The cuteness never ends

Gillian went "swimming" for the first time yesterday.

All ready for the pool!

It was 102F yesterday and 103F today, so I sunk (get it..."sunk"?) $4 into an itty bitty inflatable pool so Gillie-Bean could enjoy a new first (except I think we enjoy firsts more than she does), and cool off.

This is the first moment Landon put her feet in the water.

Our baby has been in nice warm baths in the sink and the tub. Although, we are always scrubbing or rinsing her. She hasn't been able to enjoy much of her own free movement and exploration in water. Also, she has never been in anything cooler than body temperature. When Landon first put her feet in she let out a little squeal. She wasn't so sure about it all at first.

This is Gillian's concentration face. She wore it almost the entire time.

She really got into it eventually and splashed at the water with both hands.

Startled herself several times with water in her eyes and on her face

Look at the concentration on this little face!!!

Baby bottom is so precious.

She was so tired after playing that I had to rouse her 6 or 7 times while I was feeding her. I laid her down right afterward even though it was 30 minutes before her bed time and she fell asleep instantly. She even slept longer last night than she ever has before. 

Landon and I had so much fun with her in the pool, and if you can't tell, Gillie enjoyed herself as well. 

The Nest: What I made

I had so much fun preparing for Little Baby by crafting. I put together this post with tutorials that guided my creations. It will be nice to refer to later.

Gillian, 4 months

Crib Sheets with a Tutorial from Dana Made It
(she has the best tutorials) The first sheet I made is in the picture above. I looooove this seersucker sheet, but 2 yards of fabric doesn't always end up to be cheaper than the sheets at target. This one cost me about $15 of fabric. But, it is absolutely adorable. And I love my baby in this color so the pictures of her on this sheet are some of my favorite pictures.

I made 2 flannel crib sheets (I couldn't find ANY to buy online) from a grey twin sheet set that I got at target for $15. I even had fabric left over to put together a Sheet Protector to match (didn't have a tutorial for this, but it was pretty easy to just guess!) and a changing pad cover too. That was a great deal.

sheet protector

Gillian, 1 day old. Still in the hospital

Gauze Swaddle Blankets from Dana Made It, once again.
I even dyed one of them a beautiful teal color, which was very fun. BUT it was a little rough on Gillian's new-born skin and gave her a tiny rash on her chin during her first week of life.

4 weeks old

Changing Pad Cover
I actually made 3 of these. When Gillian was a newborn we would go through several in one day. The tutorial is pretty decent. It's my favorite way to sew: just trace, pin, and stitch. I hate to measure and iron and all that kind of sew-correctly stuff.

you've seen these pics. dyed this onesie orange

i love the kimono shirt - dyed it teal

Dyed White Onesies (and other stuff)
I wanted to add a little variety to my baby's onesie collection, so dyed some green and some teal and some orange. Did the same thing to burp rags.

made Dooney his own burp cloth with camo and hunter's orange

Burp Rags
These I just added flannel fabric to baby cloth pre-fold diapers.
I also received some of these as gifts. And I have used every.single.one. My baby is full of puke. Seriously is a pukey kid. Both of our moms were so surprised at how pukey she was especially as a newborn. Our doctor called her a "happy spitter", which just means that she pukes a lot but it doesn't make her mad or cause her to lose weight or anything. So she wasn't colicky or diagnosed with reflux, thankfully. She just pukes a lot.

little Chickadees on a piece of wood from the Wasatch. How perfect.

Door Sign
I grew up with a "Hannah's Room" sign on my door until I was a teenager. And I loved it. I wanted Gillian to have something for the front of her bedroom door as well. Landon and I found this beautiful wood blown off of a tree up Millcreek Canyon while we were hiking at the end of last summer. We collected it and I had in mind that I would paint something on it for our baby's room. I love how it turned out. And I love that it is natural. The perfect addition to her little Nest.

glider. Gillie, 4 or 5 weeks

Glider Slip Covers
These were the most difficult things to make. I could have made it easier on myself, possibly. I made these similar to the changing pad covers: trace, cut, pin, sew, velcro.... Surprisingly that tactic worked just fine. I love the way they turned out and they certainly add a lot of character to our Chickadee's nest (and it is wonderful to get to wash them - i can't believe how messy they get (see "Burp Rags" above).

