Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Ramona: 5 months






My sweetheart is five months old today! So hard to believe we've had the privilege of loving her for almost half a year! What a joy it is to be her Momma. Her personality is blossoming so much! She is a joyful baby who loves her parents, dogs and being outside. 

Growth: 
My guess is that Ramona is around 14 pounds and 27 inches.

her cheeks are getting so round and kissable!!


Likes:

When I sing to her

drinking from a water bottle or cup

rolling allll around

watching the pups play

Daddy's beard

being outside

loves watching my mouth move when i'm speaking to her or reading a book. she focuses intently!



Dislikes:

Ramona dislikes teething

being hungry

certain strangers 


Firsts:

 First time in a grocery cart big kid seat

Sat up by herself

Christmas

Pulled up her legs in a crawling position






Health:

Ramona had her first cold this month, it lasted about 7-10 days. Coughing, sneezing, running nose, and lots of congestion. She never had a high fever or anything close to it, so we knew she could fight it off herself. We gave her more water than usual during her cold. 

Teething, no teeth yet

Bath every three days

Still using cloth diapers

We give Ramona 4-6ou of organic formula every night before bed to top her off and get her to sleep longer. ( fingers crossed) 


Sleeping:

We've had a rough month with sleeping. Ramona's naps are the shortest they've ever been. Some lasting 15 minutes, most only 30 minutes, like clock work. She wakes up exactly 30 minutes into each nap. We only got maybe 2-4 naps over 30 minutes this entire month. We had 3 nights in a row where Ramona woke up 2-4 times each night. Thankfully that seems to be over. We imagine teething, a growth spurt and the good ole sleep regression might have been rearing their ugly heads.

Eating:


I am stretching Ramona's feedings to every 3.5 hours during the day.

Nursing has become frustrating and difficult at times. Ramona is a very distracted eater. We think we'll introduce solids sometime very soon to hopefully help fill her up and help her nap longer.

Playing:

Play has become so much more fun with Ramona now that she's much more independent and exploratory.

She loves sitting in the walker activity set her Gramka ( Rory's Mom)
gave to her for Christmas. ( her only noise toy)

She loves books

And still loves chimes, bells and the plastic noises that some of her toys make.

her newest discovery is the furniture, she rolls over to whatever is closest and explores it




 my heart will never be the same.








Sunday, January 3, 2016

31 things I'm grateful for:

December:

1: Remembering this time last year when I announced the joyful arrival of our baby!  



2: Women's Christmas breakfast at my church.

3: Ramona's milestones: Rolling over & starting to sit up!

4: A much needed break from school.

5: Working! I get a much needed break and get to put on another hat. I feel refreshed and excited to get home and see my loves.

6: Our flocked tree!!




7: Planning our trip to see my sister, her hubby and my nephew. It will be the first time Jonah meets Ramona!!

8: A lovely short sweet visit from my Dad. He really got to enjoy and soak up Ramona's blossoming personality, it  was such a joy to see!

9: Ramona's Dedication at church alongside some of my very close friends and their babies. Three of us were pregnant at the same time. So special to dedicate our babies to the Lord! We prayed for guidance & wisdom as parents to raise our babies and for the Lord's protection over them as they grow.  


10: Our First Christmas as a family of 3!!! How special it was to make our families traditional breakfast, open gifts under the tree together, watch Ramona as the candles were glowing at church on Christmas Eve... I can't imagine how special next year will be!


11: A good 4 mo appointment & a healthy growing skinny tall baby girl!


12: Rory and I's first date night since the birth of Ramona! Casino night company party! Real tables, open bar, food from many different cultures, and a dessert table to swoon over! How fun!!


13: The sweetest woman, Ally, at the tree farm we visited, giving us a discount because it's Mona's first Christmas and taking our photo and featuring us on their facebook.

( Ramona's face!)


14: Sleeping in till 10:00 am on a few occasions.
( after our 6:30 am feeding)

15: Lots of clothes donated to us for Ramona.

16:  Breastfeeding.

17: A working heater! It was 25* at night multiple times this last month! Burrr!

18: A sincere loving Christmas card from Rory.

19: The money to be able to book our tickets to Oregon...

20: & a really low fare from Fresno to Portland during decent times of the day!

21: Walking to my in-laws on Christmas day.

22: Rain!!!!

23: Andy Williams on Vinyl, Christmas morning.

24: Chilly walks around the neighborhood for sanity's sake!

25: Dutch baby, orange juice, fresh berries & hot coffee.

26: Consistent & reliable work for my husband.

27: A new budding friendship with Ivey.

28: Selling our Toyota Camry! 

29: Family dinner every Sunday at my Mother in Law's, down the street.

30: Thinking over this past year &

31: Looking towards 2016 & all the excitement that's ahead!