All Smiles

Babies are just the best. Have you ever seen a cuter triple chin?

I could stare at her all day.

I love her so.

She is irresistible.

Spring Cleaning

Lately I have been in the mood to organize. Having a baby in the house increases the level of clutter. Cambry doesn't have too much stuff yet since she doesn't play with any big toys, but still there is extra stuff all around the house. I think that has made me want to go through other parts of our house organizing and getting rid of things we don't need.

This weekend was super productive. Greg and I cleaned out a number of drawers and closets around the house. We also posted some things on Craigslist that we are trying to get rid of.

Our house is on the smallish side (relatively speaking) so sometimes you have to get creative with storage. Here are a few organizational things that are really helpful.

The Elfa

The Elfa system comes from The Container Store. You can buy different size baskets and spread them out however you want along the post. We bought this when we lived in an apartment for our narrow pantry door, but they come in different widths.

It looks pretty empty right now because I cleaned it out this weekend. And you may think the closet looks really chaotic and full but it is actually very organized and a huge improvement from before.

Clothespin Labels

This doesn't necessarily help that much with organization, but I saw it in a magazine and I thought it looked cute.

We have this small bookcase in Cambry's closet because it wouldn't fit in her room, and I have some of her things sorted into baskets. I just hot glued on the clothespins this weekend and made the labels.

Under Crib Storage.

These clear bins were from Lowes. They are great to store extra crib sheets, clothes that don't fit right now, etc. They were almost the perfect size to fit all three under the crib. They were a tiny bit too long but we just pulled the crib out from the wall a few inches and they don't show at all from the front or sides.

Changing Table Basket

The dresser we use for the changing table is not very long. It really only has room for the pad and a few other things. So I attached the basket to the end with the 3D Command hooks. It holds disposable diapers for when we need them, paper towels, lap pads, diaper cream, etc.

Well that is all I have for now. Maybe I will find some more inspiration on blogs or Pinterest while I am on my organizing kick!

Dallas Visit

Last week my mom and I made a trip up to Dallas for a few days to spend time with my sister's family. It worked out perfectly since Greg was on a business trip. I didn't have to be alone and I got to see my nephews!

This is the best we could get of the three of them. Stunning, huh?

It was a little crazy with 4 adults, 3 babies under 2, and a dog in their house - but it was so fun. There was usually one baby crying or fussing, but that is just how it goes. There were times however, when all 3 babies were sleeping. What?? Miracle! And what did we do during that time, nap? Of course not. Cause babies know. If the mom tries to lay down for a nap they will wake up. They just know.

Look at these two cuties.

We went to the Arboretum one day. Everything was in bloom and it was beautiful. Everyone did pretty good. Cambry and Hayes rode together in the double stroller, and Kyler walked along.

Another day my sister and I took the kids to the mall while my mom stayed home to help around the house. We actually got to go to a bunch of stores and eat in the food court and for the most part everyone was happy! Did you know you can put 3 car seats across the back seat?

Picture of success - 2 asleep and happy at the same time! People kept asking if they were twins. Although there is a 7 week age difference you couldn't really tell with them reclined back and bundled.

The movie theatre in the mall already had roped off areas everywhere for the midnight showing of Hunger Games. Lauren and I wanted to go so bad. Cause we are up at midnight anyway (and 2...and 4...and 6). We could just hold the babies and nurse them in the movie, right? Well, at least one day it will be at Red Box.

Although I'm not sure anyone got much sleep, it sure was a fun trip!

And to finish off this post here are two pics of our sweet girl.

Monthly Photos: Month 3

Happy 3 Months Baby!

Cambry is such a good baby, we are completely in love. Oh the joy. Children are truly a blessing from the Lord.

Here are her 3 month pics.

Size: We don't go back to the doctor until 4 months so we don't know her weight or stats. However, she still seems to be on the big/healthy side since she wears mostly 3-6 or 6 month clothes. And even some of those are barely long enough. We get many comments from people when we tell them how old she is like "wow, she's a big baby!". We love our big baby and think she's just right :)

Likes: Going places, bath time, walks, the Baby Bjorn, being swaddled with one arm out, her paci (soothie kind only), her Lamaze doll, other toys that she can chew on,

Dislikes: Going to bed at night, doing the same thing for too long. She really is a happy baby and there isn't much she doesn't like.

Working on: Tummy time, laughing - we recently have heard her do what sounded like the beginning of a laugh so we think it is coming soon.

Sleeping: She goes for some longer stretches, but not consistently. She goes to bed around 7:30 or 8pm. Sometimes she will sleep until 1AM, sometimes until 11:00PM before waking up for a feeding. Then after that her feedings are usually 3 hours apart. Some nights are not so bad. Others are rough. Last night she was awake from 3:45 to 5:00AM. She was just not tired. She kept smiling. Little rascal.

