3 Months

RYLEIGH'S 3 MONTH STATS:
[We don't have a doctor's appointment this month, so we had to approximate at home]

Weight:  around 14lbs
Height:  I'm guessing around 25 inches? she's getting long!


EATING
No huge changes here...I'm still making 4oz bottles, although for "daytime" bottles [ones that I know she will eat between 10am-7pm] I have been making them sometimes with a little more, around 4.5 or 5oz.  She eats about every 2 1/2 hours, which I think has gotten a little more frequent since she's sleeping and doesn't eat over night.  She usually will want almost 2 full bottles in a row sometime between 6-8pm, probably because she's gearing up for that long night!  Right before bed, around 10pm, she will drink 3oz.  It's rare that she will drink all 4oz before bed because she gets sleepy by the end of the bottle.  Pumping at work has been going well so we are still doing only breastmilk.  I have to admit that I feel life would be so much simpler if we switched to formula.  I wouldn't be the slave to a strict 3hr pumping schedule.  I wouldn't have to miss out on things because I have to pump in the middle of visiting with friends and family.  There would be no more engorgement pain or burning let-downs.  I wouldn't get frustrated because I'm trying to pump while home by myself with Ryleigh and she starts to cry but I can't pick her up.  There would be no more washing of a million pump parts.  Feeling more productive at work because I don't have to take pumping breaks.  It would just be so much easier.  BUT, I just try to tell myself to take it one month at a time.  That way, when that month is done, I can push myself to go one more month.  Then one more month again.  Plus, I always remember once I do stop pumping I will have all my frozen milk to use before switching to formula.  I just do not want to stop pumping for selfish reasons.  I want to feel good and satisfied and accomplished.  Not just quit for convenience.  Right now, I just feel like Ryleigh is too young to switch and I don't feel done yet.  I don't think I will feel that way until at least 6 months.  I know that it's such a sensitive subject and different for every mom, but this is just what I feel is best for us and for Ryleigh.

TEETHING
A new category! The struggle is real.  We'll keep you posted.  For now--lots of drool, hand chewing, Tylenol, and teethers..Can't wait for Ryleigh's Hazelaid necklace to arrive!

 



SLEEPING
...through the night!! Whoop whoop!  Ryleigh started sleeping through the night the day that she turned 10 weeks old.  We have only had 2 or 3 nights since then where she woke up around 4 or 4:30.  She typically goes to bed in her crib around 10-10:30pm and will sleep until 6-7am.  We are still using and loving our sleep sacks.  I've noticed that she sleeps better with one on.  She also seems to be getting more into a schedule for naps during the day, although that's not perfect yet.

 ACTIVITY
Always!  She seems to have found a way to dig her heels into the ground and scoot her little booty up/backwards to move.  It's funny on her play mat or the sofa.  Not funny on the changing pad. 

How did I get myself sideways, Dad?

DIAPERING
Pampers are still a favorite for us, but now that she's got some plump to those thighs she's been able to wear other brands too.  We also like the Luvs Extra Absorbant and Honest Company. 

CLOTHES
We're a little all over the place with sizes.  She's officially grown out of all her newborn clothes, but still fits into pretty much all of her 0-3 month clothes.  We have moved her up to 3-6 month footed sleepers, just to have the extra length. I'm also starting to mix in some 3-6 onesies and leggings but they're still pretty baggy on her.

SPECIAL FIRSTS
--1st dip into the lake...got her toes wet and unfortunately her booty from a wave
--1st sunglasses...and boy are they cute!

--Thumb sucking.  It's the best, most adorable thing ever!  Picture of that coming soon :)

 

Catch Up

Here's a little catch-up for life lately.  Sorry for the lack of blogging, between working, the holiday weekend, and everything in between I feel like we have been nothing but busy lately!!  Let's catch up quick with photos...

One of my best friends got married on June 29th, and I was her Matron of Honor :)

We've gotten hooked on this show.  Anybody else? 
It's so intense, has a great cast, and keeps you interested every episode from start to finish. 

We spent July 4th out on the lake with some friends.  Sadly I didn't get any pictures because all the phones got put away into the Pelican during the short little stint of rain that we encountered.  Thankfully, that only lasted about 2-3 minutes before it was nice out again and we enjoyed the rest of the day in the water and grilling out burgers & brats at Goat Island!

