfection

Perfection is the red curly hair on top of my babies head
Perfection is the dog toys strewn across the living room floor, baby swing and chair smack dab in the middle of it all – looking around what once was a pristine house and realizing it has now become a home
Perfection is my marriage to the man who is undoubtedly my total soul-mate
Perfection is medical syringes (which give my baby the comfort she needs to feel well) lying on the kitchen counter
Perfection is the sound of the microwave humming as it steams the rice and vegetables I’ll be having for lunch
Perfection is knowing I still have 4 more weeks off work
Perfection is the chaos of life – and stopping to realize how perfect life really is

Professional Pics

We had a photographer come out on 7/13 and take some pics of our family. Here is the one we ordered in an 8x10. It totally depicts our 'Truly Blessed' life. Sasha screaming and our puppy, Cole right in the middle of things. We really are truly blessed!

Thanks, Maura for capturing us so well! (http://www.mauraphotography.com)

7 weeks today

I can't believe Sasha is 7 weeks today! The last 4 days with our baby have been very different from others. She has been a happy baby!!! Sure, we've had fussing, but nothing compared to the relentless hours of crying. She's even been alert and active the last 3 evenings which has been unheard of!!! The only thing different I have done is put her in a front carrier on me for a few hours in the afternoon. She really likes the carrier!! I have read that a carried baby is a happy baby so maybe this along with the medicine is giving Sasha the comfort she needs!!!!

She is starting to smile a little bit. For the first time today she smiled early afternoon and by sheer miracle I captured it on film. It's a small smile - but I'll take it - enjoy!

Proof

I had to get a shot of this. This particular photo was actually taken on 7/17 but the vacuum trick is still used daily in this house. :) The vacuum is actually running while just sitting there and baby is quiet (so is dad - heehee)! What a relief for all.

Ode to a Vacuum

Oh dear vacuum
You do much more than clean

Oh dear vacuum
Do you know how much you mean

To weary parents
Who love their daughter dear

Weary parents
No baby cries - we’ve begun to cheer

Oh dear vacuum
You are a treasured feature in our home

Oh dear vacuum
So glad there are 3 of you that we own!


For those of you who don't know - we have discovered that a vacuum running will quiet our screaming little miss in seconds. It is turned on several times during the day and has a permanent spot in our kitchen where it stays plugged in all the time. Little miss knows that momma has a vacuuming fetish so this is her way of letting me have vacuumed carpets ALL THE TIME! :) But in all seriousness - the combination of the medicine and the hum of the vacuum has allowed us to give our daughter some reprieve from what ails her. All hail to the vacuums of the world!

My first excited smile!

While I don't have a picture to document it, I got my first excited smile from the precious little one this past Friday. She was talking to herself in her crib early morning so I went to say hello and she gave me the most excited smile. My heart just melted!!!! (The medicine is working - we have a happy baby every once in awhile!)

And... I think we are to the 1/2 way mark where Colic will start to fade. Yay - we are so excited for our baby to feel GREAT!

6 weeks old!

How is baby Sasha already 6 weeks old? Although she is still in newborn size clothes, she is definitely growing! I can tell because the head bands that once were soooo big on her and fell of her head, now leave a little ring when she wears them for even 5 minutes! She has also officially outgrown her first outfit!

Here is a pic of the first outfit she's outgrown. So precious!



Here is her 6 week pic.

Wow - has it really been that long???

It's been awhile since I posted!

Sasha Elise has arrived!

6/18/09 @ 6:07 pm
7 lb 1 oz
20 in long

We are totally head over heels for our daughter!

Here she is at 3 weeks!

Speaking of sleep

So I really haven't been spending any quality time with my long lost friend... sleep. hahaha

Shouldn't the days leading up to the birth be filled with some of the most rewarding sleep ever? Instead you hear things like - "Oh, it's your body's way of preparing you for the lack of sleep you'll have for the next several years".

Deep refreshing sleep - come out come out where ever you are!!!

I'm typing this as my husband is slumbering away peacefully upstairs! At least he is getting some deep refreshing sleep! :) I have to admit I'm a little jealous.