Diaper Sprayer
Landon constructed a diaper sprayer for our cloth diapers. It has been a lifesaver. I've heard moms say that you don't need one until babies start eating solids. I disagree. You are supposed to soak your soiled diapers in water before you wash them. Instead of doing a soak cycle, or putting my diapers in a water pail (which is a drowning hazard), I just spray off the dookie-mess and then it remains wet until it is washed later that day or the next. The DIY sprayer is easy, although landon had a little difficulty coming by all of the pieces.

Breast Pads

I also made some other stuff like a cloth diaper, cloth wipes, hair thingies, car-seat strap covers, etc.... but that's about it.

parenting, pain, and God

Sunday I accidentally cut Gillian while I was trimming her finger nails. I have done this before. This time it didn't bother her at all; she didn't even flinch. But it was on the thumb of her left hand, so everything she touched got blood on it. My kid and her toys were covered in little red streaks and spots. Gosh, it killed me to see her smiling back at me with blood on her nose and lips and cheeks as she tried to force her entire fist into her perfect itty bitty mouth.

And she has had a hard time falling asleep these last few days (read screaming for 2 hours during nap time) because she always sucks on her left thumb to soothe herself to sleep and right now it just hurts too much to suck and upsets her even more than her exhaustion already has. And I know it is all my fault for my carelessness and it makes me sad.

On Sunday, when realized I had cut her I told her, "Baby, I am so sorry, but I had to cut your fingernails so you won't cut yourself."

The irony in that sentence hit me.

And I realized that this is why I do a lot of things that hurt her - so that she won't get hurt. Ha!

I clasp her into her backpack so she doesn't fall out and crack her head open, but I pinch her skin in the process.

I let strangers give her immunizations so that she doesn't get sick later, even though she is in pain in that moment and is sore all the next day.

And thinking of this has made me wonder what pains God must inflict in my life in order to protect me from a greater pain (not inflict on accident, like i often do to Gillie, but inflict with intention and purpose). And as long as I actually am protected, I often times will have no idea what the possible outcome could have been have not the original pain been inflicted. Don't get me wrong; I do not think that God creates evil - that would be an impossible juxtaposition of his very nature. But pain and evil are not the same thing, although at times they may feel that way.

This lesson is one that you never want to learn, or teach, for that matter. As the Bible makes several analogies between earthly parents and our Heavenly Father when it comes to loving, providing, disciplining, etc., I am sure that as I experience my own love and striving for my daughter, I will come to know and appreciate God's love and provision even more. I am looking forward to this journey of parenting for many reasons. One of them is coming to see the nature of God more clearly.

little milestones

It is amazing how wonderful and exciting each little milestone is when you are a parent. I still praise my little girl for every poopy diaper. I am so grateful that her body is working as it should and that she is getting the nutrients she needs. Everything in that diaper is something I worked to put there and I praise her.

Yeah, that's strange. But seeing my baby grow and thrive is so rewarding. Every single little thing brings me such joy.

 Last week our little girl rolled over for the first time. She still has the look of surprise on her face every time she lands on her back. And we praise her every time. 

p.s. I'm so addicted to my baby's smiles, and also to her little booty in these bulky diapers. 

so precious.

6 months can make a big difference

So grateful the baby is in the bag instead of the belly these days.

...and growing...

Today I packed away Gillian's XS Charlie Banana cloth diapers. 

One thing I hadn't anticipated with cloth diapering is that they wouldn't fit at first. We had to wait until her umbilicus fell off, which took 15 days. Even in the first picture below, Gillian was about 3 weeks old and 8lbs and her legs were too little to keep her diapers from leaking, so we went through hundreds of disposable diapers in her first 6 weeks. Once she was about 4-6 weeks old, she was able to wear the XS cloth diapers without leakage problems (in general).

Gillian at 3 weeks, in her XS cloth diaper

When I planned on cloth diapering, I planned on stocking up on the One-size diapers that change with your baby as they grow. That was a little nieve. Gillian couldn't even fit in the one-size diapers until she was about 3 months. Even then, they seemed soooo bulky, with all the extra fabric folded between her legs (they have to be "one-size" somehow, right?). Honestly, she is now 15lbs and they still seem bulky.

