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.

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!

Ramona: 4 months!

Our sweet babe is 4 months old! How did this happen?!

Growth: 13.7 lbs & 26in.

35% for weight

97% for height (!)

Dr says she's healthy!

Likes:

Hearing me say " Mama" & "Dada"

Watching the dogs fetch.

Gasping at toys or my hair while she nurses.

Laying on her changing table.

Momma

Dislikes:

Tummy time after a few minutes.

Evenings.

Strangers.

Eating:

She eats every three hours during the day when she wakes up from her naps.

She gets formula every few days but is

mostly breastfed

Sleeping:

Still sleeping though the night!

Naps are hit & miss.

Sometimes they're 30 min sometimes 2 hours!

Firsts:

First time in a high chair!

First time rolling over from back to tummy!

First giggles. 

Dedicated @ church Sunday!

Meeting Emmett (my best friend's 3 week old!)

Falling off the couch.

(She is OK :-))

Health:

We bathe her every 4 days.

She had 3 shots @ her 4 month appointment.

We think she's teething (very slowly)

She has yet to catch a cold!

(Go breast milk!)

Playing:

Loves toys with bells & loves rattles.

Is completely content playing on a quilt while watching me in the kitchen for up to a half hour without fussing.

Is getting the hang of her bouncer.

Puts everything in her mouth!

Loves laying under the tree & staring at any kind of lights.

Loves to hear me sing.

Looking forward to:

Baby lead feeding.

Sitting up. ( our next big milestone) she's getting so good @ holding herself up in that position.

Cooking for her & seeing her in a high chair in the kitchen.

30 things i'm grateful for:

(Ramona will be 4 months on 12/20!!! Amazing how time flies.)

November:

1: Ramon's Lovie

2: A healthy baby boy for Rachel & Seth Scott! Their son was born on 11/30!

3: Ramona's first giggles!!

4: A glass of red wine & a magazine to wind down the evening.

5: Friends (!) on netflix. Reunited & it feels so good. Ah, nostalgia. 

6: Finding motivation in a hot cup of coffee. 

7: Co-workers who truly make you feel loved.

 

8: Health insurance! Yay Kaiser.

9: Thanksgiving.

10: School ending this week for Christmas break! PTL!!!!!!!!!!(!!!!!!)

11: My down comforter <3

12: Rain.

13: KMJ Talk radio.

14: Music.

15: Hard Root beer.

16: Our dishwasher and washer and dryer.

17: Advent

 

18: Christmas shopping for Ramona's first Christmas!

 

19: New friends!

20: Gazebo Gardens.

21: NyQuil and DayQuil

22: Josh and Britney's wedding!!

23: Longer naps.

24: Sleeping in!

25: Visits from both my Mom and Dad!

26: Enjoying our daughter to our cores! <3

27: Laughing with my amazing, loving Husband Rory.

28: Handmade baby bonnets ( insert heart eyed emojis here x100000)

29: Old Navy. 

30: Jobs.

31 things I'm grateful for:

Our sweet baby will be 11 weeks Thursday!!

October grateful list:

1. Ladies Fall luncheon with our church!

2. Our local talk radio station KMJ 105.9. I listen every morning & love hearing news and local talk about our area! 

3. Winning TWICE on KMJ in two weeks: I won tickets to a craft beer festival & won a gift card to a local high end restaurant! total value of both: $200!

4. Rain!

5. Gazebo Gardens: a sweet little garden nursery that stay open late Thur-Sat nights & bring in local bands & food trucks. Its a fun weekend spot where we go to grab dinner & a beer, and enjoy the community of people that gather there with their families!

6. School: during the quiet of the mornings, before Ramona wakes up, I study & get assignments done and I love waking up slowly when it's quiet and the world is just waking up.

7. Health benefits. We love Kaiser!

8. Hard apple cider & pizza. yum

9. That first sip of coffee every morning.

10. Sunday night football at my in laws.

11. A very good 2 month check up for my tall girl!

12. Chipotle.

13. Random lunch dates with 3 very good friends.

14. Showering & celebrating my best friend & her baby!

15. Home made biscotti.

16. Chocolate.

17.Jimmy Fallon!!! He truly makes me giggle everyday.

18. My husband. He chooses to bless me so often.

19. Reading blogs every morning!

20. Daily contact with my Mom & sister.

21. Singing to Ramona & seeing the joy she gets from it!!

22. My bed & pillows.

23. Rory & I's 30th birthdays!

24. A lovely, relaxing massage (my birthday gift from Rory) at The Spa at Fig Garden.

25. Ramona consistently sleeping through the night since 7 wks. old!

26. A warm pan of roasted veggies.

27. Candles! Woodwick candles are the coziest! 

28. All things pumpkins!

29. My co-workers & customers! Excited to be going back to work part time starting tomorrow.

30. Finding a bottle Mona LOVES, and getting it for FREE!

31. Laughter.

Chicken carrot and wild rice casserole:

I must have a little bit of a crush on creamy, chicken, wild rice dishes... my favorite soup is creamy chicken and wild rice :)

Chicken, carrot, and wild rice casserole:

Is there anything more homey and fall than a casserole?! All the warm and cozy feels 

Adapted from T.D. Willey's recipe:

3 c. stock of your choice ( i use chicken stock)

1.5 tsp. ground nutmeg

1.5 c. chopped carrots

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

2 c. cooked, chopped chicken

3/4 heavy cream ( whatever milk you prefer)

1 c. wild rice uncooked

3/4 c milk

2 tbls. butter

3 tbls. flour ( i use whole wheat)

1 c. sliced green onion

salt & pep 

Preheat oven to 375*. Lightly coat 2 qt baking dish with spray. bring stock to a boil in a med soup pot, add carrots, reduce to simmer. Cook, uncovered until carrots very tender ( 10-12 min). Drain carrots, reserving stock. Allow carrots to cool at least 5 min, transfer to blender or food processor, add cream and process until smooth. 

