Jessica Kelso

Happy 8 months, baby girl! I’m a little behind this month for quite a few reasons. I was stuck in bed most of last week with mastitis – yet again. This is the 6th infection I’ve had to deal with since you were born. My doctor has decided to put me on a long term low dose antibiotic to try to help. It’s not an ideal situation by any means but I figure it’s better than the alternative. I’m pretty sure neither of us are ready to stop nursing yet so I will do what I can to keep it going – at least a little bit longer! Your daddy was also gone all week – traveling for work so I had your grandma and papa helping me out a whole lot with you and your brother. They are amazing. We are blessed to have them. When the day comes, I hope you will say the same about me to your kids!

You have really taken off this month! We can’t keep you contained anymore. I’m already missing the days where I could just lay you in bed with me to cuddle. Now you are crawling and rolling all around trying to get into everything. You are still a total mama’s girl. While I was in bed sick and grandma was playing with you in the living room you kept crawling to the bedroom to find me. It was so sweet.

You are eating basically everything we put in front of you! This morning I sat down to eat some fruit and toast for breakfast and you spit out your pacifier and came crawling over with you tongue going back and forth. Everyone who watches you eat has been thoroughly impressed by it. We fed you applesauce a couple of weeks ago and grandma fed you yogurt last night – those were both pretty funny to watch since your not used to having people feed you! You wanted to feed yourself so that’s what ended up happening. Just makes things a whole lot messier.

You are sleeping so much better at night this month than you were last month! You had about 2 weeks where you were sleeping either all night or waking up just once to nurse and right back to bed. The last couple of nights have been kinda rough again but I’m pretty sure you’re working on those top little teeth so I think it’s keeping you up.

You are in love with your pacifier! I always hoped you would find your thumb so we didn’t have to worry about pacifier’s but it’s super sweet so I really don’t mind. You are already a very content baby but they make you so much more peaceful.

Your smile and laugh are both contagious to anyone who is around you. I really can’t believe you are 8 months old. When I look back at pictures of when you were born, the change is amazing. Your hair has gotten so much lighter. You lost some of it and now it’s thickening up again.

You are starting to pull up on everything and I’ve even seen you try standing up from a sitting position. You seriously need to slow down on all of this. Mama is still dealing with the fact that you can crawl!

I love watching you discover all of these new things. Everything is a first to you. I already think you’re a genius by the things that you do, but I’m sure every mama thinks the same of their baby!

You are my sunshine, Nola.

Love, Mama

*All of these amazing photos are courtesy of Jordan Weiland Photography. We had some cute summer portraits taken at the beginning of the month!

Wow! A whole lot of exciting things have happened in your little life this month so let’s get going!

We started you on solids this month! Your first bite of food was a banana and it was the cutest. Since then you’ve also had avocado, squash, zucchini, sweet potato, peaches, carrots, cucumber, watermelon, broccoli, kiwi, grapes in a mesh feeder, and you’ve sucked on an apple slice! When I started looking into making baby food for you as we approached your 6 month birthday, I came across baby-led weaning, also commonly called baby-led solids. Most people tend to hear the word “wean” and assume that means from breastfeeding so I prefer to call it baby-led solids because we are in no way weaning you from mama’s milk anytime soon! According to current research, babies up to age one should get the majority of their nutrition from breast milk so that’s our goal.I knew I wanted to try a more natural approach when it came to introducing you to solid foods so when I came across this it just made so much sense. I have complete trust in the way God designed my body to nourish you and in the way God designed you to learn to nourish your own body.  We have only introduced you  to fruits and veggies so far but this next month I plan to let you explore even more! We cut most everything into 1-2 inch strips which gives you something to hold on to and you just go to town on the other end! You have done so well and have seemed to like everything so far.

Your last visit to the doctor – at 6.5 months you weighed 17lbs 3oz which is the 60th percentile for weight, and you are approximately 26 inches tall which is the 50th percentile. My perfect little baby girl! You are quickly growing out of your 6 month clothes, so pretty soon you’ll have a whole new wardrobe. Enjoy that now because when you get my age, you don’t get new clothes quite as often!

