Lots of Slime

Not only is Vivian drooling a ton she also has her first cold which is causing a lot of boogies to be running down her face. Yucko!

Florida Visit

Vivian and I got home last night from a two week stay in Florida. We were there to help out my mom after her surgery. Mom is recovering well! She also got to meet all of her aunts and most of her cousins. Unfortunately she was so out of her comfort zone that she was a bit cranky with seeing everyone at once. Hopefully we'll snag some happy pictures next time we see everyone. While we were there Vivian did some growing. Of course the biggest milestone was rolling over. Check out the video:

Atlantic Ocean

During our visit with my mom, we took Vivian to the beach for the first time. She touched the sand, squinted at the sun, wore sunscreen and felt the water. The touching the water part was cute, funny and sad for us and scary for her. The water was not exactly swimming temperature - there was nobody in the water. Me, mom and Grandma Elaine put our feet in the water and it was pretty cold. Well, I thought Vivian's little feet would be able to handle it just the same as ours. Boy was I wrong. As the water came up the beach, I put her tiny feet on the sand so the water would just skim over them. She had no initial reaction and then about 3 seconds later she let out this horrified scream. She was so scared. It took about 10 minutes to calm her down. Poor little thing. We'll have to give it another try when the water is more like her bath water - warm.

Touching the Atlantic Ocean for the First Time

4 Generations of Wonderful Women

Vivian's On A ROLL!

Vivian's been working really hard the past couple of weeks on rolling over. She started off practicing rolling to her right side from her back. She would get about three-quarters of the way and then plop back onto her back. This was going on for about a week and half. Then three days ago she decided to give it a try on her left side. It's funny, her strategy was completely different from how she was trying on the right. She positioned her legs and moved her hips in a different way. I was guiding her over every once a while to show her what it feels like. Well, today she was successful all by herself. Unfortunately I didn't get to see it happen. Isn't that the way it usually goes? But I did see her proud face once she made it over. Check it out!!!!

I love how her little hands are placed so perfectly cute under her chest! :-)

Halloween and 3 months

We didn't do much for Halloween. Vivian was in bed before the trick-or-treaters started coming, so we dressed her up the day after and took her to Springs Preserve gardens where we attempted a little photo shoot in her Ladybug costume. It didn't go too well. It was cold and the wind was blowing hard. She can't sit up yet so we tried propping her up in a basket we brought with us. That didn't work as well as we were expecting. Also, since she discovered her hands a few weeks ago, she doesn't take them out of her mouth, so to get a shot without them took many many tries. The shots Derrick and I took were not good enough to make it to the blog. I am lucky enough to have met a mom in one of my mommy groups who offered to give the pictures a try. We came across the same hands-in-mouth problem but managed to snap the pictures below. :-)

Quite the Little Lady

Vivian turned 3 months just a couple days after Halloween. She has been working on mastering all the things she's good at: sucking on her hands, playing with her toys, holding her blanket, smiling and laughing, sleeping through the night and doing push-ups on her belly. She's a rock star baby!

Happy Girl

10-30-11

Fluff Mail (Cloth Diapers)

We have tried two different methods of cloth diapers - pocket and prefold with a cover. The pockets worked fine but we felt they were a bit bulky. You also have to replace the entire diaper every time and to have enough supply we thought it wouldn't be as economical as the prefold. We are going to keep a few in our stash for nighttime because Vivian is a heavy wetter at night since she sleeps so long. We decided go with the prefold with a cover. This is the traditional cloth diaper that you have to fold in thirds and put a waterproof cover over. The great thing is that all that needs to be replaced is the prefold, unless of course it is a number 2 because that gets on the cover. When we remove the prefold we just wipe down the cover and reuse it. The best part about the cloth diapers, other than how much money we will save, is that they come in all sorts of patterns and colors. It's like Vivian's bum is will be an accessory.

Our first delivery of fluff mail

11 Weeks

My dad and step-mom came to visit for the week. Vivian was a super star at going with the flow. We went downtown 2 days and spent lots of time sightseeing in the casinos. Needless to say, she was a tired baby both nights. She went to sleep at 4:30 the second day and didn't wake up until her midnight feeding. She didn't even get her bath. Dad and April were lucky enough to see Vivian learn a new skill while they were here. Other than learning how to win on the slot machines, Vivian found her hands and has been sucking them to no end. If her hands aren't available then she is sucking on her arm or the arm of whoever is holding her. She has also added a new 'word' to her vocabulary - it's a high-pitched noise. She certainly is a chatty-cathy. We set up a couple more of her toys to add to our daily circuit. She now plays in her Jumperoo and chills in her Bumbo. She will entertain herself for about 15-20 minutes in the Jumperoo laughing at the lights that reflect off the lion. Lucky me, this allows me to get some things done. She now prefers to be sitting or standing and is no longer a fan of lying down to play anymore. She's a big girl now, you know.

