Four Months

Weight: 15 lbs (80%)

Height: 25 inches (76%)
Clothes: 3-6 months, leaning closer to 6 months
Diapers: size 2


What she is up to this month:
Chewing on EVERYTHING! Looks like teeth are coming our way.
blowing raspberries
mastered the bottle
rolling all over the place
discovering that her feet can push on things 

 

What she loves:
sleeping on her side
her floor mat & her mirror
all the visitors she gets at work
talking to herself
her Johnny Jump up
still in love with her wubba nub

What she doesn't love:
There really isn't anything new that she doesn't love. Still doesn't like being in the car seat and it not moving.



We had our 4 month check-up and everything looks great! We are waiting to start cereal until closer to 6 months to give her system a little more time.

Our beautiful photos where taken by the amazing Katy Garcia at KG Photography (I might be a little biased ;) ) I love Katy and the great pictures that she did for us - our first ever family photos!

One Month
Two Months
Three Months

Back to it!

         Yesterday I headed back to work after a weeklong company wide vacation (have I mentioned I love my job!) I am usually the person who still checks email even when I am not working but I forced myself to ignore the inbox on my phone for the week. The week started off a little rough with me catching the throw-up virus we have all been passing around, while I wanted to sleep in I didn’t intend to spend 2 days in bed. The rest of the week was spent attending Aiden’s school Thanksgiving party, doing little projects, and preparing for Thanksgiving. I read two books while on break – Nora Roberts’s books are just an easy read and again I was in bed for 2 days.

          Did a little gray Thursday/Black Friday shopping. We also took our first official family photos on Saturday. Overall it was a great week and I didn’t want it to end but now on to getting back to work and getting ready for Christmas!

Here is a peak at what we were up too the last week

 Aiden enjoying his cookie from his Thanksgiving party and attacking the Target toy book. He would say "mommy I but an X on that one I don't want it - Dolls are for gurls."

Felicity's Thanksgiving Bow - head to McKini's Blog for step by step directions. She has other cute bow tutorials too.

These are mommy's mild teething pops. We haven't tired them yet but Felicity has definitely starting teething so they will come in handy. I found them on Pinterest (love) through this blog.

What did you do over the break?

WWIW & Sharing

So in our house we work really hard to make sure we are sharing. We want Aiden to be good at sharing but with that there are some things I really don't want him to share! Over the last few weeks we have all been sharing a nasty sinus cold and a stomach bug has made an appearance the last few days. These are things I don't want to share but when you have kids it's hard not to pass them back and fourth. This is why I haven't updated in the last week - we have been trying to recover from the grossness of runny noses, stuffed up noses, sinus headaches, throw-up and other bathroom visits. I thought I would share with you the things that help us survive weeks like these:

   Boogie Wipes are the best invention for little snotty noses. We use to just buy the packs but now we buy the jumbo canister! Aiden will wake up in the morning begging for one of these. He even has a pack in his backpack that he uses at school. So glad for a school that allows him to do that!

This is my new best friend. I use to be a Tylenol Cold & Sinus girl but they had a recall and that that isn't recommended when nursing. Did a little digging and found this lovely drug. It even tastes good! Also there are loads of coupons our for it now (yippie)!

I used this when I was pregnant with Felicity and got a stomach bug and it came in very handy for Aiden this time around. It is on the expense side but it really helps him. The website has a coupon as does coupons.com right now.

Of course homemade soup, naps, movie nights also help. I think we are all finally on the mend. Hoping that by the weekend we can be free of sickness! What products to do you use to get through family sickness?

Don't worry I didn't forget about What I wore Wednesday! Here I am in all my glory (you can tell I worked really hard on this one)

Mom outfit alert!

Brown t-shirt - Old Navy (last season)
Tank- Target Nursing tank
Belt - Christmas Present Junior year of HS - it still fits!
Jeans- Buckle - really a garage sale- they are rolled up at the bottom
Shoes - Target - this summer

And a guest WFWW (What Felicity wore Wednesday):

Hairband and Socks - set from Dillards
"Cherry Cute" Outfit - Gymboree end of the summer. Her skirt even has cherries on it.