You’ve gotten your two bottom teeth in! I knew they had to be coming soon with all that drooling and chewing you had been doing. We got you a baltic amber teething necklace and I’m hoping it helps with the pain that those little teeth can bring. I thought I might be sad when you got your first tooth because your gummy smile was the best but you are still just as precious with those sweet little teeth! Each new phase is amazing in it’s own way.

You started waving bye-bye! At first I wasn’t sure if you even realized what you were doing but after a while you started doing in when somebody came up and said hi to you. You know exactly what it is! It’s a backwards wave but you get your point across and it’s so cute.

You babble so much and are constantly screeching! You’ve discovered your voice big time this month. Your brother likes to copy when you screech so needless to say our house is always LOUD! I love it – except when I have a headache or am trying to sleep!

I had my fifth breast infection which knocked me out for a couple of days. I thought since you no longer use the nipple shield to nurse that we were past this whole mastitis thing, but I guess not. We’ve made it this long though. . . what’s 5 more months? Maybe we’ll make it even longer! Breastfeeding has been one of the hardest commitments I’ve ever made but also the most rewarding. I hope when you have a baby one day you can look back at these letters and decide to make the same commitment. I’m sure you won’t have near the problems we’ve had though so don’t let it scare you!

You took a bottle for the first time about 2 weeks ago and you absolutely love it! You like to hold it yourself and you get upset when it’s gone and we take it away. It’s nice to know I can leave you with daddy or your grandparents for a little while and you won’t starve. I knew you’d come around – in your own time.

You started crawling this month and you haven’t slowed down since! You aren’t really up on your knees crawling yet but you can still manage to make your way around the room. You use your upper body strength and get your right leg up under you and kick off. You go from the sitting position down forward to your stomach which turns out okay if you are on the carpet or a blanket but not so well on the wood floor!

We celebrated Easter for the first time together! You were the cutest little bunny around. We took you and your brother to a huge Easter egg hunt the day before Easter where you held a plastic egg and watched him run all around chasing after eggs. Easter morning we went to church and then spent the afternoon with mama’s family and the evening with daddy’s. You love to observe everyone but when there are too many people and you can’t see me you easily get overwhelmed. You handled everything so well though.

You have such a sweet spirit about you and melt hearts with that precious smile of yours. It’s a joy to spend my days with you, Nola Penelope.

Love you more than you’ll ever know.

- Mama

I guess my blog should be titled “letters to Nola”! I love that I’m doing these letters for her because it forces me to sit down and think about how much she’s grown and accomplished each month. I plan on making her a photo book of her first year and adding in the letters. They are mainly for me so I had thought about just keeping them private but I know quite a few family members have told me they read and enjoy them. . . so I will keep it going.

Kevin is home this week which has become my favorite thing. He came home Friday evening, just when I started to feel better after my 5th round of mastitis. As much as I absolutely hate it, I had to get on antibiotics again since it just wasn’t going away despite all my best efforts. I thought since having Nola’s tongue clipped and her being able to nurse without a nipple shield, we were past this. Being on so many antibiotics while nursing is the last thing I ever wanted, but as my amazing doctor informed me – it’s still better for Nola than the alternative. The girl hasn’t had a drop of formula and I’m so proud of that. Breastfeeding has hands down been one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done – but I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. She has been worth it all. This week she took a bottle for the first time – which was a huge accomplishment! Can we say “date night”?! Finally!

Kevin put her to bed last night and I had no idea how extremely difficult that would be for me. Since she’s always nursed before bed and has never taken a bottle, it’s always been just me and her. Kevin has had to find other ways of bonding that didn’t involve feedings. So passing that off to him was rather difficult for me but I know he enjoyed being able to do that for the first time.

We have two birthdays coming up on the 20th – mine isn’t too exciting but I’m thrilled about T turning 2!! I can’t even believe it. My sweet little chubby baby boy has turned into a two year old crazy hyper strong willed but still sweet when he wants to be BIG boy! It happens so fast. We’ve had a trying year with him at times but so so so many good times. His personality has just exploded and he is always coming up with something new.

