Arbor Victoria- 5 months old

Age: 5 months

Height: 26 1/4inches 

Weight: 14lbs 2oz 

Milestones: Sits un-supported for a good min or two without falling to one side or the other. If she's reclined she will bring her self forward. Not rolling over yet. Can bring Paci to mouth. VERY vocal!!! 

Sleep: She's my daughter that would never sleep if I didn't make her!! :( haha. She won't fall asleep if there is lots going on and def won't in my arms. She LOVES her bed (thank you BabyWise!!). She takes two 1.5-2hr naps and then some evenings a 30-45min nap depending on her crabbiness level! She goes to bed between 8-9pm and still wakes 1-2x at night. Nana and Daddy are better at getting her to go back to bed without a feed..but the minute she sees me it's the kind if cry that she does when she is "starving." Hahaha. She's a mess. She knows she's the baby so she's gonna play into it for all the days to come!! She still isn't over 15lbs yet so once she hits that milestone I'll do a little CIO. But she goes down for naps and bedtime without a fuss and puts herself right to sleep..so can't really complain!! <3

Best Moment: Her telling us exactly how she feels. She lifts her arms up when she wants you to pick her up. She's the sweetest.

Worst Moment: She still has a few tummy problems. I can really tell when I eat to much dairy or eat/drink caffeine. She will have an increase in toots, puke, and will be super agitated. Other than that she ks super chill. She will calm the second her big sis starts signing to her!!! 

Eating: We have just recently tried to transition to every four hours of eating during the day..she doesn't like it most days. She usually still eats every three hours. But every once and a great moon she will do fine with staying up longer and therefore be able to go longer in between feeds. 

Extras: She LOVES bath time, her big sis, stroller rides, exersuacer, her Daddy, elephant lovie, zebra rattle, and sitting up. Not a huge fan of rice cereal (we've given it to her a few times but it's not her fav just yet!), when the car stops, tummy time, and when she is ignored (she will scream and holler till she gets our attention). 

Arbor 5months-12.12.15

Aynslee 5months old- 9.8.13

Arbor Victoria- 4 months old

Arbor Victoria

Age: 4 months

Height: 25 inches

Weight: 13lbs 4oz 

Milestones: Arbor is the happiest baby. She is very talkative and is always smiling. She has recently learned to grab objects that are in front of her and will then place them in her mouth. She sat up for 5sec. She loves her bouncy seat and being able to see what her big sis is doing!! 

Sleep: Miss Arbor is still not the best sleeper. She does great during the day..eats, awake for an hr to 75min, then sleeps for 1.5-2hrs. She's gotten much better about not caring if her Paci falls out. We are able to place her in her magic suit, give her lovie and Paci, and she is out in less than 10min! So that's awesome!! At night she usually takes a bath around 730-8 and nurses around 830pm. She then wakes usually between 130-230 and then either she'll sleep till 730-8 or she'll nurse again between 4-6am and then will sleep till 9am. So hopefully one day she'll figure out she can sleep longer than 5-6hr stretches!!! Hahahaha but until then I'll soak up her middle of the night cuddles. 

Best Moment: She loves to laugh. She has the best giggle!!! 

Worst Moment: Every now and again she will have tummy problems. I notice it most if I eat to much dairy or chocolate. 

Eating: She still nurses every three hours during the day. She did have one evening where she refused to nurse. Like screemed and pushed my boob away. Not sure what was up but she finally decide to eat after she got a little nap in. She is still not a fan of the bottle but she will drink it and gets faster at it by her 2nd or third bottle (for the night when  working) that my mom and Dom give her. 

Extras: Aunt Mona came to visit from NJ and we had a wonderful time. The girls and Dom and I really enjoyed having her. It's tough being away from all of Dom's family. For Halloween Arbor was Toto (Ayns was Dororthy). We had a blast visitng friends and family. 

Arbor Victoria- 3 months old

Arbor Victoria

Age: 3 months

Height: 23.5inches

Weight: 12lbs 4oz 

Milestones: Arbor has def found her voice. She screeches, coos, hollers, screams, and belly laughs! She wants to make sure we hear her and that the attention is on her- oh boy!! She rolled over from tummy to back three times the first week of Oct but hasn't done it again for about a week now. I'm in no rush for her to become mobile.  Haha

Sleep: This little booger makes her Mama work. She wakes between 830-9am every day. From there I nurse her every three hours (give or take thrity min depending on how she is and what's going on..). She eats, stays awake for an hr or just a little more, and then I lay her down in bed. She had been getting so frustrated being swaddled so I tried the Magic Merlin suit. Basically just muffles her reflexes and she LOVES it. The length of time she sleeps isn't any different but as long as she's in this, has her lovie, and paci she's good to go. Now night time she has been very different than Ayns. Was was sleepingn from 9pm-7am at this point. Well Miss Arbor goes to bed between 730-830pm. Then she nurses again around 1030-1130pm. Then no matter what she will go 6 hour stretch only. Nothing longer :(. Haha. I know. I can't really complain but would be nice to not to see 4am! I've tried getting rid of the "dream" feed to see if I'm interrupting her sleep cycle, keeping her up longer in evenings, shorter naps during the day..etc. Nothing! But thankfully after she eats she sleeps till 830a or 9am. She is about 1.5lbs smaller than her sister at that age...so who knows!! I will def be soaking in this early am feed Bc I know soon enough she will be a crazy two year old that doesn't want anything to do with her Mama! 

Best Moment: She loves when her Daddy and I nibble on her chin. Her belly laughs are contagious and make any dull day so much brighter!! 

Worst Moment: She has started this new cry that is glass shattering. Not sure what and why she does it. It last for about 10-15min and then she is done. It breaks my heart Bc I feel like something f is hurting her but can't tell what. :(

Eating: She eats the boob every three hours. She takes a bottle for her Dad like a champ and still makes her Nana work a bit at it. She is taking in 3.5oz at one time which I feel like her big sis never ate that much till like 6months old. Going to try 4oz these next few days in working (also, giving her a bottle before bed doesn't make a difference either Hahaha). 

Extras: Arbor has had many car trip adventures and has done FABULOUS. She doesn't mind being in her car seat as long as she has her paci and we are driving. I think the one reason my girls don't have a problem being in their seat is Bc I never take them out of it when we grocery shop, go to the mall, church etc...so they get used to being in it. Makes life a little bit better!! 

Arbor Victoria- 2 months old

I can't believe how fast time is flying! Our baby girl turned two months on September 12th, 2015

Age: 2 months

Height: 22.5inches long 50th percentile

(Ayns was 22inches long)

Weight: 11lbs 4oz 50th percentile 
(Ayns was 11lbs 12oz) 
Milestones: Arbor laughed out loud at 6 weeks old. She smiles and coos all the time now. She slept 7.5hrs straight on Sept 8th!! 

Sleep: She is still our wide wake baby. I never remeber Ayns staying awake so much during the day. We still do the eat,wake, sleep cycle and she's starting to really get the hang of it. She stays awake for about an hr after she eats. We put her down before she is too cranky and she usually puts herself to sleep within 5-10min of laying down. At night time she is still pretty fussy from 645p-till bath time. I usually give her a bath and do pjs/lotion around 8pm. She LOVES bath time and the sound of running water!! Around 830pm (sometimes earlier sometimes a little later...but what I aim for) she will nurse, read a book, sing aongs, pray, and go to sleep. I then wake her for a "dream" feed right before I go to bed. So usually between 1030-midnight. The. She will sleep a straight 6-7.5hrs. She usually wakes between 530am-6am will eat and then sleep till 9am. The we start our day. Mornings she is the happiest!! 

Best Moment: Her tracking your voice and movement. Watching her big sis love on her and want to read her books!! 

Worst Moment: She got her two month shots in 9.15.15. Broke this Mama's heart. She also got a very mild case of her big sisters cold (Ayns decided  to actually share it with all of us)! Thankfully it was just a little cough and a runny nose. I'm hoping it's on it's way out of our house...and we have a *healthy* winter! 

Eating: Arbor nurses every 2.5-3hrs during the day. This last week has been more consistent with the 3hr time Fran though. In the evenings when she is fussy I do feed her every two hours 630pm then again at 830pm. She hates the pacifier (mamas who have babes that take a Paci...be thankful! I hear so many say "you should be thankful she won't take one.." Ummm no!! Ayns was way more content in the evenings Bc if a Paci. Would rather deal with the hardship of taking it away cold turkey later down the road then her not having one at all!!). She also isn't a big fan of the bottle. But she will take it if I'm not in the room and she's truly starving!! 

Extras: We will soon be going on our first (longer than 2.5hr) car trip! Wish us luck. Not so worried about my 2month old...more worried about her sassy two year old sis!! Haha. Also, this Mama heads back to work on 9.16.15. It's way harder with Miss Arbor than I thought it was going to be. Hopefully she is on her best behavior and her Nana has a wonderful, peaceful night with my two loves. 

My little loves headed to their first KU football game!! (2months old and 29months old!!) 

Arbor Victoria- 1 month old

Arbor Victoria- 1 month old

I can't believe how fast time is flying! Our baby girl turned one month on August 12th, 2015

Age: 1 month 

Height: 19 1/4 at birth. Bet she is close to 20 by now. 

Weight: 9lbs 4oz per our home scale. 

Milestones: Arbor loves tummy time. She is starting to hold her head up for longer periods of time without any support. She is able to track an object and watch it go from side to side. She smiled for the first time. She loves to turn and look at her sissy when she's talking to her or in her face..let's be real Arbor really can't avoid it and has no other choice. Haha. 

Sleep: She sleeps in her big girl crib (we moved her at three weeks old).  During the day she eats every two-three hours. We have been putting her down for bed after her 9pm feed. She will sleep then till 2am, eat, and then back to sleep till 6. She then eats and sleeps again till 830-930a. She does great being placed awake in her crib and putting her self to sleep. Thank you Baby Wise 🙌🙌🙌! We live on the Eat, Wake, Sleep cycle 👍!

Best Moment: She smiled for the first time on purpose on August 4th. Just over three weeks old. It took Ayns forever to smile purposefully. Arbor smiles as long as she's gotten enough sleep and her belly is full. She loves being talked to..that's when the most smiles come out.

Worst Moment: This wee one decided to start projectile vomiting week 2 of life. It's the worst hearing your little one make the vomit sound and feel so helpless. We think it was being caused by my overproduction if milk (she would get 2oz in less than five min). Thankfully it only happens now every couple of days in the evenings when she is super fussy. 

Eating: Arbor loves her Mama's milk. She took her first bottle from her Daddy on 8.11.15. She did very well with it (2oz). I had to stop pumping due to my over production so I hope to start back up a few times a day to get a stash for work or an emergency. 

Extras: We have been to the park and pool several times. Arbor has yet to get in the pool but hopefully by the end of summer she'll be able to get in Aunt Meggy's pool. I never thought I'd get the chance to have sweet little girls. I feel so blessed that the Lord blessed us with TWO sweet girls. Excited for all the memories to be made....

She did not like being on her back. 

A little smile :) 

Aynslee at one month old!! I love to compare them :)

Xoxoxoxoxo

Arbor Victoria's BIRTHday- 7.12.15

I love reading birth stories so I figured it was time to share our experience, before it slips my mind!!

*I'll apologize now but it's very lengthy and maybe boring to some..but I wanted to write down everything so that in the years ahead and when Arbor is interested I'll remeber every detail!!*

I'll go back just a few weeks before she was born...on June 28th Dom and I planned a dinner and movie date. So Aynslee had been up at my moms all day since Dom and I had both worked the night before. I woke up around 3pm on the 28th to get ready for our date. I felt fine was just having my normal contractions that I'd been having since 35 weeks. We got to the movies and I noticed that my contractions were pretty regular. They were coming every 3-5..some were more painful than others, but some did cause some major discomfort. The movie ended and the contractions had been going on for 2hrs at that time. I told Dom we better skip the movie and head home. I let my mom know what was going on and we headed home. The contractions continued (going on three hours of contractions still 3-5min apart. I called the on-call nurse and she said to head to the hospital. I took a bath and made sure no matter what I did they still were coming :)..I didn't wanna be that girl!! We get there right at shift change and so we wait a little bit in waiting room. It hurts to sit so I'm standing and moving around. We finally go back to our room. They check me and I'm at 2cm and having contractions every three min. They watch me for an hr and then re-check me. I went from a 2 to a 3cm but my station hadn't change any. They say they are gonna watch me one more hour. After that hour my contractions were still continuing (not super painful) but no further changes. So they sent us home....contractions finally settled down around 1am....and the days following I just had my regular intermittent contractions. Until... 

On July 11th I noticed I was having more painful contractions but nothing consistent at all. I had my membranes stripped (for the second time) and noticed that if I was moving around the contractions were super consistent. Dom was working so I went up to my parents house. My dad, Aynslee, and I went for a walk. The contractions then started to come every 3-8min. It was 8:30pm and I needed to get home so Ayns could go to bed (even though my Mom insisted in her staying with them but I refused ;)). Around 10pm the contractions continued and some were even stopping me in my step. I pumped for thirty min like I had been doing for a couple days to get some oxytocin going..and the contractions continued. More painful than ever...Dom was at work so I called him to see if he could come at mid-night. He said yes.  My mom ended up coming out to our house to stay with Ayns and Dom eventually was able to make it home. 

We took our time getting to the hospital. One of my lovely high school friends just happened to be working that night and was AMAZING! Got to the hospital around 0100 on 7.12. Still having contractions 3-5min apart and starting to get more painful. Thankfully Dr. Christman was at the hospital and would be able to check me and see me right away. 

I got to my room and all settled in. Dr. Christman came in and I was dilated to a 4-4.5cm. He is the BEST! He was in no hurry to do anything and just wanted to see what I would do over night. He sat on the couch and talked with Dom and I. He's the sweetest. Meanwhile I was having the WORST back labor. Like something I've never experienced before. Ughh. Thankfully moving around and a hot pack helped so much. I was so thankful to have a nurse that I knew and who was (is) so good at what she does!!!

At 0415 I was dilated to a 5cm and 90% effaced. So making progress. I loved the bouncy ball and my hot back. Moving was much better than sitting in bed!! I also started getting my antibiotic that I would need a couple doses of since I was GBS+.

Water broke around 0945. Went from a 5-6 pretty fast. Around 1030am my pain was out of control. I had to pee often (I was trying to chug the water to stay free of IV fluid but I also got three doses of antibiotics).   

At 1100 I finally caved and asked for an epidural. I was having contractions that were lasting up to 8min in length and was in SO. Much. PAIN!!!! I was dilated to a 6cm and 100% effaced. I went to the bathroom...could hardly get up from the toilet and so I knew if I wanted to get one..it was now or never!! 

Much better experience this time around than with Aynslee. I got to sit up vs lay down with Aynslee. The epidural started to go into my left leg again like it did with Ayns but she stayed with me and made it right. With Ayns the anestheologist didn't fix it and I could still feel EVERYTHING!! With Arbor it took awhile for it to settle in but thankfully it worked!! 

At 1230pm I was dilated to 8cm. 

At 1315 I was dilated to 9cm. 

At 1350 I was complete. Eeekkk. 

And at 1401 our little baby boo entered the world, eyes wide open and screaming her head off!!! 

We did an hr off skin to skin. She had a hard time keep her temp up so I got to do a little longer ;). 

I had a wonderful birth experience and was so pleased with the medical team!! 

Now some pics!! 

Last belly pic..taken 7.11.15

0200 on 7.12.15

Getting crazy...maybe just a little sleep deprived!! 

Hello sweet girl!!! 

I didn't expect to cry with Arbor Bc I didn't with Aynslee. But I KNEW what that love felt like this time around and couldn't believe I was the Mama to another healthy baby girl. God is sooo good!!

Dr. Christman is the BEST!!! 

7.12.15,1401, 7lbs 9.2oz, 19 1/4 inches. 

She was instantly in love with her sissy!! 

First bath!! 

Going home! 

Breaking out of jail ;) 

1st night at home 

xoxo

Arbor Victoria's Nursery

I'm so excited to finally share Miss Arbor's nursery with you all. I don't know why I was never really into the pink princess rooms..Bc we all know I love PINK!! But I'm soooo happy with how this black, yellow, white, and gold room turned out!!! 

Shelf: WalMart

Storage bins: Target

Lamp and pic frame: Ikea

Xoxo, dot frame, and A: Hobby Lobby

Crib: Reused from Aynslee. Found at nfm.com

Arrow and dots are both decals and can be found on Etsy.

Rug: rugsusa.com

Bentwood Rocker: local BST site and sprayed it gold.

Curtains: Wal-Mart 

Table with chairs: Ikea then spray painted the top chalk paint. 

Changing table: reused from Aynslee's nursery. From wayfair.com

All fabric (including puff quilt) from Hobby Lobby, all made by the talented Tiffany Trotter..check out Crafting a Fairytale on IG and Etsy!! 

Pattern overload but still sooooo cute!!! 

I love Miss Arbor's room and hope one day she will too!!! 

Xoxo