6 months with a baby

I guess it's actually been 7 months now - I can't believe Lucy is closer to the age of 1 than she is 0.  It's been quite the adventure.  Time goes by SO much faster now than it did when I was pregnant (thank goodness), but at the same time it's true that it can all be happening a little too fast.  I've learned A LOT in the past 6 months - looking back I can't believe how much I've learned to be honest.  I was pretty naive going into this whole motherhood thing.  We started off with a newborn - the most precious thing on earth.  And I was pleasantly surprised - Lucy was EASY!

In her 1st month

 Lucy & I were living the dream!  She breastfed like a champ, slept more than I expected, and she even liked the dreaded tummy time most kids scream about.  I kept thinking - wow, I'm just so lucky.  I was on cloud 9...

Month 2

 Lucy was still adorable & still so easy in her 2nd month.  Family would make comments assuming we were sleep deprived and little did they know, I was getting more sleep than all of them!  Like 9-10 hours some nights.  Lucy was awesome.  I wasn't prepared when I started to feel the 'baby blues' creep up on me though.  What did I have to be blue about exactly?  Oh I don't know, hormones are fun like that.  I'd literally be crying & verbalizing "I have no idea why I'm crying" because I really didn't.  I was glad when those went away that's for sure.  But Lucy was still so easy to take care of.

Month 3

 Lucy just gets more fun the older she gets.  She's more interactive & I love her big personality.  However, she starts to not be so "easy" you could say when she was around 3 months.  And sleeping through the night?  Ya right.  So being the 1st time mom I have already read the sleep books, I know all about those Baby Wise schedules & different methods.  I was busy trying to strategize and get Lucy back to being that perfect newborn I took for granted.

Month 4

 Now to the 4th month and Lucy is getting cuter!  And I love it!  Yet the more she comes to life the more crying and fussiness seems to come with it.  She would have melt downs in the car seat.  We used to drive all around town in the "early days" & I never heard a peep!  But now, 20 minutes of crying felt like hours.  I would experience so many emotions from patience & compassion, to anger & frustration, and eventually I would be in tears begging her to stop screaming, we were 5 minutes from home!  She used to be so "easy" & now she was all of a sudden scared of strangers, including family.  For some reason I felt "guilt" or something when she would be fussy when other people held her (I told you I've learned a lot).  She hated bottles, she hated sleeping more than 2 or 3 hours, she would nap sometimes, or she wouldn't.  I was writing down possible schedules we could try.  One night I said to Bryce that my baby was "broken" and I didn't know how to fix her...ugh I feel so dumb thinking this!  It wasn't long after that, I realized it was ME that was broken.

Month 5

 Don't get me wrong, this entire time I'm loving watching Lucy grow and change.  When she was being cute, it was dang cute.  Learning to sit & laugh and play games would just overwhelm me with happiness.  As I felt like I was coming to my wits end with my "schedule" techniques, I decided one night to just stop trying so hard.  And wow, my life has sure been easier ever since!  Lucy would cry at night...and I would get frustrated thinking she was manipulating me or she needed to learn independence, I was the boss, and on and on an on.  Poppycock.  Lucy was hungry!!  I get hungry 8 hours after I've finished a giant meal - why wouldn't a baby who's eating (quickly digested) breast milk?  So I get up once a night with Lucy & I feed her.  And we both go back to sleep.  And we wake up and we are happy.  And she naps on a schedule that naturally came to be.  And she doesn't really like strangers, but I don't care because she's a momma's girl and it makes me so happy to hold her & have this time together.  

Month 6

 Basically I just needed to CALM DOWN.  Lucy's been patient with me while I was figuring it out.  Sometimes she has bad days, just like me, but we cuddle & get through them.  The bad days aren't so bad anymore.  She's started being okay with other people the more she spends time with them, novel idea isn't it?  She doesn't crawl at 7 months and my friend's baby has been crawling since 6 months.  So what?  I still have the luxury of putting her down & knowing she's safe for a minute while I check on something.

Month 7

 Basically I'm sorry Lucy has to be the guinea pig, but she's been blessed as the 1st child so I guess that comes with the territory.  It will have its perks too though (she has so many NEW things).  I'm not saying she runs the show or anything - I'm still the mom & we have a "basic" schedule.  But I'm a lot better at doing what is best for her and for me and not what everyone says we "should" be doing.  When I committed to exclusively breastfeeding I didn't quite know what that meant.  But it's exactly that, a commitment.  I know there are breastfed babes who sleep through the night & those families are very blessed ha ha, but I'm willing to feed Lucy at night to exclusively breastfeed.  I'm happy with that decision.