Haircut & WWIW

I haven't had a haircut since May! I had crazy pregnancy hormone hair and it was so dry. I was so ready to sit in a chair and let someone else deal with that mess. Normally after I grow my hair out I instruct my hairdresser to chop it off! usually I am so over that I just don't want to deal with it. But, I feel in love with this cut: 

It was probably my addiction to White Collar. But I loved the long layers and the bangs. I know what new mom wants bangs (another thing to take care of)! But they really haven't been that bad and when I washed my hair they didn't get all crazy on me :) So here is my version of this cut:

I am pretty much in love with it and Jesse thinks he got a new wife!

So I haven't been very good about doing this next section which is What I Wore Wednesdays but here it is. Only one outfit this week mostly because I am too busy to take more pictures and my kids are cuter than I am.

Shirt: H&M (Trip to NYC)
Tank: Target Nursing (if you are nursing and you don't have one of these you are missing out.)
Scarf: Express - ancient
Jeans: Old Navy
Boots: Target - been hunting a pair and fell in love with these.

Happy Halloween! Wait till you see my cute kids!

Three Months

Our little princess is 3 months old today. She is getting so big and such a happy baby. 

Weight: Guessing around 13 lbs.

Height: ?

Growing like a weed
Clothes: 3-6 months
Diapers: moving to size 2 :(

What she is up to this month: 

Sleeping through the night 

(been doing this since 2 months but forgot to put it in the post)

talking up a storm

bellying laughing
rolling from her belly to her back
grabbing on to anything she can get her hands on! 

What she loves:
tummy time and her floor mat
she is great at shopping
going to work with mommy
her swing
cute hairbows

What she doesn't love:
Aiden beating her in the head with toys! (not a fun night)
Stuffy nose

We are still doing daily steroid breathing treatments. Her nose gets stuffy if the weather changes just a little bit so I am constantly making sure to get the snot out before it gets to her chest.  Sounds lovely I know.


One Month
Two Months

Currently

Cheering on the Tide!

Loving: Being closer to work. Cutting my drive time from an hour to 35-40 minutes has allowed me to accomplish so much. I am happier when I get home and not exhausted from driving.

Reading: The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf I love how you get the story from each characters perspective.

Watching:  Since we now live with Jesse’s Dad and his fiancé we have been watching a lot move NASCAR and football then normal but it’s pretty exciting. Aiden loves the racecar show – he thinks the replays of the wrecks are new wrecks and it’s so cute to see him get into. Grey’s of coarse with a little Big Bang Theory and HGTV sprinkled in.

Listening to: The new Matchbox Twenty cd, North and my Pandora station is constantly on Lady Antebellum radio.

Thinking about: What I can bless my children with  - What does God want me to teach them? Patience, kindness, gentleness, to love each other. The sermon on Sunday morning got me thinking about this. We can teach them so many things good and bad. I want to make sure that I focus on teaching them the good things – what are my actions, behavior, and words saying to them?

Looking forward to: A haircut!  Very excited to get my hair cut on Wednesday. It’s so long and out of control right now. I would show a picture of the cut I am hoping for but you will just have to wait and see J

Making me happy: My kiddos. We just got Aiden’s first school pictures back and they are so stinking cute.  I just love the little man that he has turned into (most of the time). Felicity is changing daily and her little personality is starting to come out. I love her sweet smiles and happy giggles.

 Thanks Kara for the idea. 

Two Months

* a few days late! 

Weight: 12 lbs 12 oz!

Height: 23 1/2 inches

Our girl is in the 88% for both but she is evenly proportioned!

What she is up to this month: 

Talking and cooing
Sweet little smiles and laughs
Tracking with her ears, eyes, and head
Holding her head up and having control over it's movement.
Trying to roll over! 

What she loves: 

   Anyone talking to her, she really likes if they talk about her hair or eyes! 

This little guy

I never thought my kids would do the pacifier thing - Aiden didn't care for them. But Felicity loves this thing. She isn't dependent on it right now and I am hopeful it will stay that way. It's also helping with her tied tongue. She just loves to cuddle with it and hold it's little legs.

Swinging and being rocked 

She is just such a happy baby - she really loves mostly everything. 

What she doesn't love:

   Being in the carseat and it not moving

 Her vaccines - her little leg was sore most of the day (I know there are people who say don't get them but I am not willing to risk that after what we have been through) 

Her chest is clear and no ear infections!
She will continue daily steroid treatments through the winter months to help prevent another trip to the hospital. We have to be careful with other who are sick since she can catch it and it will go straight to her chest thus leading us back to the hospital.

