3 Months Old

Weight:  Over 11 lbs

Clothes: 0-3 month

Diaper: 1

Shoes: 0

Still our little smiley girl!  And still not our great sleeper!  The biggest change this month is that we moved her to her crib.  It actually wasn't as hard as I thought it would be on me, I think I just knew it was time.  I've tried everything in terms of her schedule for bed time, and have found what works best for now.  She gets a bath at around 8 or 8:30 and then between 8:30 and 9 I nurse her and put her to bed.  She does great until about 2:00 am.  She gets up, and since I'm up I go ahead and nurse her.  Sometimes she goes back to sleep, sometimes it takes an hour to get her settled.  To say I'm exhausted at 5:00 am when my alarm goes off is an understatement!  And actually she sometimes wakes up at around 4:30, so that is usually when my day starts.  Oh well, I told Jarrett the line "I can sleep when I'm dead" keeps running through my head!  I'm hoping she will get used to be in the crib soon and will start sleeping better. 

I will say that her smiles and cuddles make all the lack of sleep worth it!  She is very happy and content and for the most part an easy baby.  She rolled from her tummy to her back the day after she turned 3 months, which is crazy because I never put her on her tummy, I just happened to do it that night.

I've started putting her on a blanket on the floor more, and Lawson loves to lay beside her.  He has also gotten big enough to hold her for a few seconds and he ALWAYS likes to give her kisses.  He has gotten really good at trying to take care of her and putting her pacifier back in.   

Here is a little comparison of her and Lawson at about the same age.

2 Months Old

Clothes:  Newborn

Diaper:  Newborn

Weight: 9.4 lbs. 

Height:  23 in.  (I think)

Lauralyn is our little smiling girl.  She smiles at everyone and everything!  Her first huge smile was at around 6 weeks.  Night time is gradually getting better.  She usually is wide awake late in the evening.  I've started feeding her around 9:30, wrapping her in her blanket with her arms out and then laying her in her bed.  We've found she will put herself to sleep only if it is completely dark in the room.  She still sleeps in our room in a pack and play, and I'm not looking forward to moving her to her room.  She wakes up at least once in the night, usually at around 2:30, but a few times it has been 4:00.  She is getting better about eating and then falling back asleep in the night.  I'm not sure how much she is eating right now, but I know she wants to eat a lot less often than her brother did.  Let's see....at 2 months she basically eats, sleeps and poops and as long as all those things happen, she is pretty content and happy! 

Lawson's First Day of "School"

Lawson started to pre-school this week at St. Luke's.  His first day was a success!  My biggest concern was nap time because he never sleeps unless he is in a crib/pack and play, but he did great on his napmat and slept for 2 hours.  He will be going to pre-school MWF and then will be going to the babysitter with Lauralyn the other days of the week. 

Christmas 2011

We had a wonderful Christmas as a family of four, even though we were exhausted with a newborn.  We spent the 23rd in Sugar Land at nanny's house.  We had a great time and were spoiled as usual.  Lawson and LL got tons of adorable clothes, and I have been having a blast dressing them in each of them.  My favorite thing that I got was a certificate to have a canvas pictures made, I still need to pick out what picture I want to have done. 

The picture below is at my parents house on Christmas Eve.  We always go there Christmas Eve, pig out and open presents.  This year we had Mexican food, and I am hungry just thinking about how good it was! 

Christmas morning was so much fun now that Lawson is a little older.  He loved walking out to new toys to play with.  His reaction was priceless and so funny!  And sweet Lauralyn happily sat in her seat and watched all the action.  It was a little surreal to actually be a family of 4 on Christmas morning.  It is amazing how quickly things change.  I definitely need to do a better job of living in the moment!

After "Santa Claus", we headed over to my parents house for breakfast. This is probably my favorite tradition.  I LOVE my mom's breakfast and it did not disappoint.  I even took leftovers to have breakfast again for lunch!  I did feel pretty sick to my stomach for some reason, and laid in bed with Lauralyn in my arms and talking to my dad.  It was actually a neat little memory.  Lawson showed his independence (and his love of food) by sneaking off to the breakfast room while everyone was scattered through the house, sitting at the table and eating what everyone had left on their plates.  It was a sight to see him sitting in there all alone just going to town on the food and drinking Orange Julius.

We spent the rest of Christmas day relaxing and playing.  It was WONDERFUL!  I look forward to the years ahead and teaching Lawson and Lauralyn about Jesus, His birth, His time on earth, and why we celebrate his life at Christmas (and all year for that matter).  

Santa Claus

Lawson and Lauralyn went to see Santa Claus recently. Lawson did good as long as he had his blanket. I love the Santa at our mall. He took his time and was very pleasant.

The picture cracks me up, but isn't that what Santa pictures are all about?

Jarrett's Graduation from Seminary

Jarrett graduated from Southwestern Theological Seminary in Fort Worth with his masters in Christian Education.  He didn't actually have his graduation ceremony until December.  

He had to be there a day early for rehearsal, so we took Lawson and Lauralyn and stayed in a hotel.  I'm not going to lie, it was a little stressful with LL only being 6 weeks old and Lawson being a VERY active 21 month old. 

We did get to see the campus, rest some and eat good food.  Jarrett's mom thankfully came too and we stayed in suite, so it actually worked out pretty well.  Both kids went to the ceremony and Lawson lasted through almost the entire thing in my lap,  I was pleasantly surprised.  Lauralyn slept through it all.  Afterwards we celebrated at the Cheesecake Factory, did a little shopping and headed home. 

Lauralyn 1 Month Old

Weight: Around 8 lbs
Diaper: newborn
Clothes: newborn

It's hard to believe a month has already passed.  Lauralyn has been such a sweet little blessing to our life.  She has gotten on a pretty regular sleep/eat schedule.  In the evenings she will eat at 7:00 and 10:00.  Then she has been sleeping until at least 2:00 and then again until anywhere from 4:30 to 5:30.  She is a great eater, but has a tendency to overeat and then spit up a little.  She nurses during the day about every 3 hours.  Right now she has a head of dark brown hair, blue eyes and dark skin.

I'm not one to stay home all the time, so she has been out and about since 6 days old.  That was the first day we took her to the mall.  She has been out to eat several times and even went to Canton Trades Day this past week.  She is so easy when we go somewhere.

Lawson hasn't really had to adjust much to his sister being here.  It's almost like she has always been around.  He loves her already and tries to give her a paci, blanket, toy anything he thinks she might need.  He is actually a big helper even though he's only 20 months.   He is able to throw her diapers away in the garage and can get pretty much anything we tell him that we need.  The biggest thing for him was learning that you have to be gentle with little sister.

Here are side by side pictures of Lawson and Lauralyn at 1 month.