Month 7 - Heidi

Month 7: Baby!

Age: 7 months

Weight: 18+ lbs.

Major calendar events: First Thanksgiving! and first time seeing Santa, among lots of other holiday-season firsts

Milestones:  Waving, first tooth

Sleep:  Oh my goodness the sleep situation has gotten ONE THOUSAND times better.  At Heidi's 6 month dr. appointment, I talked to our pediatrician about how we were struggling to get her to go to sleep/stay asleep without freaking out (I was very concerned bc. Heidi would cry so hard - but not like a "putting herself to sleep" cry but a "someone is trying to kill me" cry and I was starting to get pretty frustrated. )  The doctor recommended "cry it out".  I have always been very hesitant about this method.  I feel like most moms say they won't do it or they don't agree with it - until they get to the point where they have no more options. Now, I am also one of those people that won't consider a lot of things - until my doctor says it's okay!  As soon as she told us to try it - BAM we're trying it.  She has twin 3-year old boys - so I TOTALLY trust her judgment.  The first night of "cry it out" Heidi screamed for an hour and a half.  and it was terrible.  The second night - 50 minutes.  The third night - 20 minutes!  Amazing!  I should also add that when Heidi turned 6 months we moved her into her own room (she has been in her pack 'n play in our room for her first 6 months).  I never thought I would be that parent.  Before she was here I was very adamant about the fact that our room is our space and I wanted to move her as soon as possible.  However, this is definitely one of those things that changed completely after her arrival.  I now tell friends and new mamas - don't feel rushed to move your baby!  Do it whenever you're ready.  Sure it will be difficult at first and even though you will also feel like you get a huge part of your life back when that time DOES come - there's no harm in waiting until you feel *somewhat* ready.  Do I sometimes wish that I could have a normal sex life with my husband and also have my baby sleep IN our bed with us every single night?  Definitely.  But there's no normal non-gross/non-weirdo way of doing that.  So Heidi will continue to spend her nights on a completely different floor of our house, in her own room and in her own bed... except for those special nights when we let her have a sleepover in our bed with us.  (Or as some people who like to be dramatic call it: the dreaded "CO-SLEEPING!!!!!" duhn duhn duuuunnnn.  Co-sleeping is super controversial, but this is also an opinion of mine that has changed over time which I will maybe save for another day and another time.  But for all you worriers out there - don't panic!  We didn't co-sleep with Heidi when she was an infant, we have a king sized bed so she has plenty of room, no blankets or pillows around her face and we are both light sleepers - I wake up at the tiniest movement or noise. We definitely have not made a habit of this and do not do it often.  But it IS super special when we do get to have her so close by.)  Needless to say, these past 4 weeks have been SO nice putting Heidi to bed and having a few hours of alone time with my hubby (and wine).  Amazing!!  Let's hope this is a permanent habit :)

Likes:  Sticking her tongue out, going to the grocery store/shopping, being held by mommy, bananas

Dislikes: Avocados

Best moment:  Seeing Heidi wave to me for the first time was amazing.  

Worst moment:  Driving around the Galleria parking garage for 45 minutes looking for a parking spot while Heidi screamed her head off. Terrible.

Eating:  100% of her nutrition is still coming from breast milk; nursing like a boss every 4 hours (except at night - she can really go 12+ hours at night - which is awesome!)  We have tried several foods "just for fun" and are letting her explore flavors and textures and learn how to eat!  She has had banana, avocado and sweet potatoes.  We made the mistake of starting off with banana - so I think she prefers the sweet over the more bland flavors.

Things I want to remember:  Too many things... 

Month 7: Mama

I have really been feeling quite well this month.  The hot flashes seem to have subsided, breastfeeding is now (finally) a total breeze and I was able to run my first half marathon since having Heidi (I promise to post about this soon!)  And while my body seems to have almost returned to a somewhat normal cycle (Warning TMI update: getting my period every 4-5 weeks) I don't think that I am ovulating yet, which is making things slightly difficult to pin down.  I plan on reaching out to some bloggers and friends about this to see how they have successfully handled natural family planning post baby while continuing to breastfeed...Anyone have any tips??

I also celebrated my 28th birthday this past month.  It's so bizarre how certain things just don't really matter that much after you have a baby.  Well, I'm not actually sure if it's the having a baby thing that changes things or if it just a getting older thing.  But my birthday didn't really feel like my birthday.  It was just kind of a regular day - and I was totally okay with that.  I had a lovely lunch with my mother-in-law and sister-in-laws and a wonderful dinner with my husband and it was perfect.  I didn't want or expect anything more. But it's weird how one day you're just okay with that.  It's nice to just feel content.  Full.  100% satisfied.  This was a good month.  And these next 4 weeks will hopefully be even better because CHRISTMAS!  How could they not be??  I'm SO looking forward to spending time with my family and enjoying Heidi's first Christmas - our first Christmas as a family of 3!