  

We had a little impromptu date-night-in with some OG To-Go [so delicious, it had been too long]



and some Sonic Blasts for dessert...perfect!

 

There have been some lazy Saturday mornings involving lots snuggling with these two silly boys...

Reece

Kona Monster



& last but not least, yesterday I went to supper club with some couples from our church and their kiddos.  Always a fun time! The host family has a good bit of land and they have an uber-fun backyard complete with pool, fancy patio area, and a zipline that goes over a pond.  Great for entertainment!  It was also sort of a potluck where we each brought sides or desserts to accompany the main dish [burgers on the grill] and it was funny to see how everyone got their recipes off of....you guessed it  >> Pinterest.

 

Here is my Cinnamon Apple Strudel recipe that turned out pretty fabulous: 

 

 

I also added some Hershey's White Chips to the recipe:

These are sooo good and perfect for the person who is not the biggest
White Chocolate fan since they are Vanilla flavored.

 

 

I'm searching for some of the other recipes and I'll share them as well

once I have a chance to test them out myself!

 

 

 

World Market Love

Well, my hubs was busy working out of town this weekend so it provided me with lots of free time for catching up with friends and catching up with laundry!  I made a day trip to Columbia to see my parents and one of my best friends, Eden.  While visiting with my parents we had lunch at Panera, possibly the best place in the world for a good soup/sandwich combo, and then went to World Market.  I feel like World Market can be hit or miss, and I wasn't finding tons of wonderful things however I did find this little gem...

Turkish Peach Jar Candle from World Market

Smells soooo good.  I love fruity scents and this one has a little bit of spice to it, too.  I wanted something to switch up from all of the Evergreen and Apple smells I've been using all Christmas season.  

Also, I was super excited to find these to use for grilling out on the boat...

World Grill Appetizer Skewers from World Market. 
For some reason, these are not on their website.  I purchased them from the location in
Sandhills, NE Columbia.

These are the perfect size to get all six skewers to fit on the grill, and can still hold a nice amount of food.  Plus, they are a fun, curly shape :)


Have a good night, bloggers!  Back to real 5-day work weeks tomorrow.  Also, starting back with Day 1 of Insanity tomorrow...I can already feel the burn!


 

2013!

 

 

 

Ohh, the year ahead...Can I just say that I am very much one of those dorks that gets way too  excited about new office supplies--i.e. my new desk calendar.  I just love getting a brand new calendar/agenda and writing in all of the important dates--anniversaries, birthdays, weddings, showers, due dates, vacations, etc.  I guess it's because I get to see so much of what is to look forward to that year.  What else do I love about office supplies?  When I find them on a bargain, and thanks to the lovely Target Dollar Spot, I've found just that.  How can you beat a mini monthly desk calendar, already printed and professionally bound for $1.00?  You can't!

 

However, if you're not planning a trip to Target anytime soon [yeah, right] and you want a different option, this one is extremely cute, colorful, and you get to print it for free :)  2013 Printable Calendar from The Tomkat Studio.

 

 

So, last New Year's we were looking forward to our 1st wedding anniversary and our vacation to Las Vegas.  This year?  I'm sad to say that not much is already planned!  Usually I have things like vacations planned pretty far in advance, but I've been considering checking out some Groupon Getaways and Living Social Escapes, which you can't purchase that far in advance.  It's our 2nd anniversary, so I'm thinking it will be less of a splurge but still a nice, relaxing vacation.  Somewhere beachy and tropical seems appealing.  Minimum of 4 days, because I want to get there and enjoy  my time, not feel rushed.   

 

One thing much in our future for this year is plenty of pontoon time!  Now that the holidays are over I am so ready for warm weather and sun tans!

 

What else? Babies and weddings!  Jake's cousin is due in the next couple of weeks with her second little boy.  They are so close and grew up together so she's more of his big sister and we're like Uncle Jake & Aunt Stacey :)  One of my best friends is also due with her second, a little girl coming in March!  I can't wait to spoil them both rotten.  As previously mentioned, we also have four weddings on the books this year, which are always great times to get together and celebrate important moments with friends!

