Family pics and such

We had family pics taken back in September and I finally got around to ordering them a couple of weeks ago. I also went ahead and ordered birth announcements and Christmas cards while I was at it. They all came in the mail last week and they turned out great. 

We chose this as our family photo for above the fire place:

We got some with the kids as well:

This one is my favorite of the older three kids. It really showcases their personalities!

We seriously did family pics in 45 mins from start to finish. It was perfect! 

I've already started handing out the Christmas cards. Is that bad?! :)

Eight week update

Little miss is right weeks old today. She is really started to fill out and change and I'm loving it!

Mila is starting to get a double chin and has some rolls in her diaper area. She gave us her first smile at 6 weeks old and is starting to coo. She can track an object with her eyes and head, turn towards a sound, and make eye contact. 

She's right about 10 lbs now and was 20 inches last week when I measured her. She is outgrowing most of her newborn clothes and starting to fit into the 0-3 month clothes. 

She is a great nurser now and is eating every 2-4 hours during the day. Nighttime has still been great. Mila wakes only 1-2 times per night on average. She usually gives me a good stretch the first part of the night, and then wakes again about 3-4 hours after that feeding. Her typical wake times are 1-2am and 4/5am.  She hasn't had many bottles lately, but she did eat 4oz of pumped milk for daddy on Wednesday night while I was at Zumba. She still cluster feeds during the evenings and has been quite fussy from about 7-738/8pm when she finally passed out for the night. 

Overall, Mila is the chillest baby I've ever had! She is very easy going most of the time and just goes with the flow of things.  She can sit awake with us for an hour and not fuss once. She has really been a great addition to the family!

Just hanging out, watching football with daddy. 

Have you seen enough pictures yet? :)

Random things

1. What do sun drops (m&m's) and a two year old have in common? 

 

Potty training 101! We are in day two and making some good progress. Of course there have been accidents, but it's part of the process. She is in undies full time except naps and nighttime. 

2. I love all things Fall. And with Fall comes lots of good recipes. One of our favorites is creamy oatmeal. Super easy to make and a quick breakfast. I use 1 cup of GF oats (not quick cooking, you want old fashioned) and add at least 1 cup of milk. I usually add another cup of water. Or you can use two cups of milk. Whole is best, but 2% would work just fine too. I even used chocolate milk this morning and it worked great! Our favorite add in is creamy natural peanut butter. But you can add anything you like: bananas, raisins, brown sugar, pumpkin, etc. The kids love it and oats help your milk supply too if you are nursing. 

3. Another Fall recipe I've made is pumpkin donuts. They are baked and I made them GF using Pamela's amazing bread mix. It's basically an all purpose baking flour mix that is GF. They turned out great!

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2012/09/07/pumpkin-doughnuts-baked-to-perfection/

4. Mila is slowly getting bigger. It's so hard to tell when you see them everyday. But I can tell a difference in her clothing and such. I am really loving the Green Line diaper cover that we have. It's a one size cover but it is totally adjustable and I can actually get it to fit both her waist and her skinny legs. 

 

We are still using disposable at night and while out. This is simply because she is soaking her diapers in about 1.5 hours. Add in skinny legs. She needs the absorbency of bigger diapers but even newborn cloth diapers are still too big around her legs. This is what happens with preemies. Regular newborns would outgrow the newborn diapers about the time they would outgrow the absorbency of them as well. Not with preemies. She pees the same amount as a regular one month old would, but is still the size of a small newborn. So, cloth at home it is for a while. 

4. I'd like to never return to work, but still receive a paycheck. Now, how do I make that happen?! 😎