Going to sleep on our own

For a few weeks now, I have been working with Niah to go to sleep on her own. Now, I did this for her own good to learn good sleep habits because trust me it is one of my favorite things to do is to rock my baby to sleep. I did not want her to shed a tear in the process. I can not say that not one tear has not been shed but it has been only a few. That is why it has taken weeks to get there and 90% of the time she goes to sleep on her own with out a tear. I get Niah drowsy and then I lay her down, she does a fussy talk and I go in every 3-5 mins to calm her down and then leave. She now goes to sleep within ten mins. It is the cutest thing to listen to. She starts out talking really loud and gets quiter and quiter until she is asleep.
Here she is after she goes to sleep. She is my child has to have a blanket to go to sleep... We get cold



Now I can't say I never rock her to sleep since we started this because sometimes a baby just needs to be rocked to sleep. Tonight was one of those nights, she had been fussy most of the afternoon and it seemed she did not feel good so she was rocked to sleep. I love my little girl!!

Christmas List

As Niah is my child and completely enjoy the holidays. We spent last week decorating for Fall and Thanksgiving.
Here are a few pics of our decor.

As we were decorating I began to inform her of the most wonderful holiday of all time.... CHRISTMAS!! I told her about how Santa is not real but it is fun to pretend and that on Christmas morning he brings good little children presents. We read the bible together every day so I told her about the Christmas story, the christmas lights, and the presents. So we came up with a Christmas list!!

From Daddy, Niah wants a homemade white toy box... we thought he should know now so he can start building.

From Mommy... Niah thought she was not quite ready for her kitchen set or doll house so, Niah decided to leave it up to Mommy what would be the perfect gift :-)

From everyone else she is hoping for more story books.... Niah loves reading stories with mommy everyday and she is tired of the ones she has. She likes books with textures and books she can not rip the pages. Here are other ones we like from looking at the library




Niah started eating cereal this week. She is not real sure of it but gets better eating everyday. She insisted on drinking her milk afterward. Here is a picture her while she is eating.

Hello Fall

As always life is going way too fast but we are enjoying the change of the season to fall. I plan on decorating the house for fall this weekend with mums, and other decor.
Niah has been rolling and is beginning to sit up for a few minutes without support. Niah had a big day this last week getting dedicated at church. Lots of family and friends came to the service. It was very special to have my dad do the dedication. Here is Niah with Mommy and Daddy at her dedication.


We have started buying fall and winter clothes for Niah. We also got her the most adorable halloween costume and we just had to buy Kyah a matching one. Pictures are being taken in these outfits. Here are the costumes.

We believe she will be in 3-6 month clothes in about a month. Niah is very happy and will almost always return a smile to anyone. She definately knows mommy and daddy's voice. Niah will even look for Mommy when she is being held. She loves the anticipation in games like peek a boo and will start laughing anticipating what will happen. We are thinking about starting cereal in a couple weeks when she is 5 months old. We will start baby food when she is 6 months. But mommy is going to start making baby food and freezing next week. Niah still continues good sleeping habits if she gets 3 naps equalling 6 or 7 hours she will sleep all night with out waking going to bed around 8:30 and waking up at 8 or 8:30. If we lose a nap in the day she will wake up several times in the night. Which makes for a mommy that needs a nap the next day but by any means I can not complain.
We just love love love, I can not say it enough, love being parents.

Brought out the Coat and Hat

I had bought Niah a coat and hat for Alaska, knowing she could wear it in the fall when cooler weather came and today we had to break it out. I think she looks so adorable in her hat and coat but so not ready for the cold weather.


This is what she was wearing earlier this week

I know I am biased but I love her smile!!

Here is some catching up from the last month. Niah took her first plane ride to Alaska, the first flight was a little over an hour to Dallas and then we went from Dallas to Anchorage which was a 7 hour a flight. Niah did wonderful through all of the flights. We were met promptly by my aunt to take us to Seward 2 hours from Anchorage. Niah had a rough start in the car seat but soon fell asleep. She did just as good going home on the flights. Thankfully Niah and I were both exhausted from the time change of 3 hours and the all night flying and the all day travel that we both slept till noon the next day. Then Niah was still on Alaska time and was not going to sleep till 1 am the next few days. We had a rough go getting her back to Missouri time but with in 3 days she was back to normal.
We then went to Branson, to silver dollar city and Big Cedar. Niah does great as long as she does not have to sit in her car seat. We decided after that trip it would be a long time before we put our little princess through a rough ride in her car seat for long amounts of time. It is hard on her and on us. I spent sunday with a forty minute car ride home from lunch trying to calm her down and had to take a 2 hour nap from the exhaustion and she took a 3 hour nap.
Niah is very active and observant now days. She wants to see and notices everything. She watches people come in and out of the the room and she loves to see people smile. Niah is now pulling on everything especially my hair. She loves to run her hands through my hair while she is going to sleep. She is still a wonderful sleeper, she goes to bed between 9-10 and does not wake up till 8-9 and sometimes even 10. Please believe, I thank Jesus for that everyday and know how blessed I am. Niah has now started sleeping in her crib and transitioned well. I started putting her in her crib and if she woke up in the night I put her back to sleep in the bassinet and after a few nights she started sleeping through the night in her crib. She is a good napper but naps best at home on Mommy and Daddy's bed. Niah notices both mine and Matthew's voice and looks for us when she hears it.
Niah has a big week ahead, 4 month pictures on Monday. Cousin Kyah is coming to visit Thur. Baby dedication on Sunday.
We have started painting the basement and we are about 90% percent done. I have a few touch ups left. Then hopefully we can go pick out carpet and have it installed, I am ready for the dust from the basement to be gone!!!
The next month will be just as busy as the last few. Niah has 5 month pictures schedule, work is finish up with fall retreats and closing everything for the winter, Matthew goes to Africa so Niah and I got to visit Christa. Then starts the Holiday season, one of my favorite times of the year!!!

