4 months and Lake Winnie

Paige weighed in at 12 pounds, 9 ounces and 23.5 inches long.  Those stats put her in the 20th% percentile for weight and 15th% for height.  Her doctor kept calling her "petite."  So, even though she looks "big," she isn't!  Luckily, her diapers tested negative for blood.  Her doctor told me whatever I'm doing is working, so keep doing it.  He did tell me I could add fish to my diet, but to hold off on dairy, soy, eggs, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, and shellfish.  Ha!  So nice of him to add in fish.  I was hoping for chocolate.

She is starting to babble, which is so cute!  She absolutely LOVES her sister and has big smiles for her.  She doesn't do too well when Mommy is away.  I'm teaching a psychology class in Chattanooga 1 night a week.  I'm gone about 6 hours and she does pretty well for the first 2-3, then cries pretty much the rest of the time.  Poor daddy isn't enjoying those nights!  Is it wrong that I'm secretly glad she's so attached to me?!  I'm trying to soak up her babyhood, since she's our last baby! 

Saturday, Olivia had another soccer game.  It was a gorgeous day:

She really likes playing goalie.  All the kids do, I think they mostly enjoy getting to throw the ball out when it gets close to them:

After the game, the parents line up to make a tunnel for the kids to run through.  This seems to be the favorite for most kids!

After soccer, we decided to take advantage of the day and head to Lake Winnie.  Lake Winnie is an amusement park just south of Chattanooga.  Not quite the same as Dollywood, but it's closer!  It mainly caters to younger kids, so Olivia loved it:

Paige wasn't quite as thrilled, but did really well!

Mommy even got to hop on a few rides:

This was the only ride Olivia asked to ride twice:

Unfortunately, it was also the ride that made Mommy and Daddy sick.  We discovered that rides that go in circles or back and forth like this one do not sit well with either of us.  We left not long after that ride, ha!
True to form, Daddy managed to win several stuffed animals:

Who doesn't need a giant, stuffed, pink doughnut?

Warm weather!

It was so nice to play outside this week!  Olivia was especially excited to play soccer in warmer weather.  We've had an uneventful week.  Paige is practicing rolling over:

 

She is sooooo close!  Olivia likes to "help" her roll, which isn't always the safest, ha! 

She is still growing like a weed!  She has her 4 month visit tomorrow (a few days early).  I can't wait to see how much she weighs.
I couldn't resist taking her picture in the outfit Olivia wore for her 6 month pictures before it gets too small:

Olivia at 6 months:

Olivia has more hair on top of her head, but the back was completely bald!  Paige is the opposite- she has more hair on the back of her head.  She has quite a bit on top, but it isn't very long.  Hard to believe Olivia was 2 months older in these pictures!  Love these babies!

Easter and First Soccer game!

I don't know about you, but I am ready for warmer weather!  Olivia's first soccer game was cancelled due to rain, so her first game was last Saturday at 10:00 am.  It was 42 degrees.  She did pretty good!  They "practice" for 25 minutes, then play a game for 25 minutes.  Practice went well, but Daddy had to run with her for a few minutes when the game started.  Some of her teammates were pretty aggressive!  Olivia is NOT in any way aggressive, so she needed a little encouragement to run.  She told me today that she would be "rougher" at her next soccer game, ha!

 
 



 
 
 

A short video during the game (she gets to kick the ball):

After soccer, we went to an Easter Egg hunt at Miss Angie's church (Miss Angie that was Olivia's teacher last year and used to babysit for us!).  I have never seen so many eggs!  They had 17,000 stuffed eggs! 

They also had a small petting zoo:

After this egg hunt, we learned of another one in Soddy Daisy.  It was a helicopter drop.  A small helicopter flew over a field and dropped (un-stuffed, plastic) eggs!  It was pretty neat.  Our neighbors were at the first hunt and we all went together to the next one. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Olivia was thrilled with her eggs!  On Easter, we woke to cool temperatures again, so we dressed more for warmth than fashion, ha!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After church, we dyed a few more Easter eggs:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paige has been cracking me up with this surprised look:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She is a happy baby:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have a good week!



March Madness

Life has been busy, lately!  We've had a few adventures... like riding a train:

 

This train runs on tracks that used to be part of the main railroad back in the early 1900's.  There is a tunnel on this route that was dug by hand and is not very wide.  When train cars started getting bigger, the railroad built a track around the tunnel and donated this portion of track to the Tennessee Railroad Association.  It was a neat little train ride!  The tracks dead end and we got to watch how they turn the car around:

 

 
 
 

We also got to tour where they work on the trains and restore older trains.  It was a neat little adventure!

 

 

We also celebrated Daddy's birthday.  Olivia decorated the table all by herself (in her pajamas!):

 

And put the candles on the cake:

 

We also had a dentist visit.  Olivia has done a much better job brushing, lately!  They gave her some items to play dentist at home:

 

We also traveled to the Tri Cities last weekend to celebrate Pappy's birthday:

 

We also got to visit with Michael's family:

 

 

 

 

This little cutie:

 

is hopefully almost straightened out, tummy-wise.  I ended up speaking to a lactation nurse, who recommended a few different diets to try.  The first one was 10 days of eating foods that are broken down easily (free range chicken, sweet potatoes, rice, pears, and squash).  That was a fun 10 days!  The 10th day was last Saturday, so I'm now on a hypoallergenic diet that cuts out the top 8 allergens (dairy, soy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, fish, and shellfish).  Sounds hard, but it has been wonderful after the crazy 10 day diet!  I've added in lettuce and avocados for salads (with oil and vinegar), grapes, blueberries, gluten free chex, and rice cakes with sunbutter (allergy free "peanut butter," it's made out of sunflower kernels and really good!).  I tried to add guacamole, since I'm eating avocados, but she had a reaction.  The point of all this is to let her gut heal.  Hopefully, she is only reacting to milk and soy, but since I ate milk and soy the first 7 weeks of her life, her "gut" needs time to heal.  It may seem like she is reacting to more food, simply because it isn't healed yet.  I will give this diet several more weeks before trying to add in any of the top 8 allergens.  I have never eaten healthier in my life!  Luckily, her eczema has completely cleared with this diet and her diapers are already looking better.  We seem to be on the right track!  And before you ask, yes, I could put her on formula.  The problem is, we would be back at square one.  She would most  likely have to try several different formulas to find one she wouldn't react to (and the hypoallergenic ones are EXPENSIVE!).  She is gaining weight well and nurses like a champ.  So, do I stop the benefits of breastfeeding, just because I have to follow a diet?  No brainer to me! :)

Some weekly pictures:

 

 

She is doing much better at holding her head up:

 

Not that she's happy about it:

 

Olivia got her school pictures back today.  She looks so big!

 

 

 

Hope you're having a good week!

Feeling better and 2 month stats

Yes, I am a little late posting Paige's 2 month stats!  Hopefully, the sick days are behind us.  Olivia has been feeling much better and we are working on Paige.  She is still having tummy trouble, so I am currently dairy, soy, egg, and nut free.  If this doesn't help, I will probably also eliminate wheat and see a GI specialist.  We will see...  Luckily, she is growing great!  At 2 months, she was 10 pounds, 2 ounces and 21 inches long.  She had an appointment last Friday and was up to 11 pounds, 5 ounces, so she gained over a pound in 2 weeks!

 

I love Paige's expression in this picture:

 

Speaking of babies growing fast, I found this picture while organizing some of the ones we took when Paige was born:

 

 

And here she is 2 months later:

 



 

Growing so fast!