I’ve been trying to get Kevin to redesign my blog so maybe it’ll give me more motive to write in here but he’s been so busy with work lately that it’s left him very little time for much else . . . . especially things like that. Maybe someday soon I’ll figure out how to do it on my own.

Probably not.

On the topic of my husband. I couldn’t be anymore thankful God gave me that man. He makes me feel so loved. He stayed up until 1am the night before Mother’s Day cutting out letters to make this card for me. He says his thumb is still numb from the little scissors he had to use. That mixed with a booked family photo session and spending the day with my kids made me feel like the luckiest mama in the world!

My sweet little lady. . . you are 6 months old! You’ve been alive for half a year. That is crazy!! You have grown and changed so much this past month, I can’t even keep up with it all.

You got to experience one of my most favorite places in the world this month during your first vacation. . . at the beach! It was so fun for us to show you the ocean and sand for the first time. Such an exciting moment! You loved every bit of it. Mama was trying to take this picture of you below but you still weren’t the best at sitting alone and right when daddy let go you tumbled over into the wet, sticky sand. I’m sorry baby girl. I felt so horrible. We rushed you to the shower and rinsed it all off and then took you into the pool for the first time! You loved splashing in the water. I think that made up for the bad sand experience.

You are now sitting up completely unassisted! The beginning of the month you started to be able to do it but were still super wobbly and I had to always have a hand on you. Now you have perfected it and even sat in a high chair at lunch for the first time today! You squealed with delight and were so excited to be able to grab everything on the table. It was the best.

You are still exclusively breastfed and we are FINALLY doing so well with it – just in time for solids! We won’t be doing purees, but instead we are going to let you go at your own pace and go straight to regular foods with “baby led solids”. I’m excited to see you explore and have fun with food for the first time, but not quite ready for you to have another source of nutrition other than me. You have grown and are the most perfect size all from my milk and that’s a tough transition – for me. It’s all about you though! I know you’ll love it and you are starting to act ready so I must oblige! Your 6 month check up isn’t for 2 more weeks but when we went to see the doctor for your cold you weighed a little over 16lbs. I’m sure I’m slightly obnoxious when it comes to you, but you are just P-E-R-F-E-C-T! You have become quite a preoccupied little eater. Every time you nurse, you will eat for a minute or two and then find something to play with/look at so I’ll think you’re done. . . and you dive in for more. You do this multiple times and think it’s so funny. I love you sweet girl. More than you’ll ever know.

We all have been sick the past couple of weeks. Your brother started it and passed it on to us. A yucky cold, cough, and your first fever. It was scary feeling you so warm and miserable. You slept all over me and your daddy for at least 2 nights. The fever was short lived but the cold lingered a while and it’s mostly gone now. Being sick left you getting up often at night, so you are still in the routine of waking up every 3 hours to nurse. I don’t mind doing this so often, but the past couple of nights you haven’t wanted to go back to sleep and it’s made me one exhausted mama! Especially since your daddy hasn’t been home to help me out. He’s been busy working hard to make sure I get to stay home and see all these fun firsts you are having!

We put you in a swing for the first time this month! It was at an event we took you and your brother to called “touch-a-truck”. We put you in the swing while your brother was playing at the park and you LOVED it.

Nola P, you are the happiest baby I know. You love when people talk to you and flash a smile almost instantly. You sometimes will act shy and bury your head into me, but still with a smile on your face. You LOVE your mama. . . anytime someone is holding you, you search to make sure I’m right there. I left you in the church nursery for the first time this last week, since our friends were working in there and you did so well. Played hard and slept hard. . . all in that short hour! I was a mess and checked on you twice, but you were just fine.

You absolutely adore your brother. The thought of not having him around is almost too overwhelming to think about, not only for our sake and his, but also for yours. If he isn’t able to become a permanent member of our family, you will most likely lose your brother and best friend. I’m sorry baby girl. I can only hope and pray that doesn’t have to happen to any of us. You already look up to him so much.