Wishing Everyone a Wonderful Week

2 month celebration

Vivian got to celebrate her 2 month birthday by going on her first airplane ride to Kansas to met her Grandma and Grandpa and Cousin. She did excellent on the plane.

Daddy's Co-Pilot

Our visit was great, although too short. We left home Monday night and came back Wednesday night.

Vivian with Grandpa Rick

Vivian with Grandma Lynn

Our Little Doll Baby

We celebrated Zach's 18th birthday and we had enough time for lunch with Great-Grandma Betty.


We look forward to seeing the family for Thanksgiving!


When we got home Vivian had her 2-month check-up. Our sweet girl now weighs 11 pounds 1 ounce. The doctor was pleased with her progression and impressed by how alert she is. She also got her first round of shots. Thank goodness Derrick was able to make - I don't think I would have wanted to handle that alone. We have some stretches and massages we have to do to her neck but otherwise she is as perfect and healthy as she could be.

Snuggle Time

We've been working on Vivian's sleep routine. It's going great. She's getting better at taking the pacifier instead of my finger. And on most occasions, she falls asleep without me holding her. I still have to be near her though. Inch by inch, we'll soon be to the point where I can just lay her in her crib and walk away. She's doing a wonderful job and I think I'm doing a good job of letting go.
We have morning snuggle time between when she waked up in the morning and her morning nap. It's usually between 5:00 and 6:00 in the morning. I think it's her favorite activity - she is so happy when we snuggle, sing our morning songs and do exercises.
Check her out with her snuggly giraffe just before bed...

Sweet Girl

We went to the park this week with some other mommies and their babies. One mommy was nice enough to snap a few photos.




I love her!!! ♥

Playtime

Vivian has not been friendly to her swing (unless she's asleep). Then today, we had a breakthrough. She was in a good mood after her morning nap so as usual I put her in her swing to give it a try. She normally doesn't last more than 1 minute without screaming. But great news today! She kept up her happy mood and began to smile and laugh at the bee and snail hanging above her. It lasted 10 minutes! Yeah!

She also had a great time playing with her friend in the mirror.

Happy Momma Moment and Milestone for Vivian

She probably doesn't realize what she did or how she did it but Vivian rolled onto her back during tummy time! I watched how she did it so I will try to encourage her to do it the same way next time she's on her belly. :)

Social Interaction

Yesterday, Vivian and I had our first mommy and me play date. Actually it was an eat date. The group is called Momma's Milk Circle and yep, we get together and feed our babies. It was a great time for both of us. I got to talk to other moms about parenting ideas and Vivian got to meet cute ones her age. She did such a good job. When we arrived she was still asleep but about 45 minutes later she began waking up. She is always hungry right when she wakes up so I went ahead and fed her. But then she was wide-eyed and alert and the cutest baby ever. She was 'interacting' with everyone. In baby terms that means she was looking around and staring at things and people while smiling. What a big girl! We were there about 2 hours before she began to get fussy and tired. I look forward to going again next week.

Our First 6 Weeks As A New Family

Our first two weeks as a family was very tiring. I don't need to explain that one too much. As a newborn, Vivian ate and slept on her own time. I think I nursed her while I was asleep at least a few times. We were also lucky enough to have the support of my Grandma Dot, Grandpa Ron and Dad. It was extremely helpful to have their emotional and moral support as a couple learning how to be a family of three. Bonus, I didn't have to cook for two weeks. Just as we were getting in a groove, on the day of Vivian's 2 week check-up we packed up and left for our new home, Las Vegas. It took 2 and half days and Vivian did wonderfully. She let us drive for 3 hours at a time with a 1 hour break in between. We arrived just in time to celebrate my birthday!