I can't believe it has been two months. The days have just flown by. 

Here and There

I haven't blogged in a few weeks because I just haven't had the time to be honest. I spent one week making sure Felicity and Aiden got over the horrible infections that were ruling our lives. They are both doing so much better - thank you antibiotics!  Then another week getting back into the swing of things at work and packing for our move which happened this weekend. That's right the Rudolph's are back in Oviedo!! The drive to work took me 40 minutes yesterday morning - it was awesome and put me in the best mood. Driving an hour is just depressing. I realize that it's only 20 minutes less but believe me when I say it makes a HUGE difference. It also only took me 30ish minutes to get home. Getting home before 7, just makes you happy - I even got a load of laundry done.

But with all the moving I've done in my life I know there are things here that I love and things there that I love!

Here:

• Being closer to work, move family time
• There is a POOL in my back yard
• We have great friends and family here
• We are closer to the theme parks again (Yay for SeaWorld passes) 
• The best hair dresser ever! No one else can tame this crazy hair like Todd

There:

• My best friend just had a baby and I wanted to love on him and have play dates. (We will still do this we just don't live around the corner from each other anymore)   

Sweet Little Josiah

• My dad and brother 



Uncle Nae-Nae will even dress up like a pirate for free doughnuts!

•  
• The Target with my favorite Starbucks - they know my order. 
• Our church family
•  Being 5 minutes from the beach

We are excited for this new adventure!

Home Sweet Home

For the past few days this has been my life:

But today the doctors sent us home! Living at the hospital since Monday night has been exhausting-emotionally, mentally, and physically. I have told 25 people why I brought Felicity in, I have asked a million questions, I have jumped each time the pulseox went off or Felicity coughed. Most of that isn't going to change now that we are home except we don't have the pulseox here. There is a part of me that is nervous for this first night home (I probably will not sleep very well - I've come to terms with that) and another part of me that knows it was time to come home. Felicity has improved and we don't want her to catch something from the hospital. So being home is were we belong. 

Reasons I am glad we are home:

• I needed a real shower! 
• to watch Aiden rub Felicity's head and sing Beautiful, beautiful (his version of Beautiful One) 
• getting to sleep in a real bed for me and Felicity
• Trying to find the new normal
• No one is going to come in my room every 2 hours to take Felicity's temperature or blood pressure
• The pulseox isn't going to go off
• No more hospital food (the only good part was the desserts!)
• COFFEE!!

Friends have asked a lot of questions about what Felicity has and if she is 100% better this is a tough question to answer. So I will attempt the best I can. 

What does she have?
 
    Felicity has a form of bronchitis. She had some nasal drainage that made it's way to her chest (she doesn't know how to blow her nose yet) and just sat there causing her to have to work much harder to breath and causing a nasty cough.  When babies are this little and it's hard to breath they just stop. We noticed the signs of labored breathing and if you read my last post you see that lead us to the hospital. We did find out that she could have RSV since some times babies this small will give a false negative. 

Is she better?

   Yes, but she has a long way to go. She will still have a cough, runny nose, congestion for about 10 -14 days. She is now open to get this again. We may be back in the hospital in 2 month (we are going to do everything we can to avoid that.) Because my red headed princess is fair skinned she has a higher chance of having asthma (which isn't diagnosed until 4 and my mom has), allergies (we all have those), and eczema (which runs in my family.) Felicity is limited with who she can come in contact with, we have to make sure that anyone who is remotely feeling like they might have a cold stays away from her. We have to wash our hands constantly and change clothes when we come homr from work or school(Aiden.) For the next week or so she won't be going to any parties or church, trips to town will require her to be covered up or in a sling against mommy.

 She has to have breathing treatment every 4 hours for the next 24 hours and then as need until her chest is clear. She still coughs but is able to get the mucus up (it's as gross as it sounds). Bottles or formula aren't in her future since she needs to nurse because that is the best and she could be allergic to formula. 

But we are HOME and we are happy to be here. Our little princess is still as cute as ever and smiling and cooing at us. Aiden is as feisty as ever and ready to rule the house again! 

Off the Oxygen!

