6 Months!!!!!!!

I can't believe it's already been half of a year since Naomi joined us! Parenting is the most fun, most exhausting, most rewarding thing I have ever done! I am so grateful for this life and for the amazing girl that Naomi is. I feel so lucky to be her mom and to be married to a man that is such a wonderful father to her. I'm just all sorts of blessed and it makes me truly happy. 

In true procrastinator fashion, I am posting these pictures when Naomi is now almost seven months! Haha. What do you do? Life is just nuts most of the time, but it's ok. I'm learning to just let go of some things. You can't do everything. 

At six months Naomi:

Rolled from her belly to her back.

Is playing with her tongue.

Went on her first bike ride.

Can scoot around a little bit.

Will squeal at someone until they look at her.

Slept in her crib for a whole night for the first time (unfortunately not without waking up).

Is laughing more and more.

Went to Bear Lake for the first time. 

Is eating some solids but not very well yet. 

Went to Elitch Gardens for the first time.

Is sitting up really well.

Is SO strong and smart!

She loves:

Playing with toys (and not toys).

Watching me.

When her daddy comes home.

Grabbing dad's beard and squeezing it in her hands.

Reading books.

Bath time and being in any and all water.

Smiling, constantly.

Her jump-a-roo. 

I love:

Tickling her and making her laugh. 

Kissing her and hugging and squeezing her alllll day!

Her beautiful sweet brown eyes.

Her little squeals.

Her tiny toes and hands.

Watching her learn new things on her own. 

How happy she is!

How determined she is. 

How strong she is. 

How smart she is. 

That I can always make her feel better and make her happy. I know this won't last forever. 

Five Months

Lightning has been lighting up the sky tonight. Bright flashes followed by loud claps of thunder. It booms and echoes and then the lightning strikes again. I've never experienced such a rainy spring, not even when we lived in Washington. It's been raining almost everyday for the last two months! The weeds in our front flower beds have been growing several inches everyday. It's crazy. And Naomi has been growing like a weed too! I'm excited for her 6 month appointment to see her official numbers, but according to our measurements she is almost 18 lbs!

I am the worst at posting these on time. I took these pictures of Naomi a few days ago and they are some of my favorites! I love all her goofy grins and silly expressions. She is so fun!

This month she:

• took her first plane ride

• tried rice cereal for the first time

• rolled from her back to her belly (for the first time in front of our gate at DIA!)

• started squealing all the time!

• is a pro at grabbing things and putting them in her mouth

• pulls her socks off for better access to her feet so she can put her toes in her mouth

• sits up for a few seconds at a time without help

She loves:

• being read to

• bath time

• riding in the car (again)

• jumping in the jump-a-roo

• getting her diaper changed (although now she is always trying to roll over while I change her)

• being sung to

• her daddy 

• playing

• being talked to

• squeeling (especially at church during hymns)

• being worn

• trying to put anything and everything in her mouth

• finally likes teethers 

• playing peek-a-boo

I love:

• squishing her chubby legs

• kissing her a million times a day

• the way she looks at her daddy

• how happy & excited she is

• talking to her and making her smile

• the way she smells

• singing to her

• breastfeeding

• cuddling with her in my bed

• reading to her

• giving her baths and massages

• watching her interact with other people

Every day that I spend with her I love her more and it gets harder and harder to fathom a life without her. I can hardly remember my world before it revolved around her. I love her smiley face, her big brown eyes, and her sweet and happy spirit, more than anything in this world. I am so happy to be her mama. She is my best pal!

four months

A third of your first year has already passed by and I love you more each day. This month my tickles gave you your first goosebumps, you discovered your feet, you belly laughed for the first time, you decided you kinda-sorta will tolerate your car seat again, and you definitely don't wanna sleep in your crib yet. 

You love the bath more than ever and your splashing around makes me so happy. You are quick to smile at anyone and everyone that pays you any attention. And even those who don't. You hold your head up like a champ and actually like to be on your tummy. 

You love your play mat and the bumbo. But nothing compares to the love you have for your daddy. Or your stuffed lion named Buff. Every time I put him in your arms you squeeze him and squeal with delight. It pretty much makes my heart sing. 