We still swaddle you at bedtime because you have not slept well the couple of nights we tried putting you down without it. I had hoped to not be swaddling you anymore, but you seem to have other plans. I just hope you don’t go off to college needing someone to wrap you up tightly. We’ll go at your own pace baby girl. I think you are either teething or in a major growth spurt right now because you have been fussy and fighting sleep something terrible. You have grown and experienced so much in the last month, I can only imagine it’s a little overwhelming!

Every laugh, every smile, and every little noise that comes from your precious lips just melts my heart. It’s hard to have a bad day when your by my side. I think we’re all falling more in love with you by the day.

You are my world.

- Mama

Dear Nola girl,

You are 5 months old! Next thing I know you’re going to be off to college. I’m sad you are growing up but so happy at the same time. I’m not sure that’ll ever make sense to you until you have your own babies!

So glad I am your mama, little beebs.

You have become a rolling champion and you desperately want to sit up without help. When you are flat on your back, you are either rolling to your stomach or lifting your head and feet to try and sit up. What’s the rush, baby? I miss you all curled up asleep on my chest. When did you get so big?

We had planned to stop swaddling you sometime this past month, but that hasn’t happened just yet. We tried doing it “cold turkey” one night, and you were not a happy baby. I think it was a sign that you just aren’t ready and I’m okay with that. You are getting far too long for the velcro swaddle that we have so we just started keeping your legs out and that seems to have solved the problem!

Breastfeeding is still difficult. I’m seeing a whole lot of doctors to see what’s going on so hopefully I’ll find out something soon. You love to nurse though and you are such a perfectly sized baby. You are getting just the right amount and that makes me so incredibly happy. We’ve made it 5 months, Nola P. I’m not giving up on you, I promise. You still won’t take a bottle – although we rarely try anymore. I know it’s way different than mama. . . so I don’t blame you. You are a girl who knows what she wants. I can admire that.

This last month you’ve been waking up at least twice at night. It came as a little bit of a surprise since you had been sleeping 6-8 hour stretches since you were just a couple weeks old. You usually go to bed around 8 or 9 and wake up sometime between 1-2am, again at 4 or 5am, and you are usually up for the day between 7-8. I really wish I could get you down for the night earlier but with your brother running around being loud, it’s pretty impossible. You’ve been consistently taking a really good long afternoon nap which has been lovely for mama. It usually gives me some much needed quiet time or I get to cuddle up with you and take a nap. It’s always my favorite part of the day.

You wake up in the morning and from your naps in the best mood. You never wake up crying unless you just aren’t done sleeping. You will lay there and blow bubbles, make little cooing noises, and wait for mama to peek over the bassinet at you. I love waking up to your smile. It’s hard to feel grumpy despite a lack of sleep when I see that smile!

I’m pretty sure you are teething because you want to chew on everything you can reach and you can soak your shirt in 10 minutes flat. You never act grumpy because of it though. I really have no idea when that first little tooth will come in but I’m enjoying your sweet toothless grin for as long as possible!

You weigh right around 15lbs and are starting to fit into 6-9 month clothes. Your grandma just bought you a bunch of spring/summer time outfits in 6-9 months and I can’t wait to see you in them! Mama is having SO much fun dressing you. I’m not sure how I will handle the day when you want to dress yourself! This is you in the dress and shoes your Aunt Mary made for you. I was so excited it finally fit and you looked absolutely precious, as usual.

You are becoming more and more of a little lady with such a fun personality. I can’t wait to see what the next month brings.

We love you more than you’ll ever know.

- Mama

While T is being looked after, I have a couple of minutes to spare. I am constantly coming up with things to write in my blog but never seem to find the time to actually sit down at the computer for longer than 5 minutes.

Life has been busy.

If I’ve ever said that before, I was lying. I didn’t know what busy meant until I had two babies under two and a husband who travels. I’m still getting sick all of the time. I just finished my fourth round of antibiotics in four months. Third time having a breast infection. Kevin was home for the weekend and I was so excited, until I woke up Saturday morning with a fever. I stayed in bed feeling sorry for myself while he had fun with the kids. On Monday I drove 2.5 hours to see a family physician who is also an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) and she spent 1.5 hours with me. I wish she was closer, she is the exact doctor I’ve wanted all of us to see. She is trying to help me figure out why I’m still having so much pain when I nurse and why I keep getting mastitis and other things. I’m also seeing an allergist next week who I’m hoping can help with some of the immune system issues I’m having.

