6 Weeks!!

My little baby girl is 6 weeks old today! (That's not entirely true, she's actually 7 weeks and 2 days, as of today, however when I started writing this post she was 6 weeks)  As an early birthday present she decided to surprise her Mama with sleeping a full 6 hours straight last night!  She's such a thoughtful little thing! Fingers crossed she's in the mood to keep celebrating and it continues.


I've learned more in the last six weeks than I think I ever have in my entire life.  This little gem of mine is one hell of a teacher.  And you thought baby's only cry, poop, eat, sleep, repeat.  Well, that's true too.  This kid, however, has taught me so much.  


Patience, now there's a word I never quite understood.  As it turns out I still don't understand it when it comes to the rest of the world.  But when it comes to her, if you don't have it, you better figure it out quick.  For  instance, if she doesn't want to go to sleep, well then, you better get comfortable because you're not going to either.  Laundry, dishes, to do lists, well....just throw those out the window!  She's not interested in waiting patiently for you to complete them.  And Blogging, well, that's another one she hasn't quite realized the importance of.  Nope she wants to be held when she wants to be held and there's no negotiating with her either.  She certainly drives a hard bargain.  Of course, once she's in your arms and looking up at you, it's amazing how quickly you forget about all the things you've been neglecting.  Hence the reason our Christmas cards were just sent out this past week.  I may be 4 weeks behind but at least they went out before Valentine's Day!


In the last 6 weeks we've had a lot of firsts.  Like today for instance, she spit up all over me and down my shirt 2 minutes prior to us walking out the door....Awesome.  All you Mom's are like, yep, and it won't be the last time either!   Luckily it was workout clothes and we were going on a walk.  But still!  Ewe!  She managed to spit up in my boot two days ago.  Don't ask how that occurred.  It just did.

A few other firsts:

12/24 First Restaurant.  Of course to a bar that has over 100 beers on tap.  Mama sure can pick them!

First time with Santa on my booty!

 First time Mom dressed me in some goofy holiday outfit.  Man I'm adorable!!

 First time seeing a gigantic gingerbread display.  Yet, another thing I'll never remember but if this is what makes my Mom and Nana happy then so be it! 

As you can see I'm sound asleep and could care less as to what's going on right now.

1/2 First bottle of formula.  Broke Mama's heart but now that I look back on everything I wish I would've introduced it sooner.  You were hungry kiddo and there's nothing wrong with that.

1/4 First trip to Red Lobster to celebrate GG's 90th birthday
(If possible this will be her first and last trip, sorry GG, this Mama is not a fan of that place)  

1/5 First Birthday Party.  GG's 90th's with all her friends and family.

1/5 First time peeing all over someone.  (Sorry Aunt Lindsey)

Violet's probably peeing through her diaper as I took this picture!

1/5 First Big Sleep thru the night, 5 hour stretch than a 3 hour stretch.  Yeah she's sleeping at night time and not during the day!

1/6 First walk around our neighborhood.  Boy is Mama out of shape!!

1/10 First trip to the zoo!  

Ashlyn, Declan and Lindsey invited us and we had so much fun Violet slept the whole time!  Too much excitement for this kid apparently.

 When we got there it was literally freezing.  So I bought this goofy hat to keep me warm.  I also figured Violet would be able to see the black and white but then she slept the whole time which left Mom looking like an idiot.  The things we do...

 Ashlyn was so awesome!  She would yell, "Hi Aunt Kristi and Baby Violet" as she went round and round the carousel.  But seriously, every time she circled.  It was amazing!  It never got old, she was so excited!

Violet wake up!  You're missing the giraffes!!

Mom & Dad's Big Night Out!

 It's Jessica & Eric's Wedding!  I'm so happy for the amazing couple!  I met Jessica about 5 years ago through my company.  It was about 3 years ago that we really became great friends.  Scratch that,  I'd definitely say she's a best friend!  This girl has been my confidant, therapist, and partner in crime.  I don't know what I'd do without such a great partner to help me get through work and life!  Love you Jess!

Anyway, Jess and Eric finally tied the knot and Justin and I got our first big night out on the town because of it!  A huge thanks to the happy couple for throwing one hell of a party!  And an even bigger thanks to my Mom (aka Nana) for having Violet spend the night.  First big sleep over!  Hopefully not the last...hint hint :).

 This Mama & Dad clean up real nice! 

 Yeah Jess & Eric! 

 I'm going to take a moment to pat myself on the back.  By some crazy miracle I managed to lose all 27lbs of my baby weight in 13 days!  I've now lost an additional 6 lbs on top of that!  Loving my new body!  Except now my rings don't fit and I almost walked out the door after my wedding ring fell on the floor!  Eek!  Time to buy the extra insurance!

 The 3 boys had a great time!  I'd call it a bromance.  Us girls tore up the dance floor while these guys hit it off.  Excited to add Steve to the group.  Tena, you picked a good one!

 Love this picture!

And here you thought chugging contests ended in college.  Nope!  I believe this was ruled a tie.  Lindsey Smith may be small but that girl can chug a beer!