 

I've never been one for new year's resolutions, but now that I've been cleared for workouts after my Lasik surgery, and Thanksgiving and Christmas meals have passed, there will be Insanity and a bigger focus on healthy meals.  I don't diet, mainly because I really enjoy healthy food so I don't see it as a chore, which dieting always sounds like.  If I've eaten a healthy breakfast and lunch, why can't I have my bowl of slow churned chocolate fudge brownie ice cream after dinner? 

 

I'm also looking forward to the unexpected!  This past year, the opportunity for my Lasik surgery was such an unexpected blessing.  I'm 2 months post-op and my eyesight has never been better!  Even with contacts, I would find myself having to squint sometimes because the astigmatism in my right eye would make my contact shift around. 

 

Cheers to a new and exciting year!

 

 

 

 

 

 





 



I've learned I need to take more photos...

It has become so clear to me that I really suck at remembering to take photos.  I get so caught up in the fun time that we're having that I always forget to whip out the camera or my phone.  So, unfortunately you don't get to see any cute pics of the holidays, but we have had such a great time!  So, where to begin...

I guess the first of our festivities started with April & Jeremy's annual tacky Christmas sweater party.  It was so much fun again, just like last year!  Although this year ended up staying a little bit more sane than last year which was nice, and we took the party to the bar instead of staying at their house the whole time, which I know must have worked out a bazillion times better for them!  Entertaining at home is so much fun but there's always that one person who has to break something sometimes the cleanup can be excruciating.

Following that came my company's Christmas Dinner which was at Del Frisco's in Charlotte.  Jake and I had never been there before and the food was amazing!  I got the crab cakes and Jake got one of the steak specials.  They also have the BEST calamari I've ever tasted.  It's seriously like heaven in your mouth.  Instead of serving it with marinara sauce like most places I've been, albeit they were Italian restaurants, Del Frisco's serves theirs covered in an Asian glaze, similar to what comes on Orange Chicken or General Tso's.  YUM.  I also had my first ever Celebrity sighting.  After narrowly missing Vince Vaughn and Kevin James on the elevator in Chicago and not seeing a single celebrity in Las Vegas for a week, who knew that I'd see my first celeb sighting in good ol' Charlotte.  Who?  Ric Flair.  Don't recognize the name?  He's this guy...

From the great world of WWE.  I recognized him but never knew his name because my family was never big into wrestling.  He still pretty much looks the same.  He's no Vince Vaughn, but it was pretty cool to be standing less than a foot away from him at the bar in Del Frisco's.

After that comes our Christmas visit to see my Grandpop and some others from my Dad's side of the family down in Mount Pleasant.  We don't get down there a lot so it was nice to see them, and my Aunt Kerri was home visiting from India.  We watched the new Bourne movie, which I really enjoyed, then exchanged gifts and had a nice traditional holiday meal--ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls, wine, etc.

On Christmas Eve, we just slept in and relaxed, then went to church and dinner with Jake's mom, sister, and brother.  His stepdad was sick with a stomach virus the whole week so he didn't get to participate in anything :(  We went to their church in Lake Wylie, and I always enjoy getting to see different churches, especially when they are all beautifully decorated at Christmas.  It was a neat candlelight service but visiting other churches always makes Jake and I really realize how much we love our church, Allison Creek Presbyterian.  It's technically in York I guess but it's only about 10 minutes down the road from us since we're out here on the edge of Rock Hill.  Churches are so personal and everyone has different tastes, but we really love the community within our church and especially the delivery of the sermons.  I don't like feeling like I'm getting yelled at by the preacher if they have a harsh, excited delivery.  And I don't like being bored to tears by someone who is monotone.  We feel like our Pastor has the perfect balance and neither one of us ever gets bored or zones out during the sermon so we always feel like we really get something out of what he shares.  

