RAISING THE LITTLE BARR'S

{Project 52} week 7 :: negative space...it can be a positive thing!

Charlene1 Comment
Baby E's Uncle Bill, good friends Brian and Carly, Baby E's Aunt Maggie & Trey, snow flurries, good BBQ, tons of time in the car listening to The Lumineers album for the first time, and 4 states later, we are home from a great weekend!! {Post on all that to come soon!}

For tonight...


My Project 52 Challenge by Paint The Moon

Week 7 Theme: Negative Space...it can be a positive thing!
My photo: These boots were made for walking {but not quite yet!}

Why I chose this photo: Just like the theme says...I think the way the negative (white) space in this photo is composed, focused mainly on little baby boots coming in from the side, worked well for this week. Our 13 week old apparently can't keep a pair of shoes on for nothin' these days! But the boots sure are stinkin' cute! {Thanks Aunt Catherine!}

little baby boots

Baby E {3 month photos & favorites}

Charlene8 Comments

As my snuggly little baby lay nestled atop me last night on the couch, I watched her eyes fall slowly asleep, eliciting such a euphoric feeling of love within me. I still look at her in awe, and feel completely blessed that we were able to create something -- well, someone -- who is capable of loving us back just as much. Super sappy, I know; yet rather apropos considering tomorrow is the day to celebrate l.o.v.e. <3

But today, my friends, is the day to celebrate 3 whole months since our baby entered this world for us to love on for the rest of our lives! Most amazing 3 months for us yet. She is simply wonderful!









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3 MONTH FAVORITES :: 
Thought I'd throw in the sidenote that I may be doing this wrong cause it seems like '3 month favorites' would be after she hits the 3 month mark, but I am doing it as in 0-1 was the 1st month, 1-2 was the 2nd month, and 2-3 is now the 3rd month. So just go with it ;)

babies 3 month old favorites toys and mom favorites
1. Bibs (Target) - Our little girl is a drooler these days. Bibs are necessary! And the 'I always have room for cake' one is very fitting for my child :)

2. Hands-free Pumping Bra (Amazon) - Worth every penny. This makes pumping very do-able! I can hold/feed the baby while pumping, blog, talk on the phone, etc. Or do that all at once (which I have!)

3. Taggies Jammies (Target) - Aunt Maggie got baby girl these jammies for Christmas and we loove them on her! So stinkin' cute, and it fits really well!

4. Milkscreen strips (Amazon/Target) - Tests for alcohol in breast milk in case you want to indulge a little ;) Although, I have had to dump several bottles of pumped milk. And whoever said "Don't cry over spilled milk" has never had to pump and dump before. It's a little bit heartbreaking! So, either play it safe and don't drink, or use these strips.

5. The Very Hungry Caterpillar (available at all stores/Amazon) - Definitely one of my favorites to read to her!

6. Sophie the Giraffe - The ever-so-popular Sophie. She occasionally grabs hold of Sophie and brings the legs to the mouth - I assume she will fall even more in love with Sophie as she grows a little!

7. Mobi Wrap - If she's wanting to be held, it's great to put her in this and walk around the house. She falls asleep in it and it's so cute ;) I brought it to the park and she fell asleep in it there too. Very versatile!

8. Sassy Books (Babies R us/ Amazon) - So cute for babies. Soft, fun to read, and one has a handle to grab.

9. Skip Hop Mirror - We don't have THIS mirror, but a different mirror and I tell you, she loves looking at herself! Or whatever it is she sees in mirrors in the background or something. They are fun for her!

10. A&D ointment - Sister recommended this for diaper rashes and although Baby E has only had a few mild spots, this cleared it up right away. The OB also recommended this if you are still hurting from breastfeeding and lanolin isn't helping.

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3 MONTH STATS ::
11 lbs, 13 oz



MILESTONES ::
{Rolling Over}
Shortly after reaching the 2 month mark, Baby E decided tummy time was for the birds. Any time we lay her on her belly, she gets her roll on. Tummy to back, that is.

{Laughing}
She's been smiling in response to us for a while now, but last week (on 2/7), it happened for the first time -- Daddy was talking in his best Cookie Monster voice, and there we had it, the cutest little baby laughs we've ever heard. Hearing her laugh and seeing that face makes both of our hearts melt -- we often tell her we don't know how we are ever going to say 'no' to her when she's older! (That'll change, though, I'm sure..haha)

{Following Sounds & Voices}
We can now talk to Baby E and she will follow us all around with her head/eyes wherever we walk.  Which always makes us sad to leave the room if she is staring at us and smiling. That'll change soon, too, I'm sure! But if she hears a noise now, she knows which direction it is coming from and looks that way, whether it's a toy making noise, or one of us talking.

{Grabbing/Grasping}
Anything & Everything. Especially Momma's hair. {Ouch!}






SLEEPING ::
8-9 hours a night. It's wonderful. And I am thankful. One night she even slept 10 hours. She'll usually wake up around 5 or 6 when Daddy is up in the morning, but I pop her pacifier in at that time and turn on her musical projector and she falls back asleep until around 8. Not quite sure what she'd do without that projector!