1 month, XS diaper

When Mom and Dad came to visit Gillian for the first time, they brought her a (very expensive) package of 6 XS Charlie Banana diapers. Ever since Gillian was 6 weeks old, we have been washing them every single night so that we can use them again the next day since at first they were the only ones that fit, and even this last month they fit so much better than the rest.

6 weeks, XS diaper

Just for fun, I did the math, and that's about 700 wears (for the set of 6). Which turns out to be $200 in disposable diapers. The (very expensive) XS Charlie Bananas were a gift, so they didn't cost us anything, but if we did buy them ourselves, it would have been $110 at Target. So that is still a better deal than the $200 we would have spent in disposables (and that's only calculating 4 months, not 5, and only 6 diapers a day - not including the other 4-6 disposables we would have needed to supplement the rest of her daily need (10-12 diapers/day)).

8 weeks, XS diaper

A few weeks ago, our baby girl outgrew these diapers. I just loved their adorable girly colors, so I had her in them for a bit too long. We can no longer snap them well enough and they are starting to leak because she has clearly outgrown them.

3 months, XS diaper

 Thankfully, I also have a (very expensive) package of 6 size Small Charlie Banana diapers, which she started to fit into at about 4 months. We are also using the one-size diapers now, although I still don't prefer them as much since they are a little bulky. I am able to do diaper laundry every 2-3 days now instead of every single day since I have so many more diapers that fit her.

5 months, XS diaper

 It's weird to watch her graduate through sizes of things. She is growing so fast!

Gillian, 5 months still in the size XS

When people ask for advice on cloth diapering, I don't have much to recommend (although i loooove to talk about our experience). I think that everyone has their own way of doing things that fit best for their own lifestyles. Although, I always recommend getting a stock of size XS diapers. I am so thankful that we have had them for our little Bean.

What a beautiful and happy baby, isn't she?

She loves her doggie and Duvick adores Gillie.

She slept this morning until 6am. Wow. I slept 7 1/2 hours, not only cumulatively, but all-at-once last night. That's the first time that has happened since 2012. It felt great.

Summer Diapers

Yesterday was a record-breaking 100F here in Salt Lake City.

This warm summer weather means that we often forego clothes for our little Gillie Bean. 

The reasons for this are:

5. It's too hot to wear clothes anyways

4. less clothes to clean

3. More skin to kiss and tickle.

2. Naked babies are the cutest.

1. Baby skin is irresistible. 

hair

When I am away from my baby and think of her, I often think of the smell and soft feel of her hair. I love to kiss this baby's head and face. 

I like to tell her that God loves her so much that he knows every single hair on her head. And I know that he does.

We are still wondering what color her hair will be. Sometimes it looks brown. Sometimes it looks reddish. It will be fun to see which way it goes.

Some day I will blog about something else besides our little Bean. But right now I am still in the honeymoon stage of being a new stay at home mom and I am loving it.

My daughter and I lay in the grass. If she gets fussy or bored, all I need to do is take her outside. She loves to feel the breeze on her skin, watch the trees toss the sunshine from leaf to leaf, and hear the overwhelming noise from all the wild and man-made around her. 

I love that she is so captivated by the outdoors. 

I am grateful that we can share in this together.

I hope she will never stop exploring.

Beautiful one, she is.

I got myself a fancy camera with some Christmas and b-day money that I received over the past several months.  I'm not too skilled at using it yet. Every once in awhile I get a lucky shot.

Although, I love every shot of this baby.

Baby steps

Things are changing over here. Actually, our family is doing a massive overhaul of our life.

I keep saying I'll get back to the blog. The expanse of time between my posts overwhelm me when I feel disappointed at myself and then of how much i must catch you up on. So I've decided not to.

I'm just going to pick up from here, not fill in the holes, and post when I feel like it. And I'm going to make it simple so if feels more do-able. And once I get better at blogging again, maybe I'll enjoy it like I used to and do great. Or maybe I won't.

So for now, I'm not making commitments or promises. I'm just going to give you a few precious photos from our life recently.

Gillie loves playing with her daddy.

This face.