Bath Time!

I know. Nothing for days and then 2 posts in one day! Here are a few pictures of Natalie's first real bath last week.





And here are a couple of her just looking cute in an adorable little outfit on one of her very favorite places - her changing mat. 9 times out of 10, she will stop crying as soon as you lay her on it. She'll just lay there and look around and stare at the ceiling light. What a crazy kid! :)

New Developments

Life is going well here at the Moss abode. Natalie has had a big weekend. She started to track and follow things with her eyes and also smile with her eyes opened! Small to some, but very exciting for mommy and daddy. :)
In other news, the demo people came this morning and ripped out our tile and bath tub in the hall bath. Praise God that we decided to go a head and do that bathroom as well, because there was apparently a leak in the tile and some of the wood had rotted. They said it was a good thing we did it now before it spread to other rooms in the house! I am excited to get everything done. It's been a long road to get to where we are, but our house is looking fabulous. We have enjoyed working on it and see all the progress. Pictures will be forth coming. Nick promises. For now, please enjoy some more pictures of Natalie. I know there are a lot of them. We just can't help ourselves. :)

One Month Old Already!

How the time flies. Our little Natalie Shea is already a month old! I can hardly believe it. She is growing and changing every day. On her one month birthday, we graduated up to size 1 diapers. Before long she'll be out of her newborn clothing and on to her 0-3 month wear. It's so sad that she can only wear the cute little outfits for such a short period of time. The only that makes it a little better is that there are more cute things to grow into. :)
For the most part Natalie is doing well. She has her moments and her days, but don't we all? I know I do! She has been spoiling mommy with regular sleep patterns this week. Every night she sleeps about 3 1/2 hours to 4 1/2 hours at night after settling down around midnight. Daddy stays up with her until she settles down since 1)He is a night owl to begin with, and 2) He doesn't have to get up in the middle of the night to tend with her.
She now has "old man hair". It is pretty hilarious. Most all babies develop some form of old man hair, but Natalie’s is extra odd. Usually, you will see a bald spot on the backs of their heads from where they lay down, but she has gone completely bald on top! How in the world does that happen? Poor thing. It looks like someone just shaved the top of her head and she has a VERY bad receding hairline. She is still beautiful despite that, and I'm sure it will grow back eventually.:)
Nursing is still going well. We are old pros by now. Praise the Lord. It is such a gift from Him on so many levels.
I can hardly believe that Christmas is only about a week and a half away! I have done very little Christmas shopping. Babies have a way of foiling your best laid plans and making you slower than slow with getting anything done. For an achiever like me, this wrecks havoc. I've been ok for the most part just trying to roll with the flow, but some times I do get frustrated when a whole day passes and I have next to nothing to show for it. Oh well.
Well, with out further a do, I give you more pictures. These were taken on her one month birthday, December 11. Have a great week! Only 12 shopping days left till Christmas. Oh. My. Gosh.

Almost Christmas

Merry Christmas!
We are enjoying parenthood and learning a lot. Only other big news in the Moss household is that Nick (i'm writing this entry) researched and bought a new TV. It is awesome and worth the wait. Have a great week.

Woa! So much to say!

Well, it has been a while since I last posted. This past week has been a wonderfully busy marathon. I was blessed to have my mom (Je Je) come to visit and help out for over a week! I got spoiled to the company, conversation, and help around the house. Remember when you were little and your mom told you that you had to clean your room because the "cleaning fairies" wouldn't do it? Well it sure felt like I had a cleaning fairy this past 10 days. It was awesome! Thanks for everything mom! It was such a joy to see her interact with Natalie. One common sound in our house was, "It's not the mommy. It's the Je Je; the other lady who loves you." :)
We spent Thanksgiving at my Aunt Elaine's (La La) house in Tampa. That evening, we picked up my sister, Natalie's Aunt Courtney, from the airport. The following day, Nick went back to the airport to pick up my dad (Papa), and my mom's mom (Great Grammie). Late that night there was one more trip to the airport to pick up Nana and Grampa Moss and Uncle Murray. Our last family came in on Saturday - Great Pawpaw Ray and Grana Sue.
On Sunday, Natalie was baptised into the family of Christ by her Papa Lubke. It was a special time to see the miraculous "wonder in the making". We also had several friends that came over for the service. What a crowd such a little one can draw!
The last of the company left on Tuesday - all the grandparents and Courtney. I already miss them! :( The good news is we will see them all very soon, which is something I don't get to say very often.
It's hard to believe that Natalie is already 3 weeks old! Sometimes it seems like we just came home from the hospital yesterday, and in other ways it's hard to remember life without her. She went to the doctor for her checkup on Monday and got an excellent report. She is now 8 lbs 4 oz and measures 21 1/2 in long! She gained almost 2 lbs in two and a half weeks! If ever there was a doubt she is getting enough food, that would take care of it! She has been eating like a champ since day one, and although the first week or so was pretty challenging, we both have the hang of it now. Nursing has been such a special time. It's a wonderful feeling knowing that I can still provide for her and that I am the only one who can give her what she needs. It has been a great week. With the exception of a couple nights, she has been sleeping 3 to 4 hours at a time each night, so the bags under my eyes aren't too dark. :)
Natalie has also been introduced to the Soothie (pacifier). At first she hated it because it "didn't have the goods", but now she has grown quite fond of it as you can see from the pictures. At first I was very hesitant to give it to her, but it has been a wonderful thing. Mommy is no longer the pacifier. :)
I guess that's about it for now. I'll let Nick tell you all about our new TV. After years of needing one, we finally broke down and got one. It came yesterday and I swear Nick was glowing. It's huge and awesome. We also broke down and are getting "sub-basic" cable - basically just the major network channels and basic Internet service. Yes, up until this point we have never had cable or Internet at our house. According to our high school youth, we might as well be living in a cave or a cardboard box. :)
I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and blessings for a wonderful Advent and Christmas season. I think Natalie and I will decorate the house for the season tomorrow!
Here are some pictures from this past week:
Four Generations - Grammie, Je Je, Mommy, and Natalie