Yesterday we experienced the first thunderstorm of spring. Oh we've had rain, and some snow even already; but the skies that were quiet all winter roared to life and thunder cracked loud and proud.

As I stood in the living room and looked out onto the shiny pavement of our street, I was taken back to a summer night last year. My belly was starting to grow with your tiny body, and I had just started to feel you moving around. A beautiful day turned into a stormy night and rain turned into hail as lightening streaked the sky. I remember throwing open the door and standing in its frame, staring out into the night and thinking about the miracle of life. 

You were an answer to my prayers, and you still are. Everyday. You teach me more about life & about myself than I ever would have imagined that night. Rain seems to bring out the most vivid colors in our surroundings. It saturates the green of vegetation, it blackens the streets and darkens the walks. It brightens the flowers and it freshens the air.

Having you has been like a rain storm. You have saturated my life with color. Everything is more vivid with you here. You have enriched my life. You have been a breath of fresh air. I always say that you're my sunshine, but you're equally my rain. I love you!

F O U R   M O N T H S

16 lbs 14.5oz

26 3/4 inches

Three Months!

This month has really flown by. I have been so happy to have warm days so we can go outside on walks and picnics. Naomi went on her first picnic on Saturday! We also took her to Bear Lake for the first time to meet her great-grandparents a couple weeks ago. She  was such a good little traveller (because we drove through the middle of the night both ways).

Naomi is now grabbing things really well (and sticking them in her mouth). She especially likes to chew and suck on her hands. She loves to sit in her Bumbo and be at eye level. She is cooing and ooing and ahhing like crazy! She tries mimicking my mouth movements when I talk or sing to her. She loves being sung to.

She still loves baths. Still loves getting her diaper changed. Still loves her play mat, even more the older she gets. Loves to nap in my bed or her MamaRoo the most. She is drooling like crazy now, and smiling even more! She loves to watch me get ready in the mornings. She loves to eat and is getting so big! She loves to go on walks and be outside. She is starting to notice our dog, Peyton more and always gets wiggly and excited when she is near. 

She holds her head up so well now and will lie on her tummy with her head up for long stretches of time. She likes to grab my hair and clothes when she is nursing, and in the mornings she likes to talk into my face and grab my nose and cheeks to wake me up.

She hates her car seat now and driving in the car no longer puts her to sleep or makes her happy, except sometimes if the windows are down to make noise. She mostly just cries in the car these days. She hates being left in a room alone, even for a second, she can sense when I walk away. She doesn't like to be on her tummy for very long, she does well for about 10 minutes and then she is over it.

I love to kiss and love on her in the mornings. My bed is our favorite cuddle spot. I could just squeeze her and kiss her and cuddle her all day! I love giving her a bath and getting her ready for bed. I love her sweet smiles and how excited she gets for different things we do now. I love wearing her in our Solly Baby Wrap. 

I love everything about being this sweet girl's mom. Even after all of the blow outs (I have scrubbed countless onesies and washed my sheets way more times than I would really like), the crying, the constant performance I have to put on to entertain her, the endless bouncing and swaying her in my arms to get her to fall asleep--it's still so worth it. And I would do it all a million times over to see her sweet little smile and hear her little voice. I don't ever want to forget the way her mouth moves and the look of determination on her face when she is trying to push out a sound. Or the way her innocent little eyes look up at me with pure love. I am a puddle of emotions and happy tears at least once a day. I try to really soak in every moment I get to spend with her.

I will stare at her for a few minutes at a time and just try to memorize her little features; the curve of her lips, the sparkle in her eyes, the raise of her nose, her fuzzy hair, her perfect skin. She is delightsome and lovely, and I am just so so lucky.

Two Months

The 22nd of February marked two months since Naomi has been with us. What a truly joyful two months it has been! She has such a sweet and easy going disposition. It is so much fun to spend my days with her.

Lately she loves: standing up with my help, bath time, getting read to, her playmat (she hits the animals hanging above her and coos and giggles as they swing over her head, it is so adorable), going for walks outside, being talked to, ceiling fans, getting her diaper changed, looking around at what is going on, Andrea Bocelli (she seriously loves him, we listen to his songs on repeat most days. If she is fussy and fighting sleep, I turn one of his songs on and she relaxes and goes right to sleep. It is the sweetest thing.), music in general, daddy's voice, looking in the mirror.