A place for Sasha to sleep!

The nursery is almost complete. I hate to debut it not fully finished - but I just love how it's turning out and am so excited! I just have to figure what to do on the wall above the crib.

Thanks, Jen for doing such a great job with the paint!

34 week appt.

We had our 34 week appointment today. The dr. did a quick ultrasound to check her position and fluid level. Heads down - check! Fluid level - check! Mom and dad absolutely head over heels in love with their daughter after seeing her face - CHECK CHECK CHECK!

She has the fattest cheeks ever. We figured out what is always nudging Ryan's hand on my right upper stomach - her little feet! No pictures to share unfortunately.
:( The machine ran out of paper and the Dr. was just doing a quick peek at no charge so we couldn't complain!!!

She is doing well, growing as she should and is plump and even has a spot of hair! On track to be an 8 lb baby. GULP!

Here's some pics:

34 weeks 3 days

B-A-R-K spells SUCCESS!

Ok, so I just had to share that for the FIRST time, Cole has let us know he had to go outside to do his business when neither Ryan or I have been in the room with him!

Lately he has started heading to the door we take him out of (yay!), but if we don't notice it he'll just have an accident in the house. Well, today he was having a little bit of freedom because he'd just recently gone #1 outside and neither Ryan or I were in the room with him and we heard this little 'bark' and we both went running. Sure enough, he was by the door we take him out of and he popped outside and went #1 and #2 and then popped back in! You would have totally thought he won a major award or something because WE WERE SO EXCITED!!!!

Here he is after his big event!

Wonderful baby shower!

We had our first baby shower Easter Weekend. Ryan's cousin, Robin and his sister Amy threw a beautiful shower and it meant a lot to me!

I LOVE FRUIT!


Adorable cake and beautiful setting!


Ellie (Amy's daughter - our niece) helping me open gifts:


Kicking back:


All the loot (the nursery needs some attention)!

Our other babies

The furry ones are doing well. Cole had his 4th puppy obedience class last night and it's making a world of difference! He'll now sit, lie down and 'watch me' which literally means he has a staring match with us. Last night we started working on him coming to us (ummmm... momma - a.k.a. me has been indulging him with the chase game so who knows if he'll ever learn the 'come' command. ;) )as well as staying. The staying one is very very important and I can't wait until he has that one down!

I am also happy to report we are having fewer accidents now. He has started learning to tell us (by disappearing and heading towards the door downstairs) that he has to go outside. He still has accidents of #1 way more frequently than momma would like but we are getting there. Hmmmm - only 3 months later. Haha. But he is a good puppy and I was thrilled to hear he was on his best behavior when he stayed with Ryan's parents when we went to St. Louis for several days. Whew! I was afraid he wouldn't be invited back!

Right now he is lying on his bed here in my office (which he likes to flip over and lay on the bed while it's upside down - who knows...) happily chewing his chewie. Aaaaahhhh - a few moments of blissful quietness to let me work on my blog!

The kitties are hanging in there as best they can. Cole doesn't understand why they don't want to play and he's very protective of mom and dad and usually shoos them away if they lay right where he wants to lie. We are working on that!

Here is little bud-bud enjoying the snow (yes his little back legs are up in the air because he was running crazy)!



And here he is being such a good puppy lying in the sun and Bell lying fairly close to him! There is hope!

Long time no blog!

Ok - so if anyone is still even following this anymore since I have been soooo horrible about posting the last few weeks - hello!

Things are going well here. We have 8 weeks to go which seems crazy to me! Sasha is progressing well and each Dr. visit lasts maybe 3 minutes (I go every 2 weeks) and he says, yep, things look good. :) We'll get another very quick u/s in about 4 weeks or so just to make sure she is head's down (please please please) but he thinks she is because of where he finds her heartbeat.

She definitely has her quiet and her active days. I'll go for a few days and have to poke my belly or drink ice water and lay down to get her to move. Then other days I'll literally think she is going to come out of my stomach!!!

Can't believe we are nearing the end of pregnancy!

