Allie 7 weeks

Here are a few pics from Allie's 7th week. This was a big week for Allie cause she met her aunt Brooke and Uncle Brandon for the first time. She loves them both and they both did great with her... but she has developed an affinity to spitting up on Aunt Brooke. Other new things this week consist of her weighing 11lbs. and sleeping 8 hour stretches almost every night! Yay Allie!

Here are a few pics from Thanksgiving. My whole family came to stay with Noah and me in our little 2 bedroom apt for the week of thanksgiving and though it was tight we had a great time spending time with them and I am sure they have a blast with Allie. Unfortunately Allie was unable to enjoy a good thanksgiving meal because I was on a very restricted diet with my gallbladder flare ups. Maybe next year both of us will enjoy a good thanksgiving meal.

Allie: and I am totally over thanksgiving

Helping mommy and daddy put up the Christmas tree... we just put it up no ornaments yet.. more pics to come :)

Allie smiling and rolling over

After every feeding we always take a few minutes to play. She is starting to really enjoy her activity gym and will swing at the animals hanging above. I figured it was time to start documenting some of this time cause lets face it she is so darn cute!




After playing for a few minutes we always do a little tummy time. This is NOT her favorite time she normally grunts and fusses and after about 5 minutes I give in and flip her back over. Well today she started squirming so much that she got up on her side and looked like she was about to flip all the way over so I ran and grabbed my camera turned it to video mode and here was what happened.

Allie- 6 Weeks

My little girl officially looks like her daddy. We have been going back and forth for several weeks but as I have been looking at pics from this past week it is undeniable that Noah is her daddy!

This week has also been a week of firsts for Miss Allie. First of all she started wearing her cloth diapers this week. I have to say I was a little nervous to start them but the results are in and I LOVE THEM! I hope I never have to use disposable again! They are so easy, they fit her great, and I no longer have blow out issues. Plus I am now saving a TON of money...YAY!!! So here she is sporting her new diapers!
She is loving her fist, we haven't gotten the thumb again but when its time to suck and a passy is no where to be found she gladly resorts to the fist.

This week Allie met her first baby. Saturday night we had dinner with Brent, Leslie and Noah and I can't believe how much bigger he is than Allie. Here they are meeting for the first time.


And here they are hanging out on the couch. Allie's face is cracking me up.. she looks like she is scared to death. We are officially out of newborn clothes now and have moved into 0-3 months. However she is starting to fill them out quickly. I am hoping we don't grow out of them too quickly. This week she is 10.5 pounds!
Allie LOVES her bath time. When I stick her in the bath recliner and turn the water on she always moves her body so that her foot will get right under the running water and then she just lounges and enjoys the bath. She never cries or fusses even when I take her out and lotion her up... she loves it all!
Aunt KB came over and took some pics and brought her a new headband and bow. It matches all of her Ladybug outfits that Nana bought. The flower cracks me up cause it is as big as her whole head. Don't worry little girl you will grow into it.


Allie has a new trick this week. She has started imitating faces that we make. If I stick my tongue out at her she looks at me funny or laughs and then you can see her mouth start moving she will eventually stick her tongue back out at me. Lastly, this week Allie has been sleeping longer stretches. She has been consistently sleeping 6 hours now with a 7.5 and 8 hour stretch for the first time this week! So proud of you my little cheeky monkey!

Allie- 5 weeks

Well we have passed the 1 month mark and Allie is growing so fast. She is great at holding her head up and she loves to push up against your hands when they are under her feet and she is laying on your chest. She is getting bigger as she has officially grown out of her newborn clothes this week. We have been working hard at getting Allie on a schedule with napping and eating as well as establishing a bed time routine... well it is all starting to pay off as a huge milestone this week is Allie is down to only 1 middle of the night feeding and has made stretches of 6, 7 and 7.5 hours at night! I totally forgot how AMAZING it is to sleep that long and I made sure she knew how proud I was of her. She has totally hit a fussy stage and her daddy seems to be the only thing that can soothe her when she is in that mood, however, with the schedule we have put into practice we are limiting the fussy episodes. She is a great sleeper the majority of the time, I am able to lay her in her crib awake and within 2-5 minutes she will have put herself to sleep with no help from me... PRAISE YOU JESUS! Allie is also starting to interact with her surroundings... she loves the penguin on her activity gym and she is getting interested in rattles. On sunday night when we came home after church I was trying to keep her awake until 10 so she would give me another long stretch at night, she was fussy and VERY tired. Every time I gave her a passy she those eyes would get heavy and she would start to drift off.. I would then pull it out of her mouth and she would cry. This went on for a couple of rounds and then all of a sudden when I pulled the passy out she looked at me and then stuck her thumb in her mouth and started sucking like crazy. This was one of the cutest things I had ever seen and I just laughed. She decided she didn't need the passy at that point. However, since then the passy is still her preferred method for soothing but if it is not around she likes her thumb or fist.

I look forward to what this next week brings :)

Allie - 1 month old

Yesterday on November 3rd Allie is officially 1 month old. It is amazing the joy she has brought into Noah and my life is her short 31 day existence outside the womb. Yesterday I was reminded at how far we have come from a year ago. Allie I want you to know that your mommy and daddy longed for you, we prayed for you, we pleaded to God for you and now we are so blessed to be your parents. My biggest prayer is that I cherish every moment, that I never take it for granted that God has entrusted you to us. I pray that God gives me the wisdom to be your mom and to raise you in a way that brings glory to him. I am so thankful for you and I can't believe you are already a month old. I love you always and forever...

starting to smile all the time now

Daddy longs for the day that you will kiss him back when he gives you kisses but for now he enjoys that you like to suck his nose when he gets close to kiss you.

Last night Noah and I were in fairview heights doing some Christmas shopping at the mall. As we were leaving the mall the song Bring the Rain came on the radio. Honestly this was probably the first time I had heard the song since I found out I was pregnant. If you are not familiar with the song please listen to it but this song will always have a special place in my heart. In the months and years that I longed to have a baby this song became my prayer, my comfort, often just a reminder of the fact that God is God in the suffering. As the song came on the radio last night I looked over at my beautiful daughter and I began to tear up as I said Lord, "can circumstances possibly change who I forever am in you, I am yours regardless of the dark clouds that may loom above because you are so much greater than my pain..." It was a beautiful reminder of where we have been and how God taught me so much in that time and now how he has blessed me with such an amazing gift. I am so thankful not only for Allie but for the journey we had to go on before she was entrusted to us. I pray that I never forget what I learned in the midst of the suffering.

I can count a million times
People asking me how I
Can praise You with all that I've gone through
The question just amazes me
Can circumstances possibly
Change who I forever am in You
Maybe since my life was changed
Long before these rainy days
It's never really ever crossed my mind
To turn my back on you, oh Lord
My only shelter from the storm
But instead I draw closer through these times
So I pray

Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Bring me anything that brings You glory
And I know there'll be days
When this life brings me pain
But if that's what it takes to praise You
Jesus, bring the rain

I am Yours regardless of
The dark clouds that may loom above
Because You are much greater than my pain
You who made a way for me
By suffering Your destiny
So tell me what's a little rain
So I pray

Holy, holy, holy
Is the Lord God Almighty

4 weeks old

I can't even believe how fast the weeks are flying by; in just a few short days my little girl will be a month old. That just blows my mind! However, yesterday she was 4 weeks old and even though I spent the majority of the morning in the ER with gall bladder issues I managed to snap a few pics from this past week and yesterday.
Milestones from this week.... She is 9lbs! Also she has started sleeping in her crib. Now before all of you get up in arms thinking she is too little to be out of our room I want you to know that I go in there an hour or 2 after she goes to sleep and stay there for the rest of the night. This allows Noah and I to have some time together after she goes to bed and we all get a better night sleep. This has been going amazingly well and she has started giving me a good 5 hour stretch each night! YAY!!!
She is also getting good at holding her head up. She loves to lay on my chest after she eats and try to hold her head up. She has gotten where she will hold it up for 10-15 seconds before she gets tired and lays her head on my shoulder. After a minute or two she will try again. Eventually she gets tired and goes to sleep. I secretly love when she sleeps on my shoulder. She is a great little cuddler.

This girl LOVES to have her hands up when she sleeps. When you put her hands down to swaddle her she looks at you with those big sad eyes, her lip starts to quiver and you would think you just took away her favorite toy or something. It is too funny. Though we have to swaddle her at night to keep her from waking herself up and to get good sleep she does manage to sneak in some naps during the day where her hands are up above her head.

Just relaxing after she ate. Right before I snapped the picture her other arm was up behind her head like she was totally chillaxin.
Allie getting some daddy sugar before we go out. On Wednesday of this last week was the first day it was not raining so we all suited up and went for a walk in Lafayette Park.


It doesn't take long before she is out, the stroller works magic. I think this pic was taken in the elevator on the way down. As you can tell she really enjoyed the walk.

Daddy and Allie taking a nap on Saturday before the Gator game starts. I love catching these precious moments.
Allie Grace as the pumpkin... this was her Halloween costume thanks to Aunt Janet :)
My little pumpkin being an activist to be missional in everything we do... with a little help from daddy!