our lil bb

Our lil pep has started sleeping with a blankie. it is the most precious thing! when i put her down for her naps i will say, "are you ready for your blankie?" and i will put it on her and around her face and she will smile and rub her face with it. in the past, when she has something on her, she immediately kicks it off but in the last day or 2 it has remained and i think she loves it...just as much as mommy and daddy do.

last night we went to our family bible study and on the way, she BLEW IT UP! i mean, she gets poopie sometimes, but this was way beyond anything i have seen! so after 1/2 hour of being there she starts crying...and crying and screaming and crying...i was a bit shocked cause she really is such a good and happy baby and when i tried to feed her she would just cry harder. i could not console her at all and it was awful! we got her settled down for a lil bit (we took our bible study outside cause she seemed to do better in the fresh air)and gave her some tylenol. she went to sleep and when she woke up she was back to normal..talking and smiling. she pooped again. when she was picked up again, este went over and saw that she was starting to look sick again and sure enough, she started crying, crying crying...nothing would soothe her. the whole family tried everything. by the way, she was drooling like crazy too and trying to put her hands in her mouth. soooo, we believe that she has started to teeth. aunt juG and grandma cindy went and got her some teething stuff at the store last night. since then, she has not had any more fits but she still is sleeping a lot. so thankful family was around or else i would have freaked out majorly!

"all good things must come to an end"

spoken by a wise guy, my dad.
my parents came to visit this past week and they just left this morning. all three of us are sad. i feel bad for belle b/c they were such entertainment for her...and such help for me!
belle is just growing and changing like crazy! even in the one week that they were here, she has changed. i wish i could document every ounce of it, but i dont think that is possible.
cuddle time with grammy!

cuddle time with gramps

doin what i do best....feedin my lil blessing! God's provision still amazes me!

grandma and belle hangin
Belle went to the beach for the first time this week. i was a bit nervous as to how she would like it.....she did better than i could have wanted! we were there for over 3 hours and she was pleasant the whole time....and even took a snappy!

she didnt like the cold water at first, but after the initial shock, was alright with it.
pep also decided to go to a 31/2-4 hour schedule this week...without any initiation from me. it is really nice cause i feel like im not just feeding her all day long. and, it must be said, sleeping through the night has stuck and i dont think there is any turning back. i believe it has been 2 weeks now. yay for sleep...i just need to learn to get to bed earlier.

wowsa!

so my lil belle pepper still has a clogged tear duct and it has gotten infected. we took her in to the doc this morning to get it looked at and they weighed her and measured her. it has been ONE month since her last checkup. at 2 months old she was a lil over 24 inches (i believe) now at 3 MONTHS...she is 26 1/2 inches. WHAT???? and she weighs a lil over 15 pounds. holy cow! the doc charted her and her weight is still in the "high normal" category but her height is not even in the "white 'average' range"...it's clear up in the pink. crazy. my lil girl is growing like crazy. so thankful for a healthy baby girl. we are sooo thankful.
notice where her left hand has to be while sucking on her fingers :) so lovely.


bath time:)

isnt she a beauty?

could sleeping through the night be the new trend?

i woke up at 5:45 to her stirring...and thought "oh man, she is gonna wake up!" however, she found her fingers :) she would let out 2 short waaa's and then suck and she did this off and on (while still asleep) for 15-20 mins. guessing she was goin through an active sleep stage...and i ultimately had to go and wake her up at...dum dum dum....7:00! yay!
i so hope she makes it through tonight, too:) if so, my next job is to get momma to sleep till 7:)

oh, my girl!

So, this morning i awoke at 6:15 realizing that my darling was still sound asleep. WHAT???? i got so excited that there was no way of me going back to bed. i went in the office and called my mom...it was like the biggest pat on the back for me. pep woke up at 6:45 and I kept tellin the Lord, "thankyou, you dont know how this makes me feel!" but im guessing He actually does. so whether this continues or not...i KNOW that it's possible for her...yay!
She has also found her fingers...for mouth sucking that is. 2 of her naps today, she would wake up 1 hour into them, find her hands and sleep the rest of the time with her fingers in her mouth. so precious! this week she had only been sleeping 1 hour for all her naps and i had no clue what was going on...but today, her fingers must have soothed her and she slept like a champ.
HOWEVER....it wasnt so much like that yesterday. having a baby involves a lot of trial and error. is this happening cause of this? lemme try this...maybe she's this.... yada yada well, she literally would wake up at exactly 1 hour into her nap and would not go back to sleep. so yesterday i went and got her and put her on the couch with este and me. SHE FELL ASLEEP....she tricked me! she just didnt wanna miss anything aha! no more lil missy:) she slept for another hour...lil girl, i know youre only 3 months but you know what youre doing!
speaking of three months..tomorrow she'll be 3 months. my my, how it has gone by so quick and my love has multiplied by a trillion! este and i had date night tonight and we were both sad to leave her and excited to go back and see her. she's such a joy.
i gave her a bath today in her tub but without the net for the first time. wow, she loves bath time. she was kicking and talking and smiling and kicking. este keeps saying, 'no wonder pple want more children!'
i also showed her her first video this week. "farm full of faith" um, she loved it. pardon the naked body in the picture...i need to find some diapers that hold in her blowouts! arrrghh. cleaning poo clear up to her neck on an almost daily basis is NOT what i define as fun. ok, maybe there is a lil exagg.
so those are the highlights! here's to hoping i get another full nights sleep:)

J-O-Y

"Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one's youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them..." PSALM 127:3-5
I cannot describe the feeling i have when my belle smiles. it melts my heart and fills me with so much joy...but even that does not describe the feelings or emotions within me. i remember when i was preggo, worrying that i would lack love for my daughter...PPPSHHH. are you kidding me? i thank the Lord for the privilege of having a child and experiencing a fraction of the thoughts and love He has for His children.
Pep had a clogged tear duct a week ago. guess what? both este and i cried before we found out what it was. it BROKE our hearts to see her eye watering...hheehee...we're in for it when she really is sick, huh? anyways, i massaged it and cleaned it with a warm wash cloth...by the next day, all better :) i felt accomplished for some reason.
today after i fed her, i had her sitting up on my knees, eye level, and she started looking me STRAIGHT in the eye and chatting with me. that was a moment i will cherish forever...too bad my eyes arent video cameras so i could show you every amazing moment i have with her. oh how we pray that she will be set apart for our Lord, totally unwavering, a woman of modesty and no compromise! my little woman, you're lovely! i have to get this angle b/c as SOON as she sees the camera, it's all over!