Three Months

Dear Lilah,
Today, you are three months old! I cannot believe how fast the time is passing. At this very moment I am sitting on the bed staring down next to me at the most beautiful sight a mother can see. You and your Daddy are snuggled up next to one another! This is our most favorite part of the day! Everyday you wake up around 6:30am for your first meal of the day. You always fall right back asleep when you are done, and I bring you in under my arm while we roll over for a nap. On the weekends your Daddy gets to have you for this special naptime.
We are celebrating your 3 months this week in Florida at an amazing beach house with all of your crazy family! Today, you will experience the ocean and the sand for the first time.
This month we have seen so many changes; you are holding your head up so well now; you love “standing” on people’s legs while they hold you up. It has become a game to get you into the sling; you always lock your knees and stand in the sling until you get tired and collapse. Daddy always jokes about “karate-chopping” the back of your knees to get you to sit down. This month you started really playing and interacting with your toys for the first time! I can lay you on the playmat and you will talk to your toucan for quite a while. Your hands have become much more tactile; you will grab my fingers and bring them to your mouth. You like to reach for my hair and rub the strands together while you are nursing. You are so expressive now; it is so much fun making you laugh! I tell everyone that you are an aggressive smiler; you literally use every muscle in your face to produce the biggest smiles I have ever seen. The last few days you have also started to roll from your back to your side and vice versa. The first time you did this you were on the play mat; I placed you on your back and when I returned a few minutes later you were on your right side laughing at the koala bear hanging above your head!
This month you were quite the traveler! You flew to North Carolina to visit Nana and Grandpa for the 4th of July; you were such a pleasure to bring on a plane. You also took your first long road trip. We make the 9.5 hour trek to Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. We stopped for the night in Pascagoula, MS on the way here and you had your very first hotel experience.
Lilah, thank you for the last three months! We are starting to look back through all of your pictures and see that our baby girl is really starting to grow up. The love that our family shares for one another grows stronger and stronger as the days pass. Thank you for teaching us the true meaning of unconditional love!
Love,
Mom

On the Road Again...

In just three short days, we are departing for our week-long stay in Florida. We are staying in the same amazing beach house that we had last year in Santa Rosa Beach (just outside of Destin). I am currently in the middle of my "go crazy making lists of lists" phase that I go through before any vacation. Chris' dad booked this vacation right after we found out I was pregnant; we reserved a week at the end of the summer because traveling with a 3-month old sounded much less scary than traveling with a 1-2 month old. The North Carolina trip was a good practice run! We discovered that we really didn't need a whole lot more than when it was just the 2 of us! She has a little bag with her clothes and another bag with her cloth diapers and wipes, her soap, and a few other items. Other than that, we are only bringing a little playmat and some small toys for the car! She sleeps with us and still only needs the boobies for food, so she is good to go!
I have been couponing for the last month and collecting food that I could bring with me because the only store near the house is an overpriced crowded Publix in an expensive beach community! We are trying to only have to buy milk, bread, eggs, etc.. there.
I am so ready to relax at the house for a week and soak up some rays! It is going to be great to have grandparents, aunts, and uncles around to see Lilah Bean. She probably won't be put down the entire week!
I will definitely be posting some pictures to the blog while we are there so be sure to check it out!!
For now, here is my little helper this week...she can't carry luggage very well, but she sure is cute!

Dr. Dr. Gimme the News...

(I have this thing with song lyrics and post titles :)
Today Lilah had her 2 month check-up with Dr. Injac, a.k.a. the most awesome pediatrician ever!!! She is still perfect :) She weighs 11lbs 2oz (50th percentile), is 23 inches long (75th percentile), and her head is 16 inches around (90th percentile). Not sure where she got that big ol' noggin from? We discussed her vaccine schedule again...
Before I was even pregnant I started reading all of the scientific literature regarding vaccines and decided that we would probably not follow the standard AAP vaccine guidelines when we had kids. I continued my research while I was pregnant and decided on a delayed vaccine schedule. We spoke with our pediatrician at length when I was pregnant about the matter; we discussed our home life, daycare options (or lack thereof), and exclusive/extended breastfeeding, etc... Basically we decided, for our family, it was best for us to delay the start of Lilah's vaccinations until she is 6 months old. So as of now, she has yet to receive any immunizations. I couldn't in good conscience willingly expose her to known toxic components during such a critical developmental time period (especially since I worked so hard to limit her exposure before, during, and after my pregnancy). I find something fundamentally wrong with giving a 1-hour old baby a vaccine for Hep B, a virus transmitted through bodily fluids (IV drug users, sexual transmission, or exposed healthcare workers). Seeing as I know, for a fact, that I do not have Hep B, I knew that my child was safe during delivery, and I don't see Lilah becoming a drug addict or having unprotected sex in the next 4 months ;)
Anyway, I could go on all day about that debate, but back to happy stuff...
We are getting settled back in at home after the NC trip just in time to start getting ready for Florida!!! B.G. is super stoked about her 1st long road trip!

Later Gators!!!

Leavin' on a Jet Plane

This past Wednesday, Lilah took her very first ride on a plane! We left for Raleigh, NC to visit Nana and Grandpa after Chris got off of work on Wednesday; we took an early flight home on Monday morning. We had a lovely time visiting my mom over the 4th of July weekend, and we got to see some beautiful areas around the Raleigh/Durham area.
Lilah was an excellent little flier! She nursed during both take-off and landing (nursing helps their ears adjust to the changing pressure), and during the flights she either napped or played with Chris! We cruised through security with her in the pouch sling; we checked one bag and her car seat, and had only her diaper bag as a carry-on. We couldn't get over seeing other parents with babies in the airport with strollers, carseats, suitcases, bags, etc... They all looked miserable trying to navigate the busy terminals.

While in North Carolina, we went to a Durham Bulls baseball game (Lilah's 1st baseball game); that was really fun! It started to rain towards the end of the game, but we were able to quickly seek shelter until it stopped. Grandpa got Lilah her 1st baseball and case so that she can remember the game! We pigged-out on obligatory baseball junk food!

We enjoyed the break from the oppressive Houston heat and humidity! In Raleigh it was dry and relatively cool! Just down the road from my Mom's is a huge farmer's market; I am so jealous and would love to have something like that near us! We also had the chance to drive around the Yaw River Valley and visit three different wineries. It was so neat to visit small family-owned and operated vineyards. We tasted some very tummy wines! Here we are in front of some grapevines:

On Sunday, we visited a really neat old grist mill. It was raining so we didn't get to walk down to the actual mill, but the visitor center was beautiful and had some really neat stuff to see. We had a great time visiting with family and taking Lilah on her first of many vacations to come!!