i love being a mommy

(Michael is the best daddy in the whole world and Riley loves to be read to.)

Since Riley cannot take my breast milk, I stopped pumping at 6 weeks. She has over 200 oz in the freezer that I am hoping she can have once her tummy matures. If not, I will be using it when I make her baby food at around 4-6 months! We have finally figured out her tummy issues. She has a special formula and medicine for her reflux and she is taking her bottles like a champ now. It is wonderful to see her so happy.

She was 1 month old on Thanksgiving and 6 weeks yesterday. I can't believe how fast time is going. She is sleeping a solid 6-6.5 hours and then usually 3 more. During the day she likes to eat every 2-3 hours. She loves to lay on her play mat and look up at her sea creatures. Gotta be careful though, because she will projectile vomit an entire 4 oz bottle if you lay her down for too long. (silly reflux!) She has only done that a couple of times. Overall, she is not a spitter-upper, which is nice. BUT, because of the vomit I have seen and because she is a MUCH happier baby on her tummy, I have given in and let her sleep on her belly.

The dr. said to think of the statistics... He made a good point. If she only sleeps for 15 minutes at a time on her back (and will possibly vomit all of her food up...) that means mommy and daddy will not get any sleep. Then there is a risk of an overtired parent getting into a car accident, falling asleep with baby, etc... So, there is always a risk. And a very small risk at that. SIDS is unexplained. There is no clear research that it is or has anything to do with tummy sleeping. If a baby passes away from sleeping on their tummy and that is the reason... that is the reason, not SIDS. We DO, however had the angel care monitor which I greatly recommend. It gives me a peace of mind to know if she does for some reason stop breathing, in 20 seconds the alarm will go off and we can do CPR. She has AMAZING control over her neck and can scoot ALL over her crib by herself. I completely feel that at this point she is OK on her belly.

Riley Q. LOVES to go to the mall. She just stares at the lights and signs and people. We have learned that the best place to feed and change her is in the Nordstrom women's room. It is AWESOME. I completely recommend it to any mom who needs a place to go! I've even met a ton of wonderful moms in there. She saw Santa last week and was so good.

She also has an automatic timer in her that says "mommy has her food now!" when we go out to eat. It is like clock work. As soon as the food arrives, she wakes up and wants to be held. She loves to suck her fist/fingers/thumb, but it is so funny because if she can't get it just right, she gets so mad. I think she will learn soon. We still give her the paci every now and then, but she often only keeps it in for a few seconds and spits it out. I guess she will be a true thumb sucker like her momma. I guess that is all about my sweet baby girl for now.

How are mom and dad? Perfect! We are getting plenty of sleep and rest. Daddy is working hard at Dominos. Mommy is loving being a stay-at-home mom and cannot wait until it is permanent. I can't even imagine going back to work, but I keep telling myself it is only 4 months! I can do it. I have 4 lbs left to lose and I'm afraid they will be the hardest to get off now that I am not pumping. The pill isn't going to help with that either, but I was cleared yesterday to start my exercising again. I'm thinking of getting the Jillian Michaels 30 day shred. Anyone have a suggestion other than that one, or do you like that one?! I just really need to tone up the last of the belly flab. It isn't horrible, but it's not beautiful either.

Ma-lolo and Grandy are in heaven being right next door. It is also very helpful to Michael and me. They really want her to spend the night with them and give us a night to ourselves, but we aren't ready for that yet. lol. We might let them keep her long enough for us to go on a dinner date. I am leaving her tomorrow for the first time to go to the dentist a mile down the road and I don't even want to do that! Mom and I are thinking of taking a day trip back up to NYC. If we do, we would leave at 6am and come back that same night on the last flight home. Still not sure if I am even ready for that, but we will see.

Merry Christmas Y'all!

~let go laughing!