Azaylee's First Christmas in Pictures ( LOTS OF PICS!)

Azaylee met my sister, Emily and her fiance, Russ for the first time! She fell in love with them right away and enjoyed all the attention. We were all sad to see them go back to Indiana. She also visited with her grandma and grandpa(my parents) while we stayed at their house. It was lots of fun. Azaylee got to see her two great-grandmothers and her great-great grandmother. She got LOTS of presents and enjoyed looking at the lights on the Christmas tree. We also had Christmas with Aaron's famly but I have no pics to show for it. Our digital camera is still broken so the only pics I take are from when I borrow my moms camera. We really enjoyed our first Christmas as a family of three!

Our 3 Month Old!

Our 3 month old is a very fun girl. She loves to play in the exersaucer and bat at toys. She is constantly grabbing things. A few nights ago she grabbed some mac'n cheese right off my plate. :) Azaylee enjoys rolling from her tummy to back and almost from back to tummy. Her arms kinda get in the way when rolling from back to tummy. She enjoys watching everything thats going on around her and copies facial expressions. She has also become great at sleeping. As soon as she starts fussing and we put her down she falls asleep within a couple minutes with very little fussing. She is going for 7 hour stretches most nights. ( I'm sure she could last a bit longer, but I usually feed her when she wakes up around 4 or 5AM so we can get some extra sleep in the morning ;). She also still loves baths so much! She cries when she has to get out. We are looking forward to her 1st Christmas!

Independent Baby

Azaylee's favorite activities seem to be ones she can do on her own. She loves to lay on a blanket on the floor and play with toys. Normally I start her out on her stomach and about a minute later she is grunting and rolling over to her back. Then she tries SO hard to roll back over to her tummy and gets pretty mad that she can't make it back over. You can tell by the red face in this first pic that she was frustrated. (Look at those chunky legs :)

These pics were taken a few weeks ago of Azaylee in the bumbo seat. She loves it and does a great job holding her head up. She is getting so big! (Sorry the pics are kinda dark.)

Photo Shoot With Mimi and Poppy

Ducky-do

Azaylee loves her ducky on her carseat. She stared at it like this in the car last night for at least 15 minutes. I love how serious she looks :)

I have had one clingy girl today. Here she is w/ her soothie fighting off a much needed nap. She is so sweet!

Azaylee starts with her feet at the bottom of the crib and wiggles her way all the way up to the top during nap time, then she almost always sleeps with her bottom up in the air :)

2 Months!

Azaylee had her two month appt today! She is 12 lbs 2 oz.(75th percentile) and 24 inches tall (95 percentile). She is growing very well and is a good nurser. We are IN LOVE with this baby girl and still can't believe we have been blessed with such a gift.
The last 8 weeks have defnitely been rough and wonderful all at the same time. We are beginning to really adjust to life with a baby. Thanks for all the advice that all of you passed along to us.
Some facts about our girl-
*Azaylee is a screamer, going from nothing to a full out scream in a matter of seconds, sometimes over nothing at all.
* She smiles pretty often and will laugh at her daddy when he starts talking to her almost all the time.
*She is also a spitter. She spits up so much you begin to wonder if she's got anything left in her stomach, which by looking at the weight, you can tell she does. ;)
* She likes a routine and does not sleep very well anywhere other than at home.
*She can roll from tummy to back.
*She loves music. John Mayer can calm her down any day. (That was the main station on Pandora I listened to while I was pregnant and she seems to recognize it!)
*She snorts when she cries :)
* Azaylee has just started "cooing" and "gooing" over the last few weeks.
* She loves lights on toys, on ceilings; pretty much anywhere she sees a light she becomes glued.
* Azaylee loves her soothie pacifier and will accept no other kind.
* She also is very interested in looking at books when we read to her.
*I asked Aaron to tell me any other facts about Azaylee that he thought were important and his was "She looks cute all the time" :) I think he's wrapped around her finger already.

I will try to get some 2 month pictures up soon.

8 weeks later.....

I don't think my bladder control is 100%. Funky Fit dance class at the gym. jumpin jacks. enough said.

6 Week Old Continued :)

6 Week Old

Advice and Ideas

I would love to hear some of your ideas of how to get all the housework done. Tell me when you do all your housework and other things on your to do list( like socializing, exercising, showering, etc.). Ever since Azaylee's birth, I realized how much I relied on my strict schedule. Now if I don't get whats done on the list for that day, I give up for the rest of the week! Not good, this ends up in a chaotic house, a smelly baby, and with me in tears over how I will ever catch up. SO, I need some ideas of how/when you get "everything" done!

Silly baby that thinks that every time she sees a camera she must stick out her tongue :P

ll

Azaylee-McBailey

While I was pregnant, we always referred to baby girl as "Azaylee-McBailey"...not sure why, it just happened, and now we find that we call her McBailey more than her actual name. Poor kid, she is probably super confused. She has all sorts of nicknames from different people, McBailey, Zay-Zay, Zaylee, Zay-zoo, Zay-baby.
Anyways, This little girl is keeping me busy :). A pretty good excuse for the lack of blog posts. We are doing great, just learning how to adjust as a family of three. Azaylee was four weeks old yesterday and is growing fast. We went to the doctor on Wednesday and she was 10lbs 7 oz. She is 20 3/4 inches long. She has been in the 75th percentile with all her stats since birth. She is eating wonderfully and learning how to sleep at night. Things have gotten easier since we have changed from eating every hour (not exaggerating!), to eating every three hours. The last two nights she has even slept some 3 1/2 hours stretches. ahhh....it is nice to get some sleep.
I am really enjoying being a stay at home mom :), although I really haven't got out to do much, and can't even seem to stay up to date on housework. I know with time, we will get some sort of routine. The last few weeks have been quite a challenge. I have been shocked at how different having your own child is from doing childcare. I guess for one, I have never really been that involved with babies under 6 weeks old, AND I never felt like my heart was going to break when I heard them cry. It is completely different when you have to sustain their lives and question if they have everything they need with each whimper. I am used to scheduling out babies days, including when their mother's come to pick them up. I am finally realizing Azaylee is mine, and nobody is coming at six-thirty to take her home. It is very exciting, and challenging. Azaylee seemed to have her days and nights mixed up until the last few days. I read the book, Babywise and got some great ideas that have been extremely helpful.
I had my postpartum visit this week, and things seem to be healing up quite slowly. This was pretty disappointing to hear, but I am trying to take it a little easier. I am feeling much better though with each day and I am REALLY ready to head back to the gym for my "Funky Fit" dance class :). Although, I think it will still be a little while.
Aaron has been doing wonderful as "Azaylee's daddy". He has had about a week off total since she was born, scattered here and there. It is so hard to send him back to work! He is so helpful and really loves spending time with our precious girl. She will stop crying almost immediately after he starts talking to her or picks her up. It is adorable. Well, I know this has been alot to read, but I did want to update. There are some pics below, but if you are on Facebook, you have probably already seen them.