Because Derrick took extra time off to get us moved, he worked for 17 days straight to make up for it. Poor guy was exhausted and Vivian and I missed him on the weekends. While he was at work, Vivian and I slowly unpacked the boxes and tried to get the house situated between feedings, tummy time and getting to sleep. We also had a visit from my mom and Grandma Elaine. They were a tremendous help with getting the rest of the house in order. We celebrated Vivian's 1 month birthday with some cute pictures. Hopefully you've received your announcement featuring 2 of my favorite pictures from the photo session. If not, and you would like one, email me a note (dcncwulf@hotmail.com).

Now today Vivian is 6 weeks old and my how she has grown! Physically and mentally. It's been a rewarding 6 weeks yet tiring - of course.

Babies do four things: eat, sleep, potty and grow. Here's how Vivian and the family are handling all four.

Eat:
Breastfeeding is going well. Initially it was extremely painful and Vivian was very eager to get some grub but we have both learned how to do it without pain and without such gusto. She is eating on demand which is really helping my figure. ;) I took a leap today and decided to try on my pre-pregnancy jeans. Good news for me (and Derrick) - they fit. Not exactly like they used to but I wore them all day. I also have enough liquid gold (milk) to feed a couple of babies. Because of this blessing, I have been able to pump quite a bit of milk. It's great to have something to use later down the road but it is also great because Derrick has had the opportunity to feed her in the evenings. At 4 weeks we introduced her to the bottle and she took to it quite well. It's nice that Vivian and Derrick can have that bonding time and I get a short break.


Sleep:
Sleeping has it's good days and bad days but most nights are great. For a little over a week now, Vivian has been sleeping 8-10 hours at night with only one wake-up to eat! How wonderful. Of course this means that we are getting sleep but it also means that I should be well rested to handle the minimal sleep she does during the day. Not so much. I'm not going to lie. It's exhausting when she doesn't want to sleep more than 4 hours during the day in half-hour to 45-minute increments. I try swaddling, rocking, walking, sucking, swinging, etc. Sometimes it takes an hour to get her to sleep for 30 minutes. Bedtime however is a little better. It still takes about an hour to get her to sleep but she sleeps for a long time. We are very glad that she knows day from night and that our bedtime routine is sinking in. Now to work on the naps or just getting her to not take so long to fall asleep. We have started to introduce a new routine for falling asleep but feel free to leave a comment or email me (dcncwulf@hotmail.com) with any suggestions.

Potty:
Vivian has no problem in the potty department. Now that we are settled we are going to start using cloth diapers. We bought three different brands to test out Bum Genius, Fuzzi Bunz and Rumparooz. We tried them all a couple of times but each time we choose a different favorite. If you have used either of these brands, please let me know about your experience. I will definitely report back on our progress as we choose the best one for us and get accustomed to them.

Grow:
My oh my, how the little ones grow! Where do I even begin on this one. Vivian has reached several milestones and accomplished so much.
* Vivian is mastering tummy-time and has started to hold up her head even in an
upright position and push push push with her feet to scoot on the floor (when
pushing against our hands).

* Vivian is making eye contact with us and loves to stare at contrasting colors.
She especially likes looking at the sunlight coming through the brown curtains
in the living room. It's funny to just watch her stare like she sees something
we don't.
* Vivian thinks her mommy and daddy are funny. She has started smiling and
laughing at us for no reason in particular - just because we look funny I
guess. It's too cute!

* Vivian has started having conversations. Her coos are so sweet and I swear she
is saying 'mommy' but Derrick thinks she is saying 'daddy'. Whichever it is,
it's adorable! :)
* At her 1 month check-up last week, Vivian had grown 1 inch and gained 2 pounds,
up to 9 pounds 10 ounces. Our baby girl is a little bean sprout.



We are now settled in our new home and I am loving the warmth that Las Vegas provides. I hear Fall here is gorgeous. Feel free to give us a call if you're in town, we would love for you to meet Vivian!

My How She Grows Every Day!

Food Coma or Sweet Dreams?

girl, n.: a miracle with giggles on it

Our beautiful daughter, Vivian, was born August 2nd!

