{Monthly Recap}: Three Months

Weight
You haven't been weighed since your doctor's appointment that took place on July 24th. At that appointment, you were weighing in at 13 pounds and 5 ounces; but you also had a full diaper and were still wearing your clothes. So truthfully, you were probably around 13 pounds. My guess now is you're somewhere between 14 and 15 pounds based on your usual weight gain. However, in the last week, you've seemed to really grow so I'll be curious as to what you weigh at your next doctor's appointment!

Health
You are one healthy girl! We took you to the doctor on July 24th to have a follow up appointment on your kidneys. Dr. Hodges said there didn't seem to be any concern considering you are using the bathroom pretty often and you haven't shown any signs of fluid retention. That made your mommy and daddy extremely happy! We're so blessed God has given us a healthy and happy baby!

Sleep
You are still quite the sleeping champ. Over the last couple of weeks, you've been sleeping around 10-11 hours at night. You usually go to bed between 8:30-10 and wake up between 7 and 9 depending on when you fell asleep. It really depends on how your day has been and how much napping you've done as to when you go to bed. Speaking of napping, you're no longer a fan. If we're out and about during your nap times, you'll fall asleep without ever making a peep. But if we're just hanging around the house, you'll fight your nap time for all it's worth! You've also gotten to the point that if you fall asleep in Mommy's arms, you're perfectly content to nap there for an hour to two hours at a time. However, if I choose to lay you down during nap time so I can get some things done, your eyes open within five minutes of laying down! Someone is quite spoiled apparently :P

Routine
Mommy still hasn't put you on a strict routine. We just sort of go with the flow from day to day. However, your days usually look the same unless we're out and about. In that case, you pretty much sleep all day! Apparently riding makes you extremely tired! But your typical day at home looks like the following... If you wake earlier than 9am to eat, you'll fall back asleep until 9am rolls around. At 9am, you'll wake up for another bottle and then stay awake until lunchtime. During that time period, we play on Mommy and Daddy's bed, watch a little tv, or play on the playmat together. Around lunchtime, you'll eat and take a little cat nap. After your cat nap, you'll play until sometime between 2 and 3 when you decide you want another bottle. After that bottle, sometimes you'll take a short nap and sometimes you won't. So what we do during this time is sort of up in the air each day. Around 5 to 6 you'll eat again, then we'll take a bath. After bath time, you play for about thirty minutes and then you fall asleep. Mommy uses this time to cook dinner and hang out with Daddy. You'll eat again around 8 or 9 and fall asleep shortly after. Then we do it all over again the next day (:

Clothes
You're still wearing all of your 3 months outfits. While we were at the beach, I tried out a few 3-6 month outfits but they swallowed you whole! On the bright side, you're getting to wear all of those outfits you received at our baby shower. on the down side, you have a closet full of summer stuff in 6 month sizes that I'm beginning to wonder if you'll get to wear with fall weather quickly approaching!

Diapers
Your tiny booty is still in a size one. From the looks of it, you may be wearing those for a little while longer. Another good thing considering how many packs of size ones you have! I thought you were going to outgrow them pretty fast but you've surprised me yet again (:

Diet
Still formula all of the time. The doctor suggested we give you rice at night to help with your spitting up but you had such a tough time getting it out of the bottle that we stopped trying to give it to you. I just hated to see you getting so irritated and your spitting up has gotten better so I decided to postpone the rice cereal until you get big enough to use a spoon!

Crying
You're still the happiest little thing unless you're hungry. Each morning you wake up grinning up a storm. For the most part, you spend your day laughing, cooing, and smiling. But when hunger hits, you turn into your mama. You instantly get agitated and throw a fit!

Milestones
-You went to the beach for the very first time this month! You loved the pool and the ocean! Most people seemed shocked but of course Mommy and Daddy weren't. You're such a water baby!
- While at the beach, you decided to laugh out loud for the first time. Your Uncle Dan had you laughing so hard that you could barely breath. If only we had recorded it in time!
-Also this month, you learned to roll over! Just one day shy of being three months, you rolled from your back to your belly! A feat that most babies don't learn until they are closer to six months old. What can we say.. we have a fast learner on our hands!
- You got to spend your first evening with Auntie Aly & Uncle Clint so Mommy & Daddy could have a date night!

Likes
- You're loving the beach! Sand between your toes and ocean waves... a girl after Mommy's own heart (:
- Bath time is still one of your top five activities!
- Your play mat! This month you really got into playing with the items that hang down from your play mat. You especially love to pull and hold on to the hippo that hangs down from it. You do your best to get it into your mouth!

Dislikes
- Naps! You're quickly learning that you miss out on things when you're napping!

Life Lately

Over the last few weeks, we've been busy little bees in the Holt Household. Not a day goes by that I don't want to log into this little blog of mine and update you on our lives. But sadly, life gets in the way and I just don't seem to have enough time. But since I got up early and the babe is sleeping soundly in the rock-n-play next to the bed, I decided to take this opportunity to pop in and say hey and fill you in on what's been going on during my absence! Hopefully I'll be able to share more in depth posts a little later!