I’M 25!!!! What is going on? I feel like my body is seriously failing me.

Breastfeeding Nola is extremely important to me. I had someone imply that I need to think about my own health instead of caring so much about making sure she gets breast milk. I also had someone say “just stop nursing”. . . like it’s that simple. Obviously there is something going on with my health that needs to be figured out, and if I “just stopped nursing” her now who knows if I’d ever find out what it is. We’ve made it almost 5 months, and I’m so proud of that. She’s my girl and she’s worth every bit of it.

I’ve just started thinking about Thrasher’s birthday party in May. I seriously can’t get over the fact that he’s about to turn 2! Nola is almost the age he was when he came to us. Ahhhh!

TOO. FAST.

He is my loud, energetic, strong-willed little guy. One second I feel like I’m about to lose my mind while he is throwing a fit on the floor and the next he’s quietly singing “Jesus Loves Me” while my heart is on the floor. There’s never a dull moment with that one. Things are hopefully about to get started with the adoption process. . . and I couldn’t be anymore excited to make him a Kelso on paper!

This morning I had to drag Nola out with me in the rain so I could have blood work done. I got her out of the car. . . carrying the diaper bag, car seat, and an umbrella trying to shield her from the rain was nothing less than amusing to anyone watching. When inside I went to give them my insurance card and realized it wasn’t in my wallet. I remembered using it the day before at another appointment but they must have forgotten to give it back to me. So we had to turn right back around and do the whole process a couple more times, all while Nola is screaming her lungs out in her car seat between trips. She hates her car seat. I really hope it’s just a phase…because I don’t do well hearing my baby cry. Once we finally got inside and settled into the waiting room, she was flashing all kinds of smiles and had the attention of every single person in there.

It was one of those mornings where you justify stopping for a cup of coffee and a donut on the way home. It seems to make everything better.

Dear Nola,

Hooray! You are 4 months old! I haven’t written in my blog since your 3 month letter and that is a little disappointing. We’ve had a tough month but things are starting to look up. Mama was really sick for a couple of weeks and you had your THIRD cold/cough in your short little life. Breaks my heart every time. You handle it so well though. . . much better than I do.

You started rolling over this month! You roll from your back to your stomach but haven’t really mastered rolling from your stomach to back. Once you roll to your stomach, you get frustrated since you still hate being on your stomach unless you’re asleep. Your favorite place to practice rolling is on our bed while I’m changing your diaper. I don’t get to lay you on the floor as much as I’d like since your big brother is always running wild and I don’t want him to step on you. . . so I’m surprised you mastered this skill so quickly! Such a smart little thing.

You also found your cute little feet this month and they are in your mouth or hands every opportunity you get.

You’re already fitting into your 6 month clothes because of how long you are! We just had your 4 month checkup yesterday and you are 24.5 in tall and weighed in at 14lbs 3 oz! Both of which are in the 60th percentile. Could you be anymore perfect?

This month you experienced your first Valentine’s Day, my little love! Mama didn’t get you or your brother any special gifts since I knew you wouldn’t even remember them but we did make cards for your daddy! We traced your tiny little hand and I wrote in it for you. He LOVED it! You are his precious Valentine every day.

You are seriously one of the happiest babies I’ve ever known. I know all mama’s probably say that about their babies…but I’ve been around a lot of them and I can honestly say so! Although not everyone has been able to see you like I do since you still aren’t a big fan of many other people holding you. You love to observe safely in my arms. Your brother is your biggest enjoyment right now. When he’s running wild around the room, your eyes stay locked on him. I know you can’t wait to play. Oh and just to brag some more…it’s quite possible  that you are the smartest baby in the world. You’ve already mastered taking out your pacifier and putting it back in. Some may say it’s by accident, but I say you are just a pure genius! (like your daddy)

We made it through our first week without daddy. I know you missed him a lot. It wasn’t easy, but your grandma and papa helped a whole lot. We have all loved having him back home this week and it made me appreciate him so much more. It’s going to take a while to get used to him traveling.

