2 Months Old! It takes a village…

Aubrey is 2 months old!  The biggest event this week was her 2 month pediatrician visit.  She’s now 10 pounds even and a whopping 23 inches long!  She got her shots, and I have to admit I cried way more than she did.  The doctor said she was perfect, and we got cut loose until our 4 month check-up, which means more shots, but hopefully I won’t be as much of a crying mess as last time.  Afterwards, we got to hang out with Brett and his mom Renee, which was a pleasure as always. 

In regards to development this month, Baby Girl is getting better and better at head control, loves to play with her play mat, and is even rolling to her side on occasion!  The past couple weeks, she has been sleeping longer and longer. 

However, we still aren't exactly crazy about Tummy Time...

We had our usual monthly birthday party this past week by partaking in some brownies and getting to hang out with family.  Also this week, we got to meet up with our instructor from our Bradley classes, as well as our classmates Martha and Ashley, and their baby, Oakley.  It was so great to talk about our birth stories and to play with the babies.  Oakley is so freaking cute!

These past two months have been quite the learning experience, and I have found myself and Aubrey getting into a little groove for our days, and Daddy has become quite the aficionado at bath and bed time at night when he isn’t out of town.  That being said, I have also come to realize the saying “It takes a village to raise a child” is definitely true.  I have no clue what we would do without our families.  Granny, Nana and Papaw have so lovingly given me the opportunity to get back to the gym by watching baby girl and Joey and I even got to have a little date night and left Aubrey with Grandma Helen and Big Daddy Joe.  It’s been great for us to be able to get some time to ourselves and to also give the grandparents and great-grandma a chance to spend some time with their favorite girl. 

My doctor had encouraged me to get out and make sure I did get some alone time and to also let go and realize that while I am the main person in Baby Girl’s life right now, I do need to be able to let go and let other people take care of her and enjoy her as much as I do.  I found myself getting anxious about it at first and worrying that I was a bad mom for not spending every hour of every day with Aubrey, but at the end of the day, I realized that including my family in the raising of my child and letting her be around as many people as possible is beneficial to both her and myself.  So, that being said, I want to shout a huge THANK YOU to our family for being there for us and for loving our sweet girl as much as we do.

Budget, Smudget

Since Joey and I got married, we have enjoyed the perks of a lifestyle of a couple with double income and no kids, which meant going wherever, whenever and not really paying attention to where our money went. Boy how things have changed in the past couple of months.  Since I decided to reduce my hours when I go back to work in November, we have decided to trim a little from the monthly expenses to be able to save more and to for us to be able to go on vacations and to make some additional improvements around the house. 

It really hasn’t been that bad, I must admit.  Yes, there could be more cuts made, but I think we are comfortable with the final product that we have decided on.  I kind of like being on a budget, it actually makes me think about purchases and work hard to find the best deals at various stores and also has encouraged me to even clip a few coupons.  I also got rid of the data plan on my cell phone, which has really helped.

To keep track of our expenses, we have decided to use mint.com.  You can create your own budget and then securely enter your bank information, so that the website can pull in your expenses.  It’s a great tool and really easy to use.  I suggest trying it if you want to get your expenses in line. 

8 Weeks!

We are finally at 8 weeks and Aubrey is still growing and changing every day.  She’s getting quite the chubbs on her little legs and is staying up a little more during the day.  The other day, she even rolled over to her side all by herself!  Looks like pretty soon, she will be rolling over completely, and I don’t know whether to be happy she’s hitting all her milestones or sad that she’s getting so big and just growing up too fast for me.  We are having her monthly birthday party on Friday, yay for more cupcakes!  Next week, we have her 2 month appointment and her shots, so wish us luck! Here she is getting ready to go see Daddy’s office today.

Another milestone for me personally is around the corner, which is the second month of my breastfeeding.  It’s been a really great experience, and I’m so glad that I we have been able to be successful at breastfeeding this far and to make it to my first (unpublished) goal – I have always said 6 months, but I do always celebrate each week that I make it closer to that goal.  I have pumped a decent stash as well that we can use when I go back to work and for bottle feedings when Daddy wants to take over.  One of the issues I have had has been nursing in public.  I’ve really only been able to do it in the car and when we are together with friends and family.  It’s my goal this next month is to branch out a little and maybe try to nurse in other places.  We’ll see, even though it’s so much easier just to bring a bottle of pumped milk.  I came across a cartoon the other day, that gave me a little giggle in regards to nursing in public.