It's Violet's First Christmas!

 Our Little Family. 

 She's pissed because Crockett got more presents from Mom and Dad then she did...

 Violet:  "A book called the Dog Whisperer?  WTF?  Another present for the dogs!?!"

 Steelers

My new world, doing everything one handed.  I'm getting pretty darn good at it if I do say so myself!

 Christmas morning at Nana's.  The puppies were so happy to come.  I think they were worried.

 Mom 6 months ago:  "I've never had a Coach purse before..."  

Me:  Subtle Mom, Subtle...

 Tea and her Dad

 My little show stopper, Miss Sedona Rae!  Technically we're 2nd cousins but I'd like to think she's my little niece.  Her Mom calls me Cuz-Aunt Kristi and Sedona just calls me Aunt Kristi.  I think she gets that her Mom's a little off her rocker sometimes :).  

Speaking of her Mom...  I'm just checking if you're reading my blog Sarah :).  Love my Cousin!!

 Violet had a few costume changes throughout the day.  So many cute Christmas outfits to choose from!  

Uncle Josh & Violet.

 Aunt JoAn and Violet.  Technically she's "Great Aunt JoAn."  That just seems so weird to me.  

Great Uncle Dave and Violet.  

Aunt JoAn and Uncle Dave both got Violet the same exact outfit!  What can I say, great minds think alike!  Love them both so very much!  Violet you're one lucky kid to be born into such an amazing family!  

Violet's First Photo Shoot & Mom's First Melt Down

 My little, 12 day old, Violet Rae is already a model!  We had a new born photo shoot by the very talented Jennifer with Allikat photography.  She did such a great job!  Violet was so good during the entire shoot, with the exception of having a huge blowout poop all over Jennifer's lap.  Which was ridiculously hilarious I might add.  (For me at least, not so much for Jennifer).  

 Jennifer came with everything!  She had boxes and boxes of outfits, bows and ribbons.  She brought a huge assortment of props, even a bean bag chair!  It was insane and definitely the best money I ever spent!  I still can't believe how adorable these pictures are.  As if she could be any cuter!

 Violet's first trip to Target!!  

 Yes, this event has been documented...  Mama LOVES her Target!

 Let the slide show begin!  

Just look at her look at her Daddy.

She loves her Nana.

 Let us now take a break from her cuteness to show you Violet's first trip to Starbucks!  Rae Ann, Jennifer and the rest of the crew were sweet enough to jump in for this momentous photo opp! 

Look how little she is!  There's literally a giant bean bag chair underneath her.  I can't get over how creative Jennifer was.  What a great photo shoot!

If you haven't noticed, the pictures in this blog are a little out of order.  The reason being, I've learned to appreciate and prioritize any free time I come across.  Hence deleting, adjusting and moving photos around do not qualify as "must do's."  If you ever have the opportunity to observe what goes on when a first time Mom is able to put a new born down for a nap it's quite interesting.  It's like someone put hot coals in my socks!  I've never moved so fast in my life.  Dishes, laundry, updating the blog, returning emails, writing thank you notes, sending out Christmas cards, feeding the dogs all while taking a shower!  I'm serious!  It's unreal what goes on when nap time occurs.  I've never multi tasked so much in my life.  

Which brings me to the picture above.  My first glass of wine in 10 months!  Wow!  What a treat and boy did I need it.  I had my first big melt down, not Violet, ME.  When you have company at the house, a husband that's working 12 - 14 hour days, Christmas, New Years, AND running on zero sleep melt downs can and will occur.  When this happens it's okay to say I can't handle this by myself, I need help.  So like any strong, independent women, I called my Mother.  We pulled up with our suit case packed, tears flowing, and the willingness to try anything to help Violet and me get some rest.  Mom was a saint.  She fed me, gave me some wine and sent me to bed while she stayed up with Violet all night.  

Violet has a bit of colic, aka major gas issues, that seem to be keeping her up at night.  After cutting dairy, soy, and anything that tastes good (cause that's what happens when you cut out dairy) out of my diet, she still wasn't sleeping and appeared to be in major pain.  With fear of no end in sight I made the very difficult decision to try adding formula to her diet.  The second my Mom gave her the bottle I lost it (again).  I felt as though I was a complete failure.  It was awful.  

Once I got some rest and Violet did too.  I realized formula wasn't a bad idea after all.  In fact I needed to cut myself some major slack because it appears Violet wasn't getting enough to eat throughout the day.  By adding formula and feeding her from a bottle I was finally able to see just how many ounces she was actually getting.  She still has her moments of gas but for the most part everything has improved.  With help from Lindsey (the Baby Whisperer)  and getting Violet on a good eating schedule we seem to have our days and nights finally figured out.  (I pray I didn't just jinx myself)  We're still breast feeding but adding the formula and pumping have helped.  She's now 5 weeks and 2 days, I know her little body is still developing and it's only a matter of time before her digestive system is up and running.  All the books say it takes 3 to 6 months for colic to go away permanently.  I'm hoping for 5 weeks since she's slept the last 2 days.  Wishful thinking?  Goodness I hope not!