On Christmas day we had Jake's side of the family and my friend Karen over for a brunch of waffles, fruit, casseroles, eggs, bacon, cinnamon rolls, etc.  TONS of food.  We exchanged gifts and just got to hang out for a while having some good conversation.  Then, we got to relax for a little bit and clean up before my side of the family arrived for Christmas dinner.  We had glazed ham with pineapple, seasoned green beans, steamed corn, mashed potatoes, mac & cheese, and then desserts.  It was a good thing that we only ate two meals all day because holy cow was it a lot of food.  I did the ham and the mac & cheese both in crock pots, which was nice and easy for me so that I could sit and enjoy socializing instead of cooking in the kitchen all day.  It worked out extremely well for the ham, and the mac & cheese was good but I think I would use a different recipe next time.  I found one recipe that uses evaporated milk, which I thought I had but it turned out that I had sweetened condensed milk, both are from Eagle Brand and I didn't pay attention to the label.  So, last minute I had to switch to a  different recipe that only used 2% milk and I think it would have been nicer and creamier with the other recipe.  For dessert, I made a cherry crumb pie and some "brooksters" which are a combo of chocolate chip cookies & brownies.  The cherry crumb pie tasted really good, but good Lord did it make a mess in my oven.  I would highly suggest that if you attempt one of these pies, put a cookie sheet on the rack underneath your pie because that nice filling will just bubble out over the edge and create a huge puddle of burnt mess in your oven.  Thank God our oven is self-cleaning, but that makes such a smoky mess that I haven't done it yet.  I did cook dinner in the oven two nights ago and some of the cherry mess burnt off but that is a headache that I'll be dealing with for a couple more weeks I expect...However, the brooksters, or as I always mix up and call them, "Brewsters," are like the best combination in the world.  Here is the super easy recipe:

"Brewsters"

--Prepare chocolate chip cookie mix from scratch as directed on bag of chocolate chips.

--Prepare brownies as directed on box of brownie mix.

Put paper liners in cupcake trays and fill 1/3-1/2 of the way with brownie batter.  Top with one scoop in each of the cookie batter.  

Bake as directed following the Chocolate Chip cookie recipe.  You may need to add 5-10 minutes to the time since brownies take longer to cook.  You will know they are done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  

Easy and seriously delish!  These were definitely a crowd pleaser.  

..And what have we been doing since Christmas?  Well, I enjoyed the after Christmas sales and picked up some adorable wrapping paper for next year (so prepared, I know!) and decided to re-decorate our bookshelves in the living room.  I got tons of new frames and decorations from Hobby Lobby, TJMaxx, and Ross.  I cleaned off the bookshelves and have figured out the new frame placement, but now I just need to get the correct size and orientation of photos printed.  So, pictures of that to come!  We also celebrated New Years/Jake's 25th Birthday!  He has not been feeling too hot following the celebration but we did it up right at the Longbranch last night!  He is also very excited about his birthday gift, a new propane grill for on our boat!  With all of the time we are going to be spending out there now that we have the boat, I figured we would get tired of pb&j's or turkey sandwiches REAL quick.  Now we can do burgers, hot dogs, chicken, steaks, kabobs, you name it!  Now, if only this weather would get back into the 70's..........

Have a great day back at work tomorrow!

<3 Stacey

October!

Oh, October.... <3

The prettiest month of the year, in my opinion, and a month of such fun things! What's coming up this month for us?  -My Daddy's 50th birthday (tomorrow)-  -6 years together (10/13)-  -My birthday (10/20)-  -Halloween fun-  -Pumpkins-  -Pretty leaves-  -Scarves- -Football and football tailgates- -Haunted houses- -Spice-scented candles-  -Caramel Apples- -Apple Cider- -Friend's birthdays-   ...and at the end of the month, my LASIK eye surgery consultation!  I'm a little bit nervous but so excited for how much it could impact my everyday routine.  Little things that people don't even think of, like having to search for my glasses before I take the dogs downstairs to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, or not being able to snuggle while watching a movie at night because I don't want to fall asleep in my contacts and don't want to bend/break my glasses.  Being able to open my eyes under water at the pool or the lake because I won't need to worry about losing a contact lens.  It will probably make me get ready at least 10 minutes quicker because I will be able to actually see what I'm doing.  I can only image how helpful it would be once we have kids and I'm waking up at all hours of the night and needing to get ready quickly in the mornings.  Not to mention all of the money it will save over time, since I won't be shelling out $350 a year on contacts and saline solution for the rest of my life.  As long as the consult goes well, my surgery should be the morning of November 2nd at TLC in Charlotte!!      

And in closing, here are some shots from the boat this weekend...We went out with my friends Karen and Shanti, and Shanti's family.  Their little girl Reina is seriously the cutest ever:

cool view

The boys relaxing

me & Reina

driving the boat

see if she likes the water...

loving the water & her buddy Jake

just before sunset Friday evening

    More trips to come!