 

EATING ::
Still only breast milk (Sidenote: autocorrect wants to change breastmilk to gristmill..interesting!). The doctor says once she reaches 4 months we'll start giving her some cereal in her bottles, so for another month at least, I predict her eating habits won't change too much! But we'll see :)

MISC. ::
We recently put her in the jumperoo for the first time, and while her little feetsies don't quite touch the floor yet, she looks like such a big girl in there! She holds her head well and stares at all the action goin' on.

monkey feet on baby

Still obsessed with the swing! 

Lovesss being read to and batting at the books. We've reread all her books numerous times so I bought her a couple cute ones for Valentine's Day. :)

One more thing I want to remember between the 2nd month and now is the way she clasps her teeny hands together all the time and holds them up by her face, looking like the sweetest little girl there is! And her coos and laughs are a-maz-ing!










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 3 months ago from today {the 13th} was absolutely incredible. Baby E has blessed us in so many ways. We love you, baby girl!




First Valentine's Day {Gift Guide}

Charlene6 Comments
Valentine's Day has always been about the hubby and myself. It was in 9th grade when he asked me to be his girlfriend on Valentine's Day in 2002. This will be the 12th Valentine's Day since then. But this year, it's all about the babay, because we are both just so in love with her!

Many of you are first time momma's too with teeny tiny babies, so I'm sure you're just as excited as I am for all these 'first' holidays! I've always been a holiday lover, and now that I have a baby -- well, holidays, bring it on!!

I put together a little gift guide for all the mommas with babies who'll be encountering Cupid for the first time this year ;) It is also veryyy hard to believe it's already been a whole YEAR since I got pregnant last February..whoa, baby! But now she's here to celebrate all the love <3

I did not buy her all the gifts listed here, FYI. I may go overboard with holidays and festivities, but..not this bad! Although they are all gifts I'd love to get her, she's only getting some of these!

first valentines day gift guide

1. Valentine Baby Dress - Every baby girl needs a pretty Valentine dress, right?! Haha maybe not, but my baby does for her first V-Day <3 This was just too cute to pass up - especially with the Old Navy baby sale going on. And if you know me, you know I had coupons on top of the sale ;)

2. Emma Kate- Well this one is pretty self-explanatory. I mean, I'd be excited if there were a book named after me! I read a lot to Baby E. We probably read about 3x a day, so we've been through all her current books multiple times. Including the nursery rhyme books -- I've sang every one to her. {And I still don't understand why Yankee Doodle called the feather in his hat 'Macaroni'...? Odd.}

3. 'Daddy's Cupcake' Onesie- I was super excited to come across this one. Daddy calls her his little cupcake! 'Tis a must have :)

4. My First Valentine's Bib- Her Grandma sent her this one as a first Valentine's Day gift ;) Well, a similar one. But the one she got is reversible with little hearts on the other side <3

5. Baby Cakes -VERY cute book!! I will have fun reading this to her at night..and so will she {I think!}

6. Bright Starts Links- Well, she needed more of these. And it just so happens to be Valentine's Day this week, so that's just being thrown in as a gift. Her activity gym is a hand-me-down missing some of the lil links..she loooves to grab things these days, so we got some extras now! Very useful for toys at home, and to hang toys from her stroller and car seat.

7. Heart Onesie - Baby girls need a little more variety from their everyday PINK wardrobes. Let's branch out a little :)

8. Snuggle Puppy - A BOOK -- that is a LOVE SONG -- about a PUPPY?! Yes, please!

9. Shabby Chic Red Heart Headband - Too cute! <3

10. Wooden Heart Teether- This looks like fun

11. Skip Hop Toy Elephant- While I didn't get this for her, I think it is adorable! And the letter on it is pretty dang appropriate ;)

12. Where is Baby's Valentine?- A Valentine book for baby..pretty self explanatory!

13. Valentine Leg Warmers- These babies would call for a danggg cute photo session.

14. Valentine Jammies- Who doesn't love a pair of comfy jammies?! Only thing that would make these better is if they were a one-piece sleeper..because I am a little obsessed with those.


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It turns out, she has many little Valentine's :) We are not the only ones who love her!



Baby E loves all her Valentine's <3 She told me so!

babys first valentines send out

{Project 52} week 6 :: good morning

Charlene2 Comments
My Project 52 Challenge by Paint The Moon

Week 6 Theme: Good Morning
My photo: Stretchyyyy

Why I chose this photo: One of the main things J and I say about our baby girl {aside from how stinkin' beautiful and amazing she is, of course!} is that she is one of the best stretchers we've ever seen! No joke, she can sit there stretching for a good 5 minutes when waking up. And her stretches are just adorableeee, noises and faces included. I caught this little moment where she was stretching and blowing a few bubbles after a calm morning nap with Sophie the giraffe, and I just know it'll be one that we love to look back on! Our little 12 week old -- growing way too quickly, but getting cuter by the day ;)





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"Whoa, ma! Didn't expect you to be right there when I woke up..."