When cousins come to visit...

You have someone to play with you during tummy time...

Someone to encourage you to lift your head...

Someone to cheer you on upon success...

Someone to tell you stories...

Someone to cuddle with...

Someone to show off your baby to...

Cousin Ellie came down for the day on Sunday to play with Bean. She LOVES her new baby cousin and is so sweet with her. She always thinks Bean is talking to her and likes to rub her back and give her a paci. Ellie had such a great time with her during tummy time and really helped Bean stay on the mat longer; which made this mama quite happy.

Think these cousins will be the best of friends once Bean gets a little bigger. :) Come back and visit soon!!

As she grows... month 5

Yesterday Bean turned 5 months old. I can't believe my baby is growing up so fast - even though she's still pint sized. We don't go back to the doctor for another month, but I think she is around 10lbs and still wearing her 0-3 month clothes - though she must be getting longer because some of the PJs are getting a little tight.

Just in the past few days she has really started seeming like an older baby. While she's 5 months old actual, she really is only 10 weeks adjusted, so a lot of ways she acts like a 5 month old, but in others she's still like a 10 week old or somewhere in between. I'm just happy to see her start to hit milestones and know she'll catch up to her actual age by age 2 (or sooner).

New 5 month-ish activities:

- She doesn't want to nap after every feeding

- Likes to vocal her needs a little more loudly

- Loves to engage with you through laughing, smiling, cooing and some vowel type sounds

- Favorite games include looking at her mobile, kicking the toys on her gym and reading books.

She also loves her play mat/gym, but only if she can look at herself in the mirror from her back -- put her on her tummy and she's not so happy after about 5 minutes. I can see how an older sibling can really help a younger one, because when cousin Ellie was over on Sunday, Bean stayed on her tummy for 20+ minutes and didn't complain one bit. Ellie was on the mat with her and guess that extra company helped her hold out longer. Bean can lift her head up when on her tummy, but moves to fast for her mama to get a picture that's not blurry.

In keeping with tradition, we took 5 month shots yesterday with her bear. Once we put her cute bow on, she got all serious. You can check out her previous months shots here.

One of our friends let us borrow their Bumbo and since she has improved her neck control, I couldn't help trying it out yesterday too. She enjoyed that for all of about 3 minutes, but think she liked the view.



The Help

While we were at the beach, my mom let me borrow one of her new books, The Help. I was hooked from page 1. The story details the life of women in the 1960s in Jackson, Mississippi. It contrasts the life of society women and the maids that work for them. The story is told so well and was hard to put down. Don't want to give away too much, because you really should read it for yourself. When I got home I realized they are making it into a movie that comes out next month.

I'm super excited to see this film and if you are looking for a new book to read this summer, I would highly recommend this one.

SLEEP

Bean starting giving me 5-6 hrs of sleep at night for the past month or so; which according to my mother is sleeping thru the night for a baby, but is definitely not sleeping thru the night for mama.

I woke up this morning at 6:45am and realized Bean slept the entire night!! She usually wakes up at 4 or 5am after her 10pm feeding, but guess its a sign she's getting older and knew her mama needed some more sleep. She didn't wake up until 7am and was full of smiles for mama.

Hopefully this will continue to be the new trend... I could get use to 8 hours every night

Beach Time

We took Bean on her first long distance trip last week to Amelia Island, Florida. I was a bit nervous how it would go since she's never been in the car that long, but she did great!

She's still too little for sunscreen, so we had to get creative. I found a SPF tent with breathable sides, a foam fan and mini-wet suits that also had SPF on them. Below is our bathing beauty in her get-up. She slept sooo well out there with the sound of the waves and the ocean breeze. I wanted to bottle it up and take it home!

We spent a week on beautiful Amelia Island Plantation with my family - Onnie, Papa, Gretchen, Justin, Ellie and Blake. We had a blast with family and know Bean will love to play with her cousins when she gets a little bigger. Uncle Jack, Aunt Keily and Noah came to visit for the weekend and Bella and Poppy (Kyle's parents) even drove out after landing on a red-eye from California!

Here are some pics from our trip.

Uncle Kyle and Blake

The Big Kids



Bean and Aunt Keily

Smiles for Bella

Uncle Kyle and Noah

Onnie and Papa with their grandbabies



Pumping for a cause

While I didn't have a birth plan or a completed nursery, one of the things I knew long before Bean's early arrival was that I wanted to try and breastfeed. After my emergency c-section, I wasn't sure if this was possible, but learned that I could pump to help my milk come in.

Those early days of pumping allowed me to focus on something positive and was so reassuring to know that I could do something to help my little girl while she was fighting in the NICU. I pumped every 3 hours - even getting up once a night. I was able to build up quite a supply pretty quickly, depositing my supply every day at the hospital when I came to visit.

I was pretty surprised when a few weeks in, they told me by freezer space was full! (WHAT?!) So now I had to keep my stash at home and just bring in extra when her supply started to run low. In Bean's early days in the NICU she was hardly getting any milk since she was so tiny. They started her at 2 ccs every 3 hours to make sure her digestive track could handle it before increasing her about 1 cc per day. When they told me I had to keep my stash at home, she was probably taking 1/8th of what I was producing daily.

Needless to say I had a LOT of milk. Even after an unfortunate power outage that knocked out a portion of my stash (sniff sniff..) I was swimming in milk. Bean is now mostly exclusively nursing, but I continue to pump a few times a day to have a few bottles handy for convenience and to keep my supply going strong.

There is no way we'll be able to use it all before it goes bad. So I decided to donate it to Helping Hands Milk Bank. You can donate on a regular basis or one time. All the milk is used for other babies in the NICU that aren't able to get breast milk otherwise. Breast milk is crucial for premature babies - even more so than term babies. A lot of preemies can't digest formula, but breast milk is easier for them to digest.

I'm almost done with my approval process and am excited that my extra milk will help other babies. I learned through all my reading on preemies and discovered that breast milk's nutrients change if your baby is a preemie to make sure it gets the extra vitamins and minerals it needs - neat, huh?! Hopeful that some of milk can help another baby in need.

Father's Day

This year marked the first Father's Day for Kyle! Bean made him a hand print card and a picture for him to put at his office. I got him some lesser exciting items like a swim suit and shorts, but that's only because Kyle bought his own Father's Day present a few weeks ago at Dick's Sporting Goods.

I always knew Kyle would be an amazing father and I love getting to watch him interact and love on his little girl. They already have an amazing bond and she looks for him when she hears his voice. She stares at him when he holds her or gives her a bottle. It's enough to melt this mommas heart. I feel so privileged to be on this parenting journey with you!

Happy Father's Day to my sweet Daddy too! You are such an amazing dad to Gretchen and myself. You have always lead us with your sweet spirit and love for God. Thanks for all you do for us and our families. We love you!!