Telling Mimi about her rough day.

Finally a cute outfit after days of hospital attire.

Our wagon to the car. One nurse asked us if we had been there for 3 weeks! 

 Thank you for all of your prayers, emails, and Facebook comments. We are so blessed to call you our friends and family.

Sometimes breathing is hard

I sit writing this message from the hospital...yep the hospital. Not where I thought I would be 6 weeks after I gave birth. I was suppose to be sitting back in my desk today,  but sometimes it hard to breath for little girls.

Sweet Princess

 After a doctor's appointment for a stuffy nose and cough yesterday revealed that Felicity was having labored breathing and she was still that way at 5pm after breathing treatments and oral steroids, we headed to the ER. The ER doctors made me feel like I was overreacting - hello she is 6 weeks old people and my doctor said go to the hospital! Thank goodness the pediatric doctor wanted her to stay, so after the tear-inducing, gut-turning lap work (you never want to watch a newborn have blood work done) upstairs we went. As soon as they got her in her room and hooked up to an oxygen reader her oxygen dipped to the 80's (should stay around 95 or higher) so she was put on oxygen. Here were are 24 hours after we got to the ER and still on the oxygen :(

    What we know: - She doesn't have RSV, Flu, or pneumonia
                              - She does have an ear infection..again - left ear this time
                              - Her chest cold is breaking up
                              - We are here for a least another night
                              - how to love and cuddle her
                              - that our family is loved and prayed for
                              - that we have an awesome God 

What we don't know: - When we will get to go home
                                   -  When her breathing will improve
                                    - If this will scar her lungs
                                   - what is causing her allergies/stuffy nose that leads to drainage

 My heart breaks each time I hear her little cry and I wish so bad I could just make her better by cuddling her. My family is so blessed to be so loved by so many people. We feel truly blessed to be loved and prayed upon by so many.

Sleeping peacefully

Trying to escape!

What I Wore Wednesdays

* Yea! A new post on what I wear - how exciting I know. But I thought it my help to show how I make outfits work that are nursing friendly. Guys should probably just ignore these posts*

I try to dress cute but I am not super stylish - for the last 9 months I've been kind of limited! Each Wednesday I will share how I make my everyday and work attire work for nursing. The pictures will improve from the headless, mirror shots! 

Everyday attire:

Top: Target Liz Lang Maternity, Tank: Target Nursing, Pants: Target Liz Lang, Shoes: Walmart

     Target is obviously a favorite of mine. This shirt is great since it has the criss-cross neck line, makes easy nursing especially if I am out in public and having to nurse under a wrap.  I am still wearing some of my maternity pants (come on hips). If you are going to be nursing I HIGHLY recommend these tanks in as many colors as possibly. They are comfy, long, and look just like a regular tank.

Work attire: 

Dress: Target (on clearance!) Tank: Target Nursing Shoes: Target (from Goodwill)

 I am not officially back at work yet but I made an appearance at our first chapel of the year. This dress proved to be great, again with the criss-cross front.

Just for fun here are some of my recent Target clearance items: 

Wanted this watch for my birthday, got it for $6. 50!

Jeans that don't have an elastic band at the top, for $8.20.

 These jeans are bigger then I will admit but I know they are just for this stage of my body changing. 

 

I didn't find her at Target but she is the best! 

 Yes that is hounds tooth in her ribbon...Roll Tide Roll!

Well there it is the first WIWW, enjoy if your nursing!

One Month

This first month has just flown by.

Here a few firsts Felicity had this month:

~ First car ride (from hospital)

~ First bath

~ First explosive diaper (all over daddy ;) ) 

~ First doctors appointment (8.3 lbs!) 

~ First trip to Target & Starbucks (Her fans were happy to see her) 

~ First trip to the beach

~ First cold (not a fun experience putting your newborn on antibiotics, and sleeping on the couch) 

~ First time celebrating daddy's birthday

~ First time to church

~ First trip to mommy's work (what was I thinking going back to work, oh right it was registration week) 

~ First sleepover (thanks Cathy!) 

~ First after church lunch with friends

~ Not to mention all the kisses and hugs she has endured from Aiden!

We go for our 1 month check up on Wed. and I think she is going to be right at 10 lbs!

She still fits in some newborn outfits but we are making the move to 0-3 months very fast. Newborn diapers are a thing of the past -actually had to return some today!