Here are some pics from our 7th month with our princess baby angel!

Getting into trouble - SHOE SHOPPING!!

The last half marathon I ran we ran it together.  Heidi was inside of me of course but I missed having her with me!

Lounging in her chair that Poppy put together for her.  He bought it when I was pregnant :)

Hehe.

Riding in the BOB stroller like a big girl!

T-giving farm style.

LEGS GIRL.

Heidi was NOT feeling the backpack-style.

That tongue...

We love Hobby Lobby!

THIS girl.

Waving for one of the first times ever. (You can't tell by my boob in the picture but I AM crying my head off out of joy and excitement. She's the best!)

Shopping yay!

Christmas party!

Bath time smiles.

Helping mommy set up all of the Christmas lights outside.

Looking for our first Christmas tree!

More shopping smiles!

Excited to see Santa.

Merry Christmas to all from the whole Kresta family!  - Ryan, Stephanie, Baby Heidi, Hazel the greyhound and Frank the wiener dog (and to answer your question - yes our house is a zoo).  

An Advent Pregnancy

Let me first start off by saying that it took everything in my power to not title this post "We're Pregnant!" just to play a joke on people.  However, knowing that most people would jump to conclusions without reading on... well that's how rumors get started.  I don't want to get a phone call from my grandma or old next door neighbor saying "You're pregnant again??"  And I can confirm with you with 100% certainty that our family is still a family of 3 (as of this moment anyway).

This year, advent has been vastly different for me compared to any other year of my life.

Sitting in church service on the first Sunday of Advent, our pastor began to explain this season in a way that really changed my heart... he said those two special words: "We're pregnant!"  We (as in the people of the church) are pregnant and expecting.  (You can listen to the sermon HERE - which obvi I highly recommend.  I would actually prefer you to do that over actually reading the rest of this post!!) We are waiting for our precious King to be born.  Born into this world as a baby.  A sweet, tiny, squishy, helpless newborn.  Our KING.  A baby.   This resonated with me in such a way that I have not experienced before, and I don't think I would have even been able to fully grasp this concept last year when I actually WAS pregnant during this wonderful season.  In his sermon, Pastor Chris mentions a few things that you do when you find out you're pregnant.  First thing: you tell people.  Even if you don't tell everyone immediately, you begin to share the news with more and more people.  Second thing: Make space for the baby. You begin to prepare for the arrival of this new tiny life.

I feel so much more connected somehow.  Definitely more emotional.  But by hearing this metaphor...now this is more that just a season or a celebration in which we count down to a special day filled with family and friends and love and joy.  It's a season of extreme anticipation. Extreme longing.

Just like those feelings I felt going from this day:

To this day:

And from that day to this day:

And then finally finally this day:

...When I think about all of the waiting and anticipation that I felt thinking about my own daughter's arrival... I now feel that same anxiousness waiting for that day when our Lord joined us on this earth as this:

Whether you personally know what it's like to be physically pregnant or not, join me in this season of "pregnancy" and anticipation and extreme longing for Jesus where we reorient our lives to focus on Him.  For us, that has meant attending church every Sunday (making a conscious effort to not play hooky - which can be easy to do esp. with a 6 month old!), attending the mid-week Advent Teaching Series at our church every Wednesday during Advent, and by spending more time in prayer and in the word by doing a devotional together each morning before Ryan leaves for work (and before the baby is up - that's early!) I hope that God continues to change our hearts so that we might understand this season more fully, that he gives us the ability to teach our children about Him and His son and that he guides our family so that we might walk more closely with him throughout the entire year.

Merry Christmas!

Month 6 - Heidi

Month 6: Baby!

Age: 6 months

Weight: 17.9 lbs.

Major calendar events: Playgroup at church, getting baptized, first Rice football game

Milestones: Sitting up!

Sleep: Uuuhh.... where to begin... we FINALLY switched Heidi over to her own crib in her own room.  The first night or two went great.  She went down easy, didn't wake up in the middle of the night... however, at this point it takes HOURS to get her to go down.  She can be completely zonked and then the second she gets put down she's wide awake and screaming her head off.  After multiple hours, she eventually is tired enough to stay sleeping when we put her down.  Goodness.  I don't know how to fix this!!  We have tried