You have been the most amazing addition to our family. I dreamed about you for so long. . . and I am still amazed you are here. You have the sweetest personality that is starting to really show.  When you were first born, I was scared the intense love I felt for you would slowly fade but it’s done the opposite. It grows more every day.

I love you baby girl.

- Mama

Dear Nola,

You are 3 months old! I feel like I was just welcoming you into this world. That day is still so fresh in my mind. It was such a special day, you are such a special little thing. If anybody says differently just have them talk to me or your dad.

You laughed for the first time this month! It is the absolute sweetest noise in the world. You are such a happy baby and I look forward to many more laughs. We’ve discovered you have become a total mama’s girl. I’m more than okay with this. . . but I don’t think your grandparents are too thrilled about it! I want them to be able to hold you and rock you to sleep, but I know that will come. For now you still need me the most and I love you for that. You met your great-grannie Kelso this month and she was so excited to see you! You were right in the middle of your “I only want mama” phase so most of your time with her was while I was holding you. You’ll get to see her again in April, so hopefully by then you’ll be on to another phase (or hopefully not, I’m loving it…of course!)

You tend to fight your naps during the day, afraid life is going to pass you by but I assure you little love. . . we’ll all still be around when you wake up well rested! You are sleeping 10-12 hours at night, waking only once around 5am to nurse and going back to sleep. You are a dream. I appreciate you. You still like to be swaddled at night, which means you sleep on your back. During the night and in the morning when you are starting to wake up, you turn your head side to side which has caused a huge bald spot on the back of your head. You look like a little old man from the back! You really like to sleep on your stomach which is what you do for naps, so as soon as you stop being swaddled and can lay on your stomach at night. . . I’m hoping your hair will grow back in.

This month you got to experience your first Christmas and I think you loved it! We spent the morning watching your brother open his gifts and he “helped” you open yours! We spent rest of the day at your grandma & papa’s house with my whole side of the family. You weren’t always happy about the noise and amount of people but you handled it well. You must be like your mama in that regard. You like things nice and quiet. You also went with me and dada to a friend’s house for New Year’s Eve. You slept through us playing board games snug as a bug in your car seat and a little before midnight when you decided you wanted to join us to celebrate the new year. As the clock struck 12, we kissed your sweet face

You weigh approximately 13lbs 11 ounces…my growing girl. You can already wear 6 month pajamas because your legs are so stinkin’ long! You are almost too big for your size small cloth gdiapers. You have all these cute newborn shoes that barely ever fit because of how long and skinny your feet are. Your cheeks are getting a little bit more chunky by the day and they are just perfect for kissing. I could kiss them all day!

You still nurse every 2-3 hours, sometimes going 4 hours between feedings. When your brother is around being loud, you usually only nurse for about 20 minutes but when the house is quiet and it’s just me and you, you will nurse and doze off for over an hour. I love our time together. You have such a sweet personality but when you are mad. . . everyone knows about it. This usually only happens in the car when I can’t do anything to help you and it breaks my heart. I always try to make sure you are fed and changed before I strap you in to that stupid seat, but sometimes you just want nothing to do with it.

You’ve started reaching out for stuff this month and if you can you will put whatever it is in your mouth. You especially love chewing on your hands. . . . and you’ve started to show an interest in mine as well. You love to hold on to things. When you are nursing, you have a tight grip on my shirt. Other times I keep your hippo lovey with you and you hold on to that, it’s the sweetest thing. I think you two and going to be wonderful friends.

You are an absolute delight. Our perfect gift from God that I’m falling more in love with every day! You’re our little beebs.

Love, Mama

Maybe this two kid thing isn’t so bad! I mean, I’ve yet to figure out how to take care of them both and keep my house clean or go anywhere with them both outside of the house. . . but I think that will come with time. I am at least managing to keep up with laundry (including cloth diapers for 2 kids!), get dinner cooked, sometimes bathe myself, and chase around a hyper 19 month old. . . so I am calling it a success. T has been so good lately! I don’t know if it’s because of the behavior analyst that worked with him a couple of times, or if he really just loves being home with us, but his behavior and attitude  has really changed. He’s talking SO much more which I think has helped. He says “peeeese” (please) to everything because he’s learning it gets him what he wants. Any question you ask him is answered with nooo.  This morning as he was begging for my breakfast after he already ate his he said banana and thank you. He’s been calling Milo by his name instead of just dog. He is also big into saying more which sounds kinda like “mo”.