As we got closer to the due date (August 1st), I of course got more anxious to meet our little sunshine. I wanted the show to get on the road. So, Sunday I went to get a pedicure, hoping that a massage on the right nerves might start things off. I felt no change. Monday morning I started with my regular breakfast shake but I added in some papaya. I was told that papaya has awesome enzymes that start labor. For lunch I had some very spicy Thai food. Which I was also told that spicy food irritates the GI Tract which induces labor. Once again, I felt no change. As usual, Derrick flew home Monday night but his plane was delayed and he did not get in until 2:00 Tuesday morning. After only a few hours of sleep, I went to work Tuesday morning, still feeling great and no signs of surges or labor. We had a doctor's appointment at 11:00. At the check-up, Renee informed us that we were at 3 centimeters dilated and 50% effaced. To me that sounded like we hadn't gotten very far. 4 weeks ago I was at 1 centimeter. That wasn't a huge change in my mind, however she said I was progressing perfectly and that we will probably have a baby in the next week. After our appointment, we went to lunch. Nothing special, just some bar-b-q. Then we did some light walking around IKEA and I got a manicure. We made it home around 2:00pm. I noticed my appetite had decreased slightly but I just figured it was because we had a really big lunch. Well...around 5:00pm I started to feel a little out of sorts so I went to the bedroom to lay down for a nap. I put my birthing affirmations on and began my relaxed breathing. Sure enough, my surges were beginning. They were about every 10 minutes and lasted about a minute. Here we go, I thought. Now how long was this going to last. Well, the surges started to get more intense and frequent very quickly. Derrick came in to help me control my breathing and relax. Around 7:30pm he called Renee to let her know that the surges were at 2-3 minutes apart and were lasting for about 2 minutes each. We were off to the hospital. We arrived at the hospital at 8:00pm. Derrick and I went straight up to labor and delivery. I don't really remember too many specifics after that until the pushing part. I had my eyes closed most of the time focusing on my breathing and Derrick was really making sure I was focusing on relaxing and trusting that my body knew what it was supposed to do. It was really hard to find a comfortable laboring position. I was on all fours on the bed, leaning on Derrick and on my side. The nurse that we had, Jill, was wonderful. While Derrick was talking me through each surge, Jill was helping me with my long, deep breaths. Around 10:00pm Renee showed up, right on time! She even brought me a Lucky Duck Dahlia from her garden for good luck. The feeling to bare-down or push began. Renee took me to the laboring chair that has a hole so I wouldn't feel as much pressure on my bottom. I did a few pushes there but we were stuck at 9.5 centimeters. So Renee got me into a warm shower. Holy cow did that work! I immediately felt a change! I called for Renee and I got onto the bed on my side. I pushed through about 4 surges and then our baby was on my chest and belly. All in about 6 hours. I looked over at Derrick with a smile, like, 'we did it!'. He was smiling back with tears in his eyes. But wait! We still didn't know if the baby was a boy or girl. After a quick look and some discussion, it was girl! The umbilical cord was cut and I pulled her closer to my chest where she took her time making her way to my breast for her first meal. She needed only a little assistance but eventually found her way. Don't let anybody fool you, the first time you breast feed HURTS. We asked for some privacy so we could have a family moment and discuss what we wanted to name our new bundle. We decided on Vivian. Everyone asks where we came up with her name. It came from nowhere and has no ties to any family. We just thought of it and it sounded perfect. After she ate, Grandma Dot came in to give Vivian her first bath. Everyone did great, not too much fussing. Shortly after, we got settled in our room. That was it. We did it! I made it 9 months. We made it through an unmedicated birth. We have a beautiful baby girl! YAY!!!

A special thank you to my dear Husband. You are truly amazing. Your support through all of my non-traditional ideas was amazing. Thank you for letting me have control of my body and trusting that I knew what was best for me and Vivian. Thank you for loving me completely and helping me bring this new life into the World. Thank you for being strong and positive when I was scared or unsure. I love you!

39 Week Check-up

Grandma and Grandpa made it into town safely. It's nice having them here; makes me feel secure in case something should happen quickly. We had our 39 week check-up today. I have been pretty under the weather with a sore throat, laryngitis, congestion and sleeplessness. Not too fun toward the end of pregnancy. At my appointment today, Renee, our midwife, ordered me to be on bet rest until either I recover from this virus or the baby comes. She wants me to have a healthy delivery and have plenty of energy to do so. Now I'm not a workaholic but I do feel I need to be at work a few more days to tie up any loose ends since I won't be coming back. Oh well, I guess. Doctor's orders and we have to do what is most healthy and safe for me and the baby. Because I've been sick I haven't gained any weight, although I am still eating like normal - a lot. When Renee was measuring my belly, she pointed out that I was actually having a contraction. I had no idea. She said that it was normal not to feel the practice contractions but you could definitely see it. My belly suctioned in around the baby so that the baby was all we could see. Check out the ever growing baby bump...

We can't wait to meet our little miracle!