Most recent shot - it's freezing these days!

I feel like I now understand the joke that "parenting doesn't come with a manual" as I've tried desperately to google so many things and get it figured out.  I have to be patient with myself too, but I find that I am laughing at who I was a few months ago with all the things I was trying to make happen.  Bryce has been able to laugh at me too, which I'm grateful since I was a little insane & dramatic at times.  I'm grateful that I can be forgiven - even when I lose my patience for 1 second I feel SO much guilt & I'm apologizing to Lucy all day.  She's quick to forgive :).  Lucy's 7 months now and it's definitely my favorite age so far.  I'm glad I'm not broken anymore!  I know every stage of her life will have its challenges, but I have a much better attitude about how I will approach those challenges now.  Wish me luck! 

Summer is over!

Get ready for a long post full of pictures!  We had a fun summer, but I'm definitely enjoying the cooler weather.  It's hard to keep a baby cool when it's hot outside!  August 4 came and Lucy had her baby blessing.  This was such a memorable day for me as it probably is for all moms out there.  I was so proud to be Lucy's mom and Bryce's wife.  He gave her such a beautiful blessing, I loved everything he said.  Lucy looked so cute!  I was worried about her for some reason being noisy or crying, but she just looked around at all of the men in the circle and thought it was pretty cool I'm guessing.  She wore the dress my mom and sister wore when they were blessed.  We had a nice lunch with our family afterwards and it was a really nice get together with everyone!

Our family after the blessing

 

Mom and daughter picture on blessing day

Four generation picture - Lucy was pictured out by the end of this!

As much fun as Lucy's blessing was, it wore me out so I was ready to go relax in Bear Lake for a few days with Susan's family.  Lucy had her first beach experience and I was grateful for the shade tents and a cool breeze the entire time.  There was always someone to watch her so Bryce and I got a good amount of playing in on the boats, tubes, paddle boards, and wave runners.  It's definitely an adjustment having a kid on a vacation.  At one point my dad said to me, "I forgot how much work a baby is!"  Ha ha, for a family who likes to go go go and do do do, it's hard to slow down - I wouldn't trade it for the world of course!  It was a good vacation!

Lucy totally loved the sunglasses ha ha

Lucy's first time swimming - it was actually the hot tub, but it was turned down so low it wasn't even as warm as her baths are.  Gotta love the surf shirt (even though she's in the shade ha ha overprotective?)

They make camping chairs this big - ridiculous!

Lucy's time at the beach!

Emily came to visit!  Her and Jim boy drove up from Nevada and stopped by to meet Lucy for the first time!  It was so great to see them.  They are expecting a GIRL in February and Lucy and I are seriously thrilled.  It's so fun becoming moms with my friends.  It's weird because we used to talk about this stage of our lives 10 years ago at sleepovers - and here it is!  I'm glad I have the friends and great relationships with them that I do.

Bryce went on a hike with his dad and brothers...men bonding time I guess :)

Date night!  Mini golfing and Cold Stone - I love being silly with Bryce and acting like we are dating, even though we are parents now it doesn't mean our relationship has to be lame

Swimming at our pool!  Miss LuLu had her first pool experience and she didn't know what to think ha ha.  She didn't cry so I'm guessing she had fun!

Lucy's bouncy toy!  She was overwhelmed

Lucy turned 4 months old on September 4th.  She was sick that day so she let me know she wasn't into taking pictures by starting to eat her 4 month sticker ha ha.  I promise I grabbed it from her right after this so she didn't get ink poisoning or something.  She weighed in at 14 lbs 15 oz...almost double her birth weight!  She's super long too...85% for her age group.  I'm crazy about this girl - every stage just gets more fun!

We decided the bunny should wear the sticker

My new all time favorite picture!  She was being so cute!

Grandpa Bart singalong time!  Lucy was quite interested in the guitar playing and singing.  Music is SUCH an influential part of my life and has been since I was a little girl.  I loved memorizing songs and singing in fake microphones while my dad played the guitar for me.  He was my awesome "band"!  I can't wait to teach Lucy songs and I hope she loves performing in front of people as much as I did.