My amazing Pumpkin Cake I made for Thanksgiving. Yum!


Je Je and Natalie


Aren't I adorable?


Aren't I beautiful?


Papa Lubke and Natalie


My Soothie and Me


12.02.2008 - Three weeks old


Awake time!


So peaceful


Nap time


Hanging with Baby Bear in my Moses basket


Smiles for Mommy :) (I love this pic)

Back by Popular Demand

Here are some new pictures of Natalie, and for a special treat- a video taken yesterday during her "awake time". Happy Thanksgiving!


Going for a walk.


Mommy and Natalie - two weeks old today.


Natalie and Je Je (Lubke)

Relaxing Saturday

We spent a nice relaxing Saturday at home today. Natalie had another good night last night giving mommy about 3 hours of sleep at a time. We "slept in" until about 10 and then got up and had some breakfast. Natalie was wide awake for a couple hours before napping again right after lunch. Nick and I watched Kung Fu Panda while she slept. Pretty cute movie. Daddy and I even got in a little nap afterwards. After her nap we got all set to go for our first walk in the stroller. It was a little cool, but she had her hat on a a blankie wrapped around her, so she was good to go. She wasn't real sure about the walk at first, but the soothie pacifier helped her to enjoy it for the most part. :) She doesn't take it very often as she knows it doesn't deliver the goods.
The she played with daddy while I cooked dinner and napped while we ate. We are now watching the Tech/OK game winding down our day. Go Red Raiders!
Not much else to report. A couple days ago we gave Natalie her first sponge bath and she was not a fan. Maybe when she can get submerged in all warm water she will enjoy bath time a little more. :)
Enjoy a couple more pictures!

Learning

Natalie is still doing well. A little more fussy the past night and day, but still doing great. Mommy, Daddy, and Natalie are continuing to learn as we go and are excited about Je Je coming to visit on Sunday. Here are some new pics for your viewing pleasure. :)

Reflections of a New Mother

How someone can go through this experience and
not believe in God is beyond me.

Wow. It’s already been a week since we headed to the hospital to deliver our sweet little girl. The time has flown by so quickly, and all the days seem to have blended into one big long day. I guess that’s what happens when you only sleep for a maximum of three hours at a time. (It’s totally been worth it, though.)

I will spare you the details of labor and delivery. It was the most horrible and wonderful experience of my life and I feel that EVERY woman who has ever birthed a child is a true hero – my “war” was 15 hours with 2 hours of pushing. I was blessed with a wonderful coach – Nick was truly amazing and I don’t know what I would have done without him there (or God [I prayed a lot], or the epidural). I LOVE YOU! You can ask him how many times he had to count to 10. :)

I also want to mention that my prayer was answered, and I did not have to be induced or helped along in any way. Just like her daddy, she waited until a deadline had been set, and then waited until the last possible second. Literally. I had minor contractions all day long on Monday, and they started getting intense around 5pm. We were scheduled to be admitted to the hospital at 6pm.

Anyway, enough about that. I know what you really want to know about is Natalie. She is just wonderful and has been a great baby so far. She doesn’t fuss much at all, and 95% of the time it is because she wants to eat. She has been eating like a champ (keeping mommy very busy) and had already regained 2oz at her first doctor’s visit on Friday! She was so much smaller than I expected her to be. At the beginning of October when we had our last sonogram, they estimated her weight at that time to be 6lb 6oz and guessed that she would be around 8lb by delivery. So, when she came in at 6lb 14oz I could hardly believe it! She is long and skinny - 20 ¾ inches. Long fingers, long legs, long feet, and long monkey toes like her daddy.

Although I was scared out of my mind, what they say has been true so far. It just comes to you. I guess God just gives you exactly what you need when you need it. I just try to be as calm as possible and try to put myself in her shoes when something is the matter.

The hardest thing for me has actually been making myself rest and take it easy. For those of you who know me well I am an achiever by nature and feel like I need to be productive in some form or fashion every day. Napping during the day is something I must make myself do even though it’s so tempting to get something else done.
Nick has proved to be a wonderful daddy just like I knew he would. He is a natural and it is a joy to watch him snuggle with her, kiss her, and talk to her. And he is a pro at swaddling her – much better than I am.

Well, I guess that is about it for now. This post is long enough for one day. Enjoy the new pictures of our little snuggie.