End of summer brings lots of New for Niah

August has flown by and we are now into September. Our little girl is 4 months old now and has already flown across the country to Alaska, seen the ocean, went to Silver Dollar City, and stayed at Big Cedar.
Niah did much better with her 4 month shots, she was just as normal as usual. She went from her 2 month appt of being in the 11% for weight to the 65% for weight. Before that she was not even on the charts!! She is 23.5 inches long and weighs 14 lbs. She slept in her crib the whole night for the first time last night.
We started working on the basement once again, it got put on hold when Niah was born. We have painted the bathroom and spare bedroom, Matthew did the tile in the bathroom. We are now looking at carpet for the rest of the basement and we still have to paint the living room.

How things change

Since I have become a mom almost 3 months ago many things have changed. I think of all scheduling with Niah's eating schedule and decide how to procede through out the day. I no longer work 12-15 hour days, Niah is my priority and although she can go to work with me she also needs time with just me and no other distractions. I am not as anal about my house being clean, I still clean my house and it stays clean but I would rather spend more time playing and caring for her then waste it cleaning when we get home. Now, I may not sweep and mop the floors several times a week it may only get mopped once. I may only get to cleaning the bathrooms once a week. My husband still thinks I am anal about it though :-) I now think about Niah before making any decisions, such as the trip to Alaska, I am contemplating on whether Niah can handle the long day travel, time change, and being away from home for that long. When I go shopping, I usually do not buy anything for myself but always a cute outfit for my little girl. Currently, my living room has a play mat, car seat, bouncer, swing, and stroller, we have become babies r us.

Niah is almost 3 months old. She is really talking and interacting. When she sees a familiar face she will immediately smile and lately she has started crying when she focuses on an unfamiliar face. She does not like people with any kind of glasses. Her new favorite toy is her floor mat. She hates to be cold so we go outside and walk when she is cold. One of her favorite things is to take a nap in our bed with me, she will sleep as long as I sleep. We are working on her going to sleep by herself. Anytime she is tired, we lay her down so she does not go to sleep being held. She now goes to sleep at 10 and wakes up at 9 am. She is still in newborn but she just started wearing smaller 0-3 months.

We just love our little Niah!!

Standing, sitting, and rolling

Niah is growing and developing, everyday she amazes us. Niah loves to stand up with help, it makes her feel big. She likes to sit up on your lap as well. She tries to mimmick noises and things that you do with your mouth, it is so cute. Daddy says he saw Niah roll over from her back to stomach but she has not repeated it yet.

Niah has extremely dark eyes now instead of the cloudy blue she was born with, they look like a charcoal color. She has very dark hair and the hair she lost on top is growing back and she has a head full of hair. She is still wearing newborn clothes but I think she will be transitiong to 0-3 months by the end of July.

Niah is very opinionated and lets you know when she does not like something. She hates being passed from person to person and gets very fussy when done. She has certain ways she likes to be held and still loves to be in her mommy's arms when she is very tired. Niah is not a huge fan of bottles but we try a bottle a day, if it doesn't work out then we just throw it away. Niah loves riding on the golf cart or in the boat, she goes to sleep instantly. We just started using the jump a roo and she loves it but she is too short for her feet to touch the ground. She can spend over an hour in the jump a roo. Niah now sleeps in her bassinet every night with no problems. She takes naps on a flat surface as well, the only thing she requires is that it be very soft, if not it will not work. She is doing a wonderful job of falling asleep without being held and we try to not hold her while she is sleeping to teach healthy sleeping patterns. Niah is really starting to "talk" and we love to hear her babbles. She loves the outdoors and loves her walks in the stroller with mommy.

Niah is definately a joy in our lives and can not imagine our life without her.