We were missing Bryce so we took him lunch at work one day and then decided to lounge around and take a nap - we lead a tough life

My cute buddy! She posed like that all by herself :)

Like I said before I love music so much and I was taught from a young age by both my parents.  My dad has definitely been influenced by James Taylor so he was like a little kid on Christmas when he heard that the Mormon Tabernacle Choir would be hosting JT at their concert.  None of the names he submitted were picked for tickets, but that didn't stop him.  He went with some people on Friday night, sent me a text that he had been "reborn", and said you guys are coming with me Saturday night!  So my dad stood in the stand-by line in pouring rain hours before the show so that Bryce and I could go to the concert with him.  It really was a great evening of performances.  I actually went to a James Taylor concert with my dad 12 years ago and we stood up and danced/sang along the whole time.  This concert was a little different as it was in the conference center, ha ha, but it was still fun to be back with my dad seeing JT perform again!  Bryce loves music too so it was a great date night + my dad ha ha.

On Labor Day I tagged along with my parents running errands, etc.  When Bryce was off work we met for lunch and we were right by Scheels...my parents had never been and I was like "YOU HAVEN'T BEEN TO SCHEELS??" Ha ha, I guess I felt like that was a big deal.  So we took them on the grand tour to see everything there and it was entertaining.  My dad is running a marathon this month so we purchased him some running "goo" - he's legit like that.

Asics family unite!  My sister and I are training for a half so we went on a run with my dad that morning - the only running shoe our family supports as you can see :)

I'm excited for fall!  I've always loved different things about every season, but Lucy puts that excitement into overdrive because we get to do all my favorite things WITH her.  

Summer fun!

We have been having such a fun summer!  I hope you all have too.  Even with Bryce in classes for the summer semester we have still managed to do so many fun things.  While the month of May was basically the 'stare at Lucy doing nothing but she's still so cute' month, June came and it was time to venture out and show Lucy how to live life!  First up was my 25th birthday.  I think 25 is an awesome number so I've actually been telling people I was 25 since December of last year.  It might have also been because I didn't want people to think I was too young to be pregnant when they'd ask how old I was...because you know, 25 is WAY older than 24 ha ha.  So now that I'm finally 25 it's the first time that I haven't had to adjust to the age because I've been practicing!  The night before my birthday my parents offered to throw my birthday BBQ.  I was so excited because grilled food during the summer is my favorite!  Plus we had an ice cream cake for dessert...another favorite! 

Josh & Kenz came as well as Ben & Jess.  We are trying to warm Jess up to babies so she practices with Lucy!  Personally I think she's a natural!

Linds & Austin came too...I love my lil sissy!

Lucy just saying Happy Birthday Mom

She's my favorite present!

 On my actual birthday I was helping throw one of my greatest friends her baby shower for her almost here (1 week away!!) little boy Harvey.  We went with the Ahoy It's a Boy theme and had a lot of fun celebrating with Miss Shell Bell.  She's an amazing pregnant woman...she did cross-fit her entire pregnancy!  On the night of my birthday we ventured out as a couple for the first time since Lucy was born.  She was in great hands with Bryce's parents.  We went to dinner at Red Robin and then to see the movie Now You See Me.  I loved it!  

Need glasses for movies - signs of aging I know

My friends are so creative!  I am usually in charge of food and games for a reason :)  They are amazing!

Once again letting people practice being moms with Lucy - she's an excellent baby for it!

 Father's Day was the next day.  A day that was pretty insignificant last year is now a big deal around here!  Bryce is smitten with Lucy and is such a great dad to her.  He takes care of her the entire time we are at church because I teach primary and they all want to touch her and I'm nervous about germs ha ha.  He handles it like a champ!  He's one of those dads that gets so mad at restaurants or stores that don't have a changing table in the men's bathroom....

Lucy and her Norwegian father

 For Father's Day we went to Matt & Britney's who were hosting a BBQ for us.  It's fun to get out of the house of course, but most of the time people say Oh hey thanks for bringing Lucy!  And then we are left to ourselves ha ha.  I love that she is so loved!

Luke and Uncle Bryce being silly

Lucy ALWAYS has an audience

The 3 generations - and the boys who didn't want to leave or look away from Lucy ha ha

We love the dads in our life!