She doesn't like: the sun in her face, Peyton's kisses, getting out of the bath, when the truck stops at a stop light or stop sign.

She has gotten way better at: getting in her car seat, getting dressed, having her feet and face washed, sleeping (she usually wakes up only once in the night and then goes right back to sleep).

I love: kissing her 1,000 times a day, talking to her, letting her squeeze my fingers, giving her baths, our bedtime routine, singing to her, baby massages, her little leg rolls, her newly pierced ears (she cried, and I cried, but they are sooo cute!), reading to her, nursing her, her milky breath, the little coos and giggles she has started making recently, wearing her, taking her new places.

I feel so blessed to be Naomi's mommy! I love her so much! It has truly been the best two months of my life.

Naomi at One Month

Naomi turned six weeks old today, and classic Keisha, I am just posting about her at one month now! How do the days go by soooo fast!?

Naomi with Buff (short for Buffalo) the lion.

Naomi is a very happy and chill baby. She eats every three hours, almost on the dot, and sleeps for an hour to two hours between feedings. She is pretty content for most of the day, but she has the same fussy hours between 8:00-11:00pm. Some nights she hasn't settled down until almost 1:00am, but once she falls asleep she sleeps so good! Like last night for example, she fell asleep at 1:00am but then slept until almost noon! She wakes up to eat a couple of times in the night but she just eats and then falls right back to sleep. I feel so lucky! I hope it lasts!

The girl also loves baths. Especially when I wash her hair; she gets so relaxed and happy. It is the sweetest thing. I love to wash her little feet but she always curls her toes so hard when I touch them. It is adorable. She loves to cuddle and be held and she loves her MamaRoo, but she has to be in the mood. If she is feeling fussy then she doesn't like it that much and wants me to hold her. She loves getting her diaper changed, except for times that she is hungry while we are changing her, she never cries!

She loves to be swaddled, especially when she is tired, but she hates having her arms in if she isn't tired and wants to chill and be talked to. She loves to flail her arms all around while we talk to her. She loves, loves, loves to ride in the car. She can be super fussy and not wanting to sleep, and if we go for a drive she usually just passes right out. She also loves to ride in grocery carts. Mostly anything that moves.

Naomi loves to hear her daddy's voice. Every time she hears Samuel talking she looks all over the place to see where his voice is coming from, even if it is just on speaker phone. She loves music and nature sounds too. Somehow she has gotten at least four other names from me that aren't Naomi. I mostly call her baby bear. Once in a while I call her honey bear too. And then there are a slew of other nicknames that come and go depending on the day. It's really my favorite thing in the world to talk to her.

If she falls asleep on me, she doesn't like to be transferred to her back. She doesn't like getting out of the bath or having her face rubbed with a towel or wash cloth. She doesn't like switching sides when she is in the middle of eating. She doesn't like getting put in her car seat, but once she is all buckled in she is really good. She gets a little anxious when there are a lot of people around her all at once, but seems to be okay with it.

Naomi is just such a good baby! Getting to know her has been such a fun and beautiful process. I feel so lucky to be her mama. She fits into our family so perfectly, it feels like she has been with us forever. She makes me so incredibly happy and I love her so much! My favorite part of the day is when she wakes up for the first "real" time in the morning and she is so cuddly and sleepy and happy. It also helps that I am well rested since she is so good at night, because normally I haaate mornings.

Being a parent has been quite the adventure so far. It was a bit of an adjustment the first few weeks. I felt like I couldn't go anywhere and got really anxious anytime I thought we were going to have to run an errand, but the more we do it, the easier and more normal it gets. I have even been going to the gym three or four times a week (thanks to Sam). It's been such a great few weeks! I can't wait to see what the future holds. Watching a baby grow is the most fun! :)

Welcome to Earth Naomi :)

On January 21, just shy of Naomi being a month old, we took some new born pictures with Brittany Vinton. I just got them back and I am so excited to share them! They are so beautiful, Brittany did such an amazing job. We just did a laid back shoot at Angela's house because we were house/dog sitting for them while they were on their cruise that week.

I had so much fun with Brittany taking these and I will cherish them forever. There is a million pictures here, but it was so hard to narrow them down. They were all so good! Thanks Brittany!