Eating: Most of her feedings during the day seem to be about every 2 hours. When she takes a long nap then her feedings will be about 4 hours apart. But every day is a little different. I still haven't figured out how to put her on a schedule yet.

We just started putting her in the nursery at church. She has gone the past 2 weeks and has been so good! The preschool area at First Baptist is really wonderful and all the nursery volunteers are so sweet. We have seen many of our friends there helping out in different classrooms. It really makes you appreciate all the volunteers.

I still don't see Greg or I in her. Most everyone says she looks like Greg. Neither of us see it though. We don't really think she looks like either one of us - she is just her own person. It is funny because so many of our friends babies look just like the parents, but we just can't see it in Cambry yet.

We love our sweet 3 month old!

Spring Break

This week Greg's mom, sister, and niece came to visit for a couple of days. It was a lot of fun having them here. Cambry especially LOVED having them here. She was so good the whole time - just taking it all in. She seems to love commotion. Whenever there are a bunch of people / sounds / sights, she just sits there and stares. Poor thing is probably so bored now that it is just me and her again during the day.

Hey, lets take a cute cousin picture!

That one turned out OK, but let's see if we can get a better one.

On second thought, that first picture looks amazing!

I will be seeing my sister and Kyler and Hayes soon. We will attempt to get a cousin picture with them. An 18 month old, a 3 month old, and a 1 month old. I bet that one will turn out GREAT!

A Day in the Life

Well it has been a couple weeks since I have blogged, so I need to get back on it. I have just been busy enjoying our little one. I thank God for her every day. She is such a joy! I love all her little baby noises, her faces, her adorable smiles, the way she arches her back with her arms in the air to stretch, her chunky little baby legs... Oh how I absolutely adore baby legs. Just take a look.

Things change so fast but I thought I would write down what a day is like right now with Cambry being close to 3 months old.

She usually wakes up a little after 7am. I drag myself out of bed but as soon as I see her precious smile I am ok with getting up. We start out by both having breakfast in bed. I eat my cereal and play with her in bed for a bit then feed her. She is so sweet and smiley during this time.

Next up is bath time. I put her in the bouncer in the bath room while I shower. If she is getting tired and fussy when I'm done I rock her to sleep. If she is doing ok I will bathe her. She gets a bath every other day.

Her first nap is about 30 minutes. That usually gives me enough time to blow dry my hair and finish getting ready, make the bed, and start the load of diapers.

When she wakes up I feed her and get her dressed for the day. This of course includes a headband/bow.

Most days we try to get out. A grocery trip, a target trip, shopping trip, play date, walk outside, etc. She does really well running errands. She loves to look around at new scenery.

In the afternoon it is more eat, play, sleep. I'll do little things around the house and prep dinner if it's a cooking night (I always make enough for 2 nights). I try to find different ways to entertain and stimulate her, but it is hard because there is not much they can do at this age. I read to her, give her some tummy time, put her on her play mat, in her bouncer, take her on "tours" of our house, walk her around in the Bjorn, play music and sing to her, etc.

She usually takes one long nap a day (2-3 hours), and the others are about 30-45 minutes. The problem is I just never know which nap will be the long one!

I still rock her to sleep every time. She does not fall asleep on her own (unless in the car or the stroller, in other words, in constant motion). Yes, I read Baby Wise. I guess this is breaking all the rules, but I am not ready stop. I love rocking my baby. It is the sweetest time. Well maybe not at 3am, but hey, before I know it her rocking days will be over and I will be missing this so I want to enjoy it while I can.

I suppose eventually we will start to let her cry it out. We have tried a few times to lay her down semi-awake. When she fusses, we give her a few minutes, then go in and comfort her, check her diaper, re-swaddle, put back in her paci, then walk out and stare at her on the monitor to see if she falls asleep. We repeated this several times without success. Maybe soon we need to really work on this. Who knows. This parenting thing always has you second guessing!

Anyway, when Greg gets home from work he plays with her a bit and then will walk her around outside in the Bjorn. She likes her daddy time. Then we eat dinner while she sits in her bouncer next to us. He will rock her to sleep around 7pm. She will usually wake up again before midnight

for another feeding, and then usually 2 more times during the night.

Cambry in her bouncer during dinner.

Here Greg is dancing around the living room with Cambry.

Once she is down we relax, talk, watch one of our shows on Hulu, eat ice cream, and go to bed.

I'm sure in a week it may look completely different, but that's what things look like now!