Church Shower & Addison Sue Hunt

Saturday was Sydney's baby shower thrown by Pat Trachsel and Wanda Talcott with our church congregation here in Olathe. Jeff got her all dressed & ready while I readied myself. He was so proud of how cute she looked, that he ran into the bathroom to show me her cute new outfit (courtesy of Uncle Ryan, Aunt Christy, and Trevor)She got tons of adorable clothes, including this adorable pink and white sailor outfit with matching sandals. This summer is going to be so much fun!!!
Syd was very well behaved at her shower. I fed her just before it started, then she filled her britches-so I put a clean diaper on her. She slept wonderfully as she was passed around. Here she is cuddling with June Johnson. This shot accents how much her cheeks have really filled out (Syd's, not June's!).
...and sleeping in the arms of Jeanne Mann.
Jennifer Beauman made an adorable mommy bracelet for me out of garnets (Syd's birthstone) and silver blocks that spell out her name. I love it & wear it every day now.
Micah and Beth Hunt had their little one this past Friday night, Addison Sue Hunt. She was 7 lbs 11 oz and 191/2 inches-Nearly the exact same size Syd was at birth. We placed them side by side because none of us could believe how much size difference there was in just one month--incredible!! No wonder I was awkward nursing Syd at first, she was so little & I'd already forgotten!
Addison was born with a head full of dark hair, just like her cousin. Can you see a family resemblance?
I'm still busy interviewing caregivers for when I go back to work on April 3rd. We've got it narrowed down to two, so its go time! I'm almost half way through my maternity leave, and I'm starting to get nervous about my return. I'm sure she'll be fine, and I'll get into the swing of it after the first week or so. oh...I hear her waking from her afternoon nap.

We've still got tons of pictures to share, so I'll get to them soon.

Day 2

We were just looking through some old paper work and found this Growing Family reciept of her first professional picture.

Quick Glance of day number 2

http://www.growingfamily.com/webnursery/babypage_view.asp?URLID=1A6V4V5U9Q

Sydney's 1 month check up

Yesterday I took Sydney for her one month check up. She's doing great & is right on track w/where he wants her to be. She weighed in at 9lbs 11 oz (75th%), 21 1/2" long (60th%), and has a head circumference of 15 3/8" (90th%). Jeff and I are sure that her large melon means she'll be a genius and we're hoping to retire early off her! She has an umbilical hernia, which is probably no big deal. An umbilical hernia is leftover from the opening created for the umbilical cord. Doc said it is quite common, as many as 1 in 6 have it, and it usually closes itself spontaneously. If it hasn't closed by the time she's 4 or 5, then we may need to look into correcting it. It causes no pain to her. You can't see it except for when she does a sit-up motion, which she only does when the doc is testing her to see if she has the hernia. So, for now, Syd has a cute little outie on her round little tummy and her belly button will sink in once the opening closes. Here's a link if you want to learn more about it, http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000987.htm or http://www.babyworld.co.uk/experts/az_childhealth/umbilical_hernia.asp. She still has some baby acne and has started to get a little bit of cradle cap. Doc says the same thing everyone else has told us, that there's nothing we can do about it & it just has to run its course, and don't put anything on it but water. The baby acne usually appears around 2 weeks and goes away the 4th or 5th week, so hopefully its time is almost up! I think this is a curse brought on by all the dozens of people who said "Oh, she has such beautiful skin. No baby acne or cradle cap" for the first 12 days of her life!! Syd was very hungry by the time we left the office since our appointment ran 30 minutes past her feeding time, and she let everyone know about it!

Jeff gave Sydney her first bottle Wednesday night. We were a little unsure how successful this would be since she's exclusively nursed so far, and rarely takes a pacifier. I'm happy to report that after a few moments where she looked quite confused (How in the heck is my mommy's milk coming from this strange plastic thing in my mouth????) but she took right to it and sucked the whole thing down. I think Jeff really liked the bonding experience w/ her, since I've been such a baby hog for the past 4 weeks. Her clothes are off in this picture because she was so sleepy when it was time to eat that we had to strip her down & tickle her to get her interested in eating.
Jeff was burping her in this picture, not choking her like it kind of looks like! She just had such a funny look on her face (maybe still pondering how she got milk from the bottle) that I was cracking up & had to take a picture!
I thought this was rather exciting, and you can tell from the picture just how thrilled Velvet was about the whole event! She is still allowed on the couch in the basement so she doesn't feel totally neglected by us.
Syd is having a moment of Zen in her swing. I'd love to have a rocking machine that made me look this relaxed! The little outfit in this picture doesn't fit her anymore. Wednesday was its last wear since she can't completely straighten her lets when its on. Maybe Micah & Beth will have a baby girl in the next few days & then we can pass on all our size NB clothes so they get more use (they're so tiny & cute!!).
Again, doesn't Velvet just look so thrilled! She's been really good w/ Syd and just ignores her most of the time. She is interested in smelling her when we first come home, or if I put her on the playtime mat, and sometimes will give her a kiss or two. She's been pretty starved for attention, and has had only 2 walks since Syd was born. Part of the reason for that is that its been so cold outside!

This is one of her Valentine's outfits from Grandma Hunt with cute little shoes to match. The one she wore to the party Saturday is still in the laundry, so I put this one on her instead.

Better Nights

Friday night Syd slept for 5 hours straight! I was thrilled. Well, actually, I woke up at 4:15 am (during her 4th our of straight sleep) and had to check to make sure she was still breathing. Of course she was, so I let her sleep until around 5:20 when she woke up for breakfast. I know she's too young for me to expect her to sleep through the night, but a good 4 or 5 hour stretch is quite thrilling when you've got a child who is hungry exactly every 3 hours-like clockwork. I guess that's how she gained 14 oz in 6 days between weeks 1 & 2! Her one month doc appt is on Thursday, so I'll have more growth to report on her then.

She is fitting into most of her 0-3mos size clothes now. She had quite a social day yesterday. I took her to my friend Stephanie's shower (she's expecting Syd's other boyfriend, Jackson, the first week of March). She wore her new pink overalls from Grandma Terri-super cute! Last night we dressed her up in a cute little red number from Grandma Robbin for a Valentine's party. We forgot to get pictures taken in it before putting her pj's on, so she'll have to wear it again on Tuesday. Today she is wearing a snowman outfit Jeff picked out ages ago, when she was still a little peanut inside me. The little shoes that match it are already getting to small for her, so we'll try to get as much wear out of them while we can. She's so much fun do dress up & show off like she's our new little dolly or something!

Yesterday a new family member was added on the Morgan side, Jeff's new cousin Daniel Christopher. You can check them out at www.danandrachelmorgan.blogspot.com. Daniel was a big baby, especially for Rachel's first, at 9 lbs 1 oz and 22 inches long! Congrats Danny & Rachel!

The nursery is a bit of a mess in this picture, but we wanted to show you how Sydney likes to sit up like a big girl and see what's going on in the world. The flash caught me a little off guard in this picture, as you can tell my by sleepy eyes.

In our pre-Syd lives, we had "Saturday-Doggie on the Bed Day" which was the one morning that Velvet was allowed on the bed w/ us. Well....sorry pup, but now we have "Saturday-Sydney in the Bed Day" and we cuddle w/ her all morning long. This is the outfit from Grandma Terri.These are the adorable booties that are already getting too small for her tooties.Here is Syd in the snowman outfit that Jeff loves so much.

and more picts 2/8

Ally, Dad, & Sydney walking the mall.

More picts 2/8

Dad & Ally bonding w/ Sydney.
Sydney was a little tired, so her Grandpa tried to keep her awake.
Don't they look cute together!Dad took this picture because he thought it was hilarious that she sleeps w/her hands up by her head. She decided at about 13 days that she didn't like to be swaddled. She would scream as soon as we wrapped her up. So now she sleeps like this!
Sydney & Ally take a cat nap.

Dad & Ally's visit

Dad & Ally flew in Friday night after much delay at both the Pensacola & Atlanta airports. Jamie also came down Friday & Saturday for a quick visit & some car shopping. We had a wonderful & relaxing visit. Jeff and I really appreciated having the extra help around the house. They really bonded w/ Sydney and were great at putting her to sleep & keeping her entertained.

We went walking at the mall several mornings...something I need to do a bit more of to lose this baby weight! Dad thought it would be fun to walk w/ her in the Bjorn & then realized how much extra of a workout it was. See...carrying around a baby-inside or out-is quite exhausting & works up a good appetite!!

This is a 0-3 mos outfit that Syd is wearing for the first time. I think she's ready to move into size 1 diapers too!

Velvet has her tounge out getting ready for a big, wet kiss!Sydney peed all over the changing table during a diaper change, so the cover is off. This is a new outfit that was so cute we had to take pictures.Sometimes Syd just chills during tummy time. If she is laying on her back w/out the sleep positioner, she always rolls to the side.

Check out this Blog

Micah and Beth are expecting their first child on the 16th. Check them out at www.micahandbeth.blogspot.com.



We're all 3 doing well. Dad & Ally were here visiting, so I've got pictures to post. Sydney is starting to tell me that she's hungry, so I'll get them up later today.

More 2 week picts

Happy 2 Week Birthday, Sydney Alexis!!!!

Today I took Syd in for her 2 week weigh in. The goal is for her to be at least back up to her birth weight. Well....she blew that goal right out of the water because she's up to 8 lbs 6 oz. Last Thursday when we went in to have her bili level checked, she was 7 lbs 8 oz, so she's gained quite fast since then. The nurse said she was fine to sleep through the night & that I don't need to wake her up for a feeding unless she wakes up on her own & asks for it. So....we'll see how tonight goes. I'm hoping that the nurse didn't jinks us for a rocky evening. She's quite now & being held by Jeff, so maybe this is a good sign.

Here are some pictures from lastnight's bath. Jeff decided to "style" her hair afterwards. She didn't mind much, so then we had a "photo shoot". She was really alert, so it was fun. Today she wore the shoes Aunt Meghan bought for her for the first time.

Also, we visited baby Brynn Stowell today. She was born yesterday to Mike & Danielle (college & volleyball friends of ours). You can check them out at http://stowellfamily.blogspot.com/.

Its so wierd to say, but Sydney looked so old next to Brynn. Gosh, time is already going by so fast!!!