The Hubs turned 30

On July 24th, my hubby hit the big 3-0 mark! We celebrated his birthday the week before by having a cookout at my parents place at the lake with the hubs' friends and family. We had a blast! We swam, busted out the corn hole, watched a movie, and had a great time sitting on the porch reminiscing and cracking jokes. 

The Beach

Last week, the hubs and I took our annual beach trip with his family. The weather couldn't have been more perfect considering it was the first week of August. The temperature stuck around the 80's for the entire week! It was perfect for laying out and soaking up the sun by the pool. Speaking of the pool, Harper loved it just as I thought she would. She also loved the ocean! She loved plopping down in the sand and letting the waves wash over her! I have pictures to prove it and I promise I'll be sharing those at some point! 

Grad School

I mentioned a while back that shortly after Harper was born, I decided to apply for graduate school in order to get my Masters in education. If you're from North Carolina, you're probably aware that this year, our wonderful political leaders decided to no longer reward teachers for continuing education and thus are no longer paying them for Masters and Doctorate degrees after this year unless they are in a position where one is a necessary to complete the job (i.e. principals, counselors, etc). With this new legislature, I was torn about whether or not to complete the program I had been admitted to. After talking with both Kevin and my dad, as well as praying constantly about it, I decided to drop out of the program. The program I was enrolled in had decided to take a fast track and complete a two year program within a year. With this program, the original cost of the program doubled and there was still no guarantee that we'd meet the state's deadlines and graduate in time to receive our Master's pay. With the amount of money it was going to cost,  I could pay two years of day care for Harper. That kind of money is just too much to gamble with considering I may or may not receive additional pay! Plus having to fast track the program, I'd have no time for my family, much less myself. And missing out on Harper's first year of life to only make an extra $150 a month just didn't seem worth it. Especially when the hubby can work a day of overtime and make almost twice that. So I've tabled grad school at the moment and have decided that starting next August, I'm going to try to complete my National Board Certification. It'll cost a fraction of the cost of grad school and at this point, it still provides a pay increase for my family. So for now, thats the better option of the two.

Back to Work

In less than two weeks, I'll be returning to work. It's bittersweet to say the least. Before Harper arrived, if you asked me if I wanted to be a stay at home mom, I'd have told you absolutely not. I'd also have filled you in on why that sort of lifestyle wouldn't work for me. But now that Harper has arrived, I'd give you a different story. After being with my daughter every day for the past three months and watching how quickly she changes, I want to stay home and soak up all of her firsts. The reality that most of her firsts will occur at daycare breaks my heart. Just yesterday I was at work getting my classroom ready and trying to get a head start on the new school year, when the hubs calls to tell me Harper rolled over the first time. To say that I was so disappointed that I missed it was an understatement. But the fact of the matter is that I have to work so that we don't have to live on a tight budget. I don't mind working because I truly do love my job. I love entering my classroom each morning and looking at 20+ faces that I've been entrusted to teach. These students aren't just part of my job, they become part of my heart. I also don't mind working because I know I'm helping to provide for my family even if I do only bring home a measly salary. The fact of the matter is, even though I only bring in a little, it's enough to pay for all of Harper's needs and allows for Kevin and I to also purchase our wants and not just our needs. And for that I'm blessed. 

Home Projects

I've mentioned before that when Kevin and I purchased our home three years ago the first thing we planned to do was rip down the wallpaper and border that was left in our kitchen. I hate wallpaper and it was the only room in the house that had it. Unfortunately, three years later, it was a project we'd still yet to tackle because frankly, we didn't know where to begin. But last week while we were on vacation, my amazing parents and brother came to my house and ripped it all down. When we returned home, we had bare walls! It was such a nice surprise and I couldn't be more thankful for what my family did. It saved us quite a bit of money that freed us up to do other projects to our home.

So now that our wallpaper is down, our biggest hurdle is behind us and we're officially making some changes to the house. Over the next two weeks, our kitchen, pantry/ laundry room, and our dining room will be getting quite a few updates. In the kitchen, we'll be repainting the ceilings and trim work and Valspar's "Baltimore Orioles" will be placed on the walls. We're also having crown molding installed as well as LED lighting placed under our cabinets. Our pantry is going to be repainted to match the kitchen walls and they'll also be painting the pantry shelf in the same color to help it blend in better. In the dining room, we're having shadow boxes installed to create a more formal atmosphere. To help with that atmosphere, we purchased a new dining room suite! We pick it up today and I couldn't be more excited!  

I'll be back in a few weeks to show you the finished results! Plus maybe we'll have our master bathroom completely finished so I can share it as well. I started redecorating it about a month ago and am only missing a few pieces to complete it. It's so hard to find just what you're looking for sometimes! But good things come to those who wait, right?