 We didn't give Bryce a present at all during the day on Father's day and he didn't really seem to notice.  That night we stopped by my dad's house so I could wish him a happy father's day.  I was telling Bryce I really wanted to start rollerblading again (yes I love it) and I thought my old roller blades were in my parent's shed.  After like 5 minutes of begging him to go check with me in case there were "heavy things to move" he followed me outside.  I let him go into the shed and he started asking why my dad got a new barbecue when I yelled SURPRISE!  It's yours!  He was seriously shocked.  I've never surprised him that well and I LOVE surprising people! This was his face saying Are you for real?  We have had such delicious food ever since. Good job Lauren & Lucy!  (In case my friend Alison read this, there are no roller blades in the shed and I'm in the market for some new ones ha ha)

I'm throwing in some random pictures of Lucy's life....

She's smiley most days around here...especially for this guy!

If Lucy shows up in the car seat and is napping...this happens until she wakes up ha ha

 Yay for more babies!  My friends are finally starting to pop out their kids that are due this summer and Lucy met her first friend.  We aren't sure about an arranged marriage yet because Lucy looks like a sumo wrestler next to Ben, but we'll see.  The Shermans had Bennett in June so Lucy's about one month older than him.  It was fun swapping baby stories and having people who we can relate to as we adjust to our new lives with kids!  Bennett was a cutie!

Lucy going to church in her colorful party dress

I wuv her cheeks more than anything!  They are kissed every chance I get

Lucy ready for a wedding we went to for Danielle Mendel, from Bryce's home ward.  We had so much fun dancing with Lucy on the dance floor.  She loved it!  Until she fell asleep....ha ha

 Lucy turned 2 months old!  On the 4th of July actually.  She was hamming it up at her photo shoot that's for sure...

Workin' the tongue

She thinks she's pretty hilarious

My big girl!

 For the 4th of July we were driving literally all day to Garden Valley, Idaho for my cousins wedding.  Road trips are definitely longer with a baby who eats every 3 hours or so.  We didn't really do anything to celebrate, but at least we got her in the outfit and took pictures!  

 Like I said the wedding was in Garden Valley - basically in the beautiful mountains of Idaho!  It was a weekend celebration for my oldest cousin Ally marrying her love Danny.  It was such a cool setting.  It was great introducing Lucy to MORE people who love her!  Sometimes I would turn away and when I looked back I'd lost her for a second because she'd been passed on.  Always in good hands of course

My polka dot princess

Our family at the wedding

 Our family is pretty unique in that my grandparents have ended up with 9 granddaughters and now 2 great-granddaughters.  No boys!  It's very rare for us to all be together so we took advantage to snap a picture with the pair who started it all!  

Lucy fits right in with our trio

My grandpa is one of those people that you just love to be around.  I love getting to spend time with him.  During the toast they were pouring sparkling cider, but my grandpa had already filled his flute with Coke and so I asked for some as well.  We like to keep it classy!

I loved my cousin's dress, especially the bottom!  Plus she wore cowboy boots which was extra fun

Lucy loved the twinkling lights - Bryce was having his first daddy daughter dance with Lucy - precious!

It was a tight squeeze on the ride up - but Lucy had fun being entertained by Aunt and Grandma in the back seat

Great-grandpa Mike playing with Lucy

We went wading in the FREEZING river - and of course snapped silly pictures before

My stunning grandmother!  I love her tons

My mom's beautiful too - I have good genes in my favor

The original 7 girl cousins - we took pictures like this our whole lives and usually it was in matching dresses, yes all 7 of us!  It used to be a pretty good stair case with our height, but for some reason the babies of the family are almost 6 feet tall now!  It's so fun getting together with all of us

A 4 generation picture

And last but not least - Lucy wanting to arch her back and play like this - and her darling tongue made it in the picture too ha ha

The weekend after the wedding we went up to Logan for the Floyd & Vivian Bagley Family reunion.  We met even more family and wore Lucy out!  We were supposed to be to breakfast before 9 and I thought well Lucy gets up around 6:30 so no alarm should be needed.  Well that was smart except Lucy decided to sleep in until 8:30 ha ha.  All the family gatherings finally got to her I guess.  

The best part is summer is not over yet!  Bryce will be done with his semester in about 2 weeks and we have most of August to play even more!  We have Lucy's baby blessing coming up (I didn't really know when people did it so I just picked August ha ha) and a trip to Bear Lake.  I'll post about those the next free nap time I have!