Scald Milk* in a small pan (do not boil).

Melt butter in a med pot over low heat, stir in flour, cook for 2 min, gradually whisk in milk, then reserved stock. Add carrot puree, nutmeg and cayenne to taste. Increase heat, bring mixture to a boil add rice. 

Cover, reduce heat to low and cook for 12 min.  

Remove pot from heat. Stir in scallions & cooked chicken, season with salt and pep.

Pour into prepared baking dish

Bake 30+ min

Casserole will be finished when solid and browned.

ENJOY!!!!! Get ready for warm cozy comfort. Don't feel bad if this doesn't last long or you don't have leftovers... ( heart eyed emoji)

*How to scald milk:

 To scald milk, you use a heavy bottomed pan or double boiler and bring the temperature of the milk to 85-100°C (185-212°F). At sea level, the milk should just start showing small bubbles and releasing steam at the lower end of this temperature range.

Ramona's Birth story:Photos, final thoughts and our hospital stay!

Walking the halls with my love.

My sweetheart, such an amazing support.

 My favorite nurse: Kim.

Rory was able to cut the long length off of Mona's cord after the nurse made sure she was o.k. I loved how focused He was when cutting Ramona's cord.

" It's a girl!" 


My mother in law, meeting her first grand baby <3 

Skin to skin with her Papa. My heart in one tiny frame.

Our amaaaazing doula, Rebecca, such a strong support, encouraging me so much. hearing her say she was proud of me, and how well I was doing, spoke so highly to me!

After her birth:

After delivering Ramona, we had an hour of skin to skin, and I nursed her for the very first time. She latched on almost immediately, once I got the hang of it! And nursed almost the entire hour! What a joy it is to supply everything your baby needs with God-given nutrients and antibodies, and sustenance, designed just for her... it doesn't get much more amazing then that! During that time I was being stitched up, I had a two degree tear. That was a pretty painful process. But nothing trumps the feeling of your baby on your chest. I was relishing in our baby girl. 

Her name:

Since we didn't know what gender our little one was, by choice, we decided to wait to name our baby, until we saw her. We had a top three-ish list of each gender names, and Ramona was #1 on the girl list! It was the only name I had written down twice. I have no idea why, but I loved it that much :) 

We knew when we saw her, we knew that she our Ramona.
She wan't a Ruby, Rilo, or Reece: Other contenders. And we still agree, her name fits her so well.

Our stay:

In our Post-labor room:

At first, when I got pregnant, I considered a home birth. MAN can I tell you how glad I am I didn't have a home birth! Hospitals are around for a good reason! And the fact that someone is bringing you food every few hours, that cannot be beat! More importantly, the monitoring on Mona during labor, to make sure she was handling the stress adequately, and keeping an eye on me, knowing the nurses truly had me and Mona's best interest in mind. I also loved the hospital bed! I know that sounds silly, but man I appreciated the mobility of the up/ down capabilities of the bed and the  back of the bed. Lots of buttons on the bed too, lights for the room, tv controls, ( as if we ever even turned that thing on. comical) Funny fact that I just remembered, during labor, since all the controls for the bed are in the inside of the arm rest, I kept pushing them as I was pushing and turning the T.V. on! It was on some Mexican soap opera channel an it upset me every time, I'd say, " someone please turn that off!" Sometimes I think I was the only one who realized it was on. LOL. This happened at least 4-5 times...-_- hahah.

 I loved all the " goodies" you get during your stay too! MEDS :) After labor I was ALLL about those extra strength Ibuprofen. Also those goofy mesh undies, the topical sprays,  the largest feminine pads you'll ever see in your life, nurses checking on you and your baby, and teaching you how to care for the little one you're now responsible to feed, bathe, clothe and care for. They showed me lots of helpful nursing techniques, how to bathe her, and other helpful tips. We also got lots of diapers, onsies, and other goodies. And may I mention the fact that someone comes in most hours to clean up after you?! Replace things you've used, change and make your sheets, etc. Guys, have your babies in hospitals. All good things.  Even though we had a fantastic experience at Kaiser, we were so ready to head home!!

Overall the experience we had was one I will always cherish. The nursing staff at Kaiser Fresno, is beyond kind, capable, and go above and beyond! I had so many positive experiences with many of the nurses there. We also were blown away, with the cost of everything. After our insurance covered it's portion, we paid a total of $150!

I am still shocked to write that. Thank you Starbucks for your great coverage!! ALLLL those years of ALLL those customers, yeah you know the ones, finally paid off ;)