We found out from the behavior analyst that the director at the daycare thought T might have been “slow”. What? Why wouldn’t she mention this little fact to his PARENTS? That was so upsetting to hear. The way the BA talked though, he was a totally different kid at school than he is at home. He played by himself and hardly talked at all. The only time he interacted with kids was when they came over to him and tried to take away his toys – which usually resulted in him biting. He’s had a couple of bites since he’s been home – but I really think with these last teeth coming through and being able to use his words more, we will start to notice a difference soon. He’s such a sweet boy and has been a lot of fun. He loves to “hurt” himself and run up to me to kiss it all better. I can’t tell you how many times a day I have to do that, although he isn’t really hurt. He has a cold right now and LOVES blowing his nose. If he even sees a tissue, he starts blowing so I have to give him one. We’ve gone through a ridiculous amount of tissues the past couple of days.

We’re all pretty sick right now. T started it and passed it down to me and Nola. I can deal but I have felt so bad for my sweet girl. She sounds so congested and has this little cough that is the saddest thing you’ve ever heard. I haven’t slept well because I panic at every little cough. She’s still my happy girl despite the sickness though, and it blows me away. I figure if she can be that happy while sick, I can suck it up and do the same!

One of these days, I will actually post about something other than my kids. One day.

I doubt I’ll be posting again before this weekend, so I hope you have a Merry Christmas!

Dear Nola,

I think I may start every letter out with “I can’t believe you’re  ____  months already” because I really can’t. Time is flying by and you’re changing on a daily basis. Our conversations are the best part of my day. It doesn’t matter what I say to you, as long as it’s in a sweet voice with a happy face you give me the biggest smiles and loudest coo’s ever. You’ve even got dimples! Precious little dimples on each cheek. You love to be held while sleeping, and a lot of the time you’ll wake up when laid down…so you take quite a few cat naps throughout the day. I’m more than okay with it since I want to hold you all day anyway! You still sleep 6-8 hour stretches at night without a problem, so we’re all getting plenty of rest. Thanks for that, sweet P.

When you aren’t being held and I’m playing with your brother, you are always so content. I don’t hear a peep out of you until it’s time to eat, or you just want to talk. You’re such a happy little thing!

You’ve attended two Christmas parties this month and you were such a good girl! The first one was just a dinner and you slept through most of it. The second one you were awake for half of it and everyone couldn’t get enough of you. I don’t blame them really. Promise me you’ll stay this sweet forever! We all enjoyed your first Thanksgiving this month as well. You got to meet so many great aunts and cousins. . . they couldn’t get enough of you!

You have no real schedule that I’ve noticed yet but you always seem to go with the flow so I don’t mind. You want to nurse every 2-3 hours and that’s usually the most you demand. You absolutely love the light up star on your play gym. I lay you under it and you just start kicking and giggling away.

Your head control always blows people away. You’ve wanted to be a big girl since day one…but I really wish you’d slow down! Today at your two month check up you weighed 12lbs (75th percentile) and you were 22 3/4 inches tall (55th percentile). Tonight your daddy was mentioning how much drool you had and decided to feel your gums for any teeth and sure enough you have one coming in on the top in the very front! Not only could he feel it but you had quite a few tears when he touched it. I can’t believe you are already getting a tooth! Slow down, baby girl. Let’s not rush this whole growing up thing.

You love to be swaddled and you love bath time. You love to sit and watch your brother run around the house, and I think deep down you can’t wait to be doing the same thing with him. You two are going to have so much fun together. You caught the cold that we’ve all had and today while I was suctioning out your nose, you moved and that stupid aspirator went too far up. We both cried, and I felt so bad. I’ll get better at it…I promise.

So thankful for you, Nola girl.

Love, Mama