Here I am at the St. Louis zoo a couple of weeks ago. Ummmm - this picture makes me realize I need to let those pants go!

26 weeks and 5 days along! (26w5d)

Little miss Sasha has really started growing! I feel her on a pretty regular basis now. The other night I had Ryan put his hand on my belly and he was shocked how much she was rolling around in there!!

(Oh my gosh - I just looked at the pregnancy ticker to the right of my posts - we only have 93 days to go - we are in the double digits. AAAAAAHHHHHHH!) :)

Cole has his own backyard!

We've been standing outside with Cole on a leash so he can do his 'business' and many times he just goes out on the grass and lays down to watch the day go by. Not a big deal except we obviously have to stand out there with him! So... a beautiful fence was built and Cole has his backyard!

Except - he does not like to be out there without us! I know he'll eventually get used to it but it's funny. Now he has his freedom but he still wants us right there. We learned the hard way because we've been having more frequent 'accidents' in the house and we learned if you don't stand out there with him until he goes #1 and #2 - he won't - until he's safely back in on my carpet that is. ;) Ah the joys of being puppy parents.

All I can say is thank goodness it's been an unusually warm winter. There have only been a few times one of us has had to stand out there bundled from head to toe because it's below freezing! It's 77 here today! Wow!

But here is the fence! We hooked in to our neighbors so it's the same as theirs.

Things are going well

Not much new to share. We go back to the Dr. on 3/23 and they will do my gestational diabetes test. I'm sure everything will come back fine. After that, I'll start going every 2 weeks. I can't believe it! This 2nd trimester has flown by!

Here's a pic of me from last week.

I finally got asked 'THE' question!

All of you following my blog know that I was getting a little sensitive to the, "Wow, I didn't even know you were pregnant" comments. :) Yesterday I did finally get THE question - "Are you pregnant?" I wasn't offended at all. I was thrilled. haha

Here I am at 22 weeks and 4 days. :)

Nursery is coming together!

My wonderful hubby put the crib together this weekend. We love it! We've also finally chosen the colors - purple, pink and green. What a relief to have that out of the way.

Daddy connects with his little girl!

The other night, our little miss was being particularly rambunctious so I grabbed Ryan's hand and placed it on my belly. He felt the somersaults in action! Very exciting!

We've found a crib!

So I talked Ryan into going on a shopping excursion with me this past Sunday. It ended up being successful and we found a crib! I was having the hardest time picking out a crib and finally I found another store here in KC that had so many on their showroom floor. It really helped to be able to touch it and see the quality. Here is a pic. We got a darker finish so once we have it in the room I'll post a pic of the actual crib itself. My hubby and his dad will be picking it up later this week. I can't believe it! I was expecting to have to order it and wait for 3 months! We are saying good-bye to one of our guest rooms and hello to our first child's place of slumber! We purchased the crib and the changing table (which is the middle piece of furniture in the below pic).

It's a girl!

We got the money shot Monday at our OB check-up (19w6d)! This little one is for sure a girl! Everything is going well. Heartrate was a strong 148. To OB tells us it's time to start finding a birthing class. ALREADY? Yep - already. Things are really starting to fly by! We are well in to our 5th month!

Welcome Cole Montgomery!!!

Today, hubby and I enjoyed a delicious lunch at our favorite Mexican place and stopped by a local chocolate shop to pick up another - best caramel apple in the world. Truly, they make the BEST caramel, chocolate covered apples I've ever had! As we were driving home I noticed some commotion in the front lot of the McD's and upon closer inspection noticed they were dachshund puppies. I told hubby we should stop and look! So he agreed and we pulled in and found ourselves looking at some of the cutest dachshund puppies we had ever seen.

We are pleased to formally introduce you all to the newest member of our family! He is 12 weeks old and is already giving us a run for the money in the potty training area!

Meet Cole!

And of course I can't leave off my babies who's world was rocked a little bit this afternoon by the addition of another male to the house. At least there is no more hissing going on right now but Cole doesn't really seem to interested in 'the girls'. :)

The sweetest cat in the world, Baby Bell:


And the drama queen herself, Gracie: