We've hit that all too important milestone

OK, so many articles will say if the baby sleeps 6 hours, you can consider it "sleeping through the night". That's a bunch of bull because I need WAY more than 6 hours so that's not how I define it. And before Darcy hit 2 months she was averaging about 7 hours. About 9pm to 4am. Would take a bottle and then back to bed. So it wasn't too bad really. Getting up one time at night without a peep out of her before 4:00. Can't complain. Last night she slept from 8:30pm to 6am! Yay for the whole family. Let's hope this trend keeps going. Now it's time to train her on how to take a good nap.

Not sure if it's a coincidence to the long sleep or not, but the whole fam went up to the pool last night for about an hour. Wasn't sure how Darcy would respond, but she LOVED it. I think she could have stayed in the water longer if Craig and Camryn didn't get hungry for dinner. Maybe it wore her out, but there were no crying fits last night, which seem to take a lot more energy then sitting on Mom's lap in the pool.

Random pics of the girls

This turned out to be silly hat day. Camryn has used this old replica football hat for dress up for some time. We went out to play frisbee and she got frustrated that I wasn't throwing it right to her. So I did and it hit her square on the forehead. Well, she asked for me to throw it to her. She didn't say "Oh, I'm not going to try to catch it." She shed a few tears and then said "I have a great idea." Then ran inside and came out with this helmut. Only she had to fancy it up so she asked me to tie a ribbon around it. Ha!


And so Darcy wouldn't be left out, she got to wear a princess crown that Camryn had decorated at a friend's birthday party.





These are just a couple of other pictures of Darcy. She is getting so big. And yes, despite my complaining of her frequent crying fits, she does take a break to smile at us occassionally. And those are the moments that make the rest of the day completely worth it.

And I can't forget my silly Camryn. She falls asleep in the oddest positions. And well, sometimes, I just have to take a picture of it before I reposition her. How in the world this could be comfortable enough to fall asleep, I don't have a clue.






And then, of course the fashionable look of winter slippers with a sun dress on one of the hottest days of the year. Ha!

2 month weigh in

Darcy had her 2 month check up yesterday and weighed in at a very healthy (ha!) 12lbs 4 oz and measured 23". She's at the 90th percentile on her measurements which is very similar to how Camryn stacks up to the growth charts at every physical.

She smiles!

Well, she's been smiling for a while now. Started about 2 weeks ago, but this is the first time I've been able to snap the camera fast enough. (Unfortunately, our home computer is completely dead so I can't access any of my photo editing software to make these pictures prettier.)

My favorite thing she does is stick her toungue out. She will imitate you too if she sees you stick your toungue out. It's a game for her. So cute. Now she is pushing her toungue into her lower lip and putting her arms up in the air. She can't grab onto anything or purposely reach for one particular thing I realize, but definitely appears to be trying.

And, even though it's only been one night, she slept from 9pm to 5am last night! Yahoo. Early morning for me but at least I was a bit more rested. She's been trending that way the last few nights but I can't believe she's already sleeping 8 hours. Let's keep our fingers crossed that it continues.
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Last week was Craig's and my 11th anniversary, but it was also my beautiful niece, Riley's first birthday. The girls and I went to Columbia to watch the reaction to cake!

First, let me say this cake looked incredible. A strawberry cake with pink icing and pink colored chocolate shavings along the bottom. YUM! Too bad it was destined for destruction.


The first taste

She loved the attention and loved her some of that cake too!

And this picture cracks me up. I was getting Darcy in her pajamas so we could make the trip home and go straight to bed. Riley came over to "talk" with us. She loved seeing the baby. She was trying to kiss on her a lot which was sweet. She loved trying to touch her too with just the one finger. She didn't make her cry really, but thought this picture was funny because it looks like it.

Happy Birthday Riley!

Is it colic or not?

Little D is due for her 2 month check up next Wednesday so we plan to endure the crazy crying fits until then. A neighbor thought it might be acid reflux but Darcy doesn't spit up really. She said that's not always the case and there is meds to nip that in the bud. In looking up the symptoms of colic though, Darcy fits about all of them. I guess the good news is we're halfway through the normal "colicky" period since it typically runs to 4 months.

She stresses Craig out when she goes in those fits. I can easily see how, but someone has to keep their cool in the house, right? So I figure stress isn't an option. And Cam, bless her heart, just goes about her business like the extra noise isn't even there. Not sure how she does it. Although she was cutting out hearts and glueing them on construction paper. She drew the family in the heart and had me, Craig, her (as a baby) and the 2 cats. I asked her where Darcy was and she said she wasn't born yet because in the picture she (Camryn) was still a baby. I asked her to add Darcy and she came back with a small drawing of a baby outside the heart. Craig thought it was funny but I had to explain that Little D must be added inside the heart. So on the third try she made the cut. Maybe the crying is taking more of a toll than I thought! LOL!

How many dollies can fit into one bed?

So, here is what Camryn does after we put her to bed. She had mentioned something to me about how she was going to create a nest for her dollies, but Darcy was crying and where I would usually say "remember your 4 dolly limit" I just said OK, smiled and told her to make sure she still had room to sleep. But I didn't realize what I'd see when I went to check on her before I went to bed.

She had pulled almost every one of her stuffed animals out of her closet and loaded them up on her bed, and there she was at the foot of the bed, sleeping soundly with her water cup open and the lid practically glued to her face.

When I woke her up this morning, I told her what I saw and she smiled and said "See, I told you I could still make room for me to sleep."

Father's Day (from Cam's point of view)

Linda and Carl graciously hosted the BBQ this year. (THANK YOU!) We'll resume next year when it's easier to prep food for more than 3 people. Anyway, Camryn took over the camera, so here are her pics. Not bad actually. (Although I'm noticing a consistent angle on each of them. Ha!)

And here are a couple that I took.



Love these girls!

Oldies but goodies

I need to write my post about Camryn at 4 years. Have some notes somewhere, and will compile soon. But thought I'd jot a few more down since they're top of mind, so forgive me for jumping around...

I've been watching Glee this past year and they sing a lot of older songs. I have downloaded several and sing along to them in my car. But the coolest thing (and I know my dad will wish I would have felt this way about his oldies) is that Camryn is requesting the music in the car ride. Might be a sign that my music growing up was way better. :)

Craig has got to where he tries to get Camryn to say "three" as often as possible. She pronounces it "dree", and he thinks it's the cutest thing. Doesn't bother correcting her. Just wants to hear her say it.

Yesterday at Cam's school they had their first water play day of the summer. When I picked her up her teacher told me that she glanced at Cam and she had pulled down her swimsuit top and was just waltzing around like it was no big deal. That's one of those instances where you can make it a teachable moment or you can completely laugh at the situation. I didn't do too well at the teaching opportunity! Ha!

Let the firsts begin!

I'm getting her started on exercise this week. First tummy time - June 1

And then of course the appropriate spa treatment afterwards for those aching muscles. First bath tub bath - June 6

Ahh...look at the special treatment. Even my big sister is washing me.

Here she is with her first bad hair day. I didn't comb it after her bath and it dried all fuzzy. Craig thinks it's hilarious. He calls her Newman from Seinfeld, which drives me crazy. She's so much cuter than he is.

And a sweet shot of sisters.

Welcome Darcy Rae!

Our first family picture!

The first two weeks have been an adjustment. We knew it would be. Craig and I both prefer the older babies. 6 months and older. They are a bit more fun at that age.

But, unexpectedly, Darcy has been such a joy to snuggle with. Maybe it's because it took us longer to get her here. Maybe because I figure this is it for babies. Our foursome seems to be about the right number.

She's so stinkin' sweet to snuggle with. She is still at that stage where she tucks her little legs in like she's still in the womb, so she's this little bundle that will just nuzzle into you if you let her.

She lets you here it when she's hungry, but I can understand that. Did I mention she's hungry a lot! We keep upping the amount she eats, as the doc said "just let her eat what she wants...she'll stop when she's not hungry anymore." Oh, and she hates, I mean hates to be naked. We haven't started actual baths yet. Still the sponge baths, so I'm wondering if that will be a temporary thing. When Camryn was a baby, she grew to love bath time. And now, while she doesn't seek out naked time, she doesn't think twice about running through the house without clothes on. (We'll need to put a stop to that soon I suppose. Ha!)

We've had lots of visitors and much appreciated offers to help from family and neighbors. That's been a blessing really. With Camryn, we've wanted her to be able to transition into her new role as big sister as easy as possible and it's been a huge help to have people keep her active since I can't really go out much with the baby.

Here's Craig snuggling with Darcy after a long night of waiting for her to come along. :)

Jon and Liz brought their girls by and I couldn't resist loading them all up together for a picture together. Darcy - 1 day old; Camryn - 4 years; Charlotte - almost 3 years old; Riley - 10 1/2 months.

Here she is checking out one of Camryn's toys (already)!! She has so much hair and one little dimple on her left cheek. Other than that she looks so much like Camryn did as a newbie. We're all curious if she will keep her dark locks and if they'll turn out curly or straight as a board like Cam's.