We love you, Strawberry Shortcake! (Her nickname, thanks to Aiden who insisted we name her Strawberry Fred, before we even knew she was a girl and would come out with a head full of red hair!)

Maternity Photos

These are a little late but here are a few pictures that my mom snapped of us at the beach a few days before Felicity arrived.

Our Little Princess

Felicity Lee made her debut on Friday, July 27 at 5:07 pm

Here is her birth story:

So I just knew she would come before my scheduled induction - we walked, mom did pressure points, I bounced on the Pilates ball, went to Target almost everyday (walking is important you know!) But no action from this little girl. So at the ungodly hour of 3am Jesse, mom and I arrived at the hospital. Being induced which was a huge fear for me. I worried that I would be in labor for days, not be able to do it naturally, or have to have a c-section. As soon as they had me back in the room I was regretting agreeing to the Friday induction and wishing I waited until Monday. But not in the plan. I was only a 2 when they checked me and Felicity still didn't have her head low enough! They even did an ultrasound to make sure her head was down. That was a little nerve wrecking. By 5 am the pitocin was pumping in. I spent the next few hours taking a nap, watching some tv, and planning a friends upcoming shower. At 9:30 am the doctor came in and broke my water and I went from a 2 to a 3....ugh this was dragging on - I was not happy. Around 10 am, Mom kicked me out of the bed ("when you are laying down gravity is working against you." If I had a dollar every time I heard that). She requested a birthing ball, and I bounced around the room (not really but it would've been fun!)I just sat on it, walked the whole 5 feet I could with the monitors hooked up.  I need to mention my AMAZING nurse Daphne at this point - she was great and kept bringing me popsicles. By 12 pm I was actually developing contractions!! I thought I would be holding her by 12 so I was not thrilled by this! By 3 pm I was a 5 almost 6...ugh I was ready to kill someone at this point. I was also entering into pitocin active labor which is like regular labor on crack!! Those contractions were a nightmare. I did a little begging for some drugs or anything to get this baby out! But my mom, Jesse, and Daphne said no you can do this and I was offered another popsicle. Daphne also said she would check me again at 4 pm and if I was an 8 we would start pushing. I could do that! I was the queen of Lamaze and if I didn't do the Lamaze during a contraction I was not a nice person so they would all yell at me to breath and I would catch it and on we would get through it. At 4 pm I was 8, so that meant pushing was right around the corner!!!  Daphne called the doctor and we started pushing (when I say we I mean me :) ) 2 big pushes got her head down (apparently my kids have bigger heads!) and the doctor arrived! 3 pushed and there was a little girl on my chest - with a head full of red hair! But I noticed when they put her on me she was a not the right color and they whisked her away so fast. Mom and Jesse were acting kinda weird but as planned mom stayed with me and Jesse headed over to the corner to watch her. Mom kept leaning down and whispering loving things in my ear and I kept looking at Jesse and wondering why there were so many nurses checking on Felicity. Then I heard her sweet cries and the mood in the room changed. When I was pushing at some point the umbilical cord got wrapped around her throat but my doctor was on top of it and she only needed about 20 seconds of oxygen to get her going. She was a pretty pink and in my arms in no time!

Meeting Big Brother

After a bath!

Sleeping Beauty

Ready to go home.

Waitin' on a Little Girl

So here we are 40 weeks and 1 day and still no baby! I just thought for sure we would be holding this little girl by now. But I try to over plan things - sometimes God has a way of telling you to slow down and just take it in. The good that has come from being a little overdue is a new ultrasound! It's not the same as holding her but it was fun to see her and the changes she has made in 16 weeks. Here is what we found out:

     I only know how to produce chunky babies! She has these cute little chubby arms. She is also measuring around 8 lbs. 10 oz! With a brother who came out at 9 lbs 4 oz I don't know why I thought she would be smaller!

She is in position to come out and didn't want to share her pretty face with us. 

She has hair and lots of it! It was just floating in the fluid.

But she isn't ready to make an appearance yet! Our dr. was very nice and didn't push me to induce right away however because I have such big babies he doesn't want to wait too much longer. So we scheduled an induction for Friday at 3am!! I am not loving this at all and I am praying constantly that she decides to come before Friday. Only time will tell!