8 Weeks Today!

Sakora turned 8 weeks today! I can't believe how fast it has gone by...I feel like we are going to open our eyes one morning and she'll be packing for college! She has been growing well and no longer fits into most of her newborn clothes. Thankfully she is sleeping 6-8 hours each night and is really starting to follow the same schedule everyday. Other exciting news is that she has figured out how to suck on her hand! this may seem like a small milestone, but it has been a huge victory for our little family because she is now able to soothe herself while drifting off to sleep. Many times we'll lay her in her crib for naps or bedtime and instead of crying and crying, she will just suck on her hand until she falls asleep. We also frequently catch her chattering and laughing to herself when she is supposed to be sleeping :) What a cutie!

Here are a few pictures from her early days of life...

And more recently.... it's bath time!

More pictures from Thanksgiving...

You can really see her peach fuzz in this pic!

This weekend we got to see even more family! Nana and Marla came to visit along with Kacey's aunt Vicki, cousin Tasha and her two precious little girls, Olivia and Myca. Again, this really makes us miss being close to family!

Meet Myca... born in late July and wow is she cute!! One of the happiest babies I've seen.

Sakora cuddles with her bear...

...while Kacey takes Olivia out to play with the pups. They love kids! Especially Bear (our black lab). He gets SOOO excited when we let him say hi to Sakora and will give her lots of kisses. He will be so happy when she can play with him. Mighty is scared of her for some reason and Spanky is pretty indifferent although he has been a little protective when she starts crying.

Hmmm....decisions, decisions!

4 generations!

Olivia....also so adorable!

Tis the Season

Sakora is ready for CHristmas! She wanted to dress up in this adorable Santa outfit (thanks Devon!) and take some holiday pictures for everyone....

She already kind of celebrated her first Christmas this Thanksgiving with Kacey's family. We all met up in Tennessee and Kacey and I hosted THanksgiving at our home for the first time. It was so fun to see Kevin and Marla and Katie and Kody. We had many adventures in just a few short days... We all got up early and joined the Black Friday maddness for the first time ever! We also played some good rounds of croquet and board games (i finally got to play Scrabble! THanks Kevin!). Sakora even got in on Settlers and helped her Daddy strategize.Cooking huge meals is also always an adventure...especially with three cooks in the kitchen! THe food was great and Kacey and I are still making our way through the yummy leftovers. We were sad to see everyone leave and Sakora already misses her family...

Here are a series of shots of her enjoying her changing table...

Sakora also loves laying under the Christmas tree to look at the lights and ornaments. In these pics she was sleeping right before family pictures and looked so precious with all the presents!

When all else fails to get Sakora to sleep, Kacey comes to the rescue with Alterbridge! Alterbridge is one of Kaceys favorite rock groups and Sakora is apparently quite partial to them as well. Whenever she is super fussy, Kacey plays this one particular Alterbridge song and dances with her. As soon as she hears the opening guitar solo, she immediately stops crying and it never fails to put her to sleep by the last refrain. It looks like we might have a rocker on our hands!

Sleeping Beauty!

Snug as a bug on the couch...

Time to Start Dieting...

Just about 5 weeks since the delivery and it's time to start dieting...only I'm not the one who has to cut back on the calories! We had our one month appointment on Wednesday and it turns out, Sakora has gained a whopping 3 lbs!! Who would have thought the baby is the one being perscribed less food! We knew she was developing a double (almost triple) chin and huge leg rolls, but we didn't realize she was quite so large. The first thing the doctor said was, "How often have you been feeding her??" Apparently babies are only expected to gain 1/2-1 lb their first month. Well, our little pumpkin jumped from the 50th percentile at birth to the 90th percentile in just 4 short weeks. So, the doctor said she can go 5-6 hours between feedings at night (which she has started to do and it's amazing!!) and 3-4 hrs during the day. This is good news and bad news.... Good news because it means I have an ample milk supply and that Sakora is an exceptional eater that knows how to get what she needs. It's bad news because I feel like a terrible mother when I think back to how hard I have been trying to get her to eat when she seemed so sleepy! No wonder she didn't want to eat... she was probably so full! I guess I was a little to strict about getting her 8 feedings in... But, other good news is that by all measures the doctor deemed her very healthy and thriving, other than her gas problems, which are her major hang-up. the poor girl just poots and burps like it's nobodies business. SHe is also starting lose her beautiful soft hair on the top of her head, so it looks like she has a receding hair line right now because the rest of her hair is still thick and quite attached to her head. Her hair so light, though,. you can hardly see it in pictures.

And now it's time to brag...Sakora is exceptional at a handful of things already. She is a top-notch pooper. Her PR is 7 diapers in one changing. She is also very good at focusing on objects. Her favorite thing to fixate on is the ceiling fan in her room. Whenever we change her diaper, she looks up at the fan and just smiles and laughs and kicks her arms and legs. And she usually has plenty of quality time with the fan because it can takes us 20 minutes to get a clean diaper on her! She also seems to love focusing on faces and making eye contact, which also makes the person holding her feel very loved...it's amazing how good babies can make you feel :). Underneath all those fat rolls, it seems like she has some pretty strong muscles! She can already hold her head up for a while when she's trying to get a burp out and while she was napping on Kacey's chest the other day, she had a startling dream and did a push-up! When she has a lot of energy (or is trying to get some poo out!), she pushes up on her legs and kicks quite hard.

With a quick flash back to the first days of parenthood...I don't know how people survive those first 2 weeks without someone to help! I am sooooo thankful for family that wanted to be part of those first days....during the night and the day. In the beginning, Sakora woke up about every 2 hours at night, so we have learned to love naps.

Sakora's umbilical stub fell off during the 2nd week and we are giving her full baths, which she loves! This is the first time we dipped her feet in water.... She looks like a baby bird!! Didn't quite have enough fat on her yet... but she plumped up pretty quick :)

Some friends from St. Charles sent us Sakora's first baby doll! She was already holding onto it pretty tightly.

Mom got Sakora this beautiful little dress and we took a stroller ride to the park to take some family pictures. Sakora was not so thrilled, however, and we had a significant amount of trouble getting her to get rid of her furrowed eyebrows. oh well! at least we had a nice stroller ride!

So we started using cloth diapers during the third week.... One word to describe the endeavor: MESSY! Early infant poop is never neat and tidy and makes for one interesting diaper change. I think it will be worth it though. Sakora seems to like them as well, despite their oversized nature. When she wears them, she definitely has a pear shape :)

Tummy Time! Dreaming of something funny...probably her ceiling fan. She has started smiling a lot the past few days and today we think she was actually smiling and giggling at US and not because of gas :)

Visitors! Bubba and GoneGone and Mrs. Rod all were able to spend a little time with Sakora. Aunt Lisa and TJ were also able to make it.... Seeing these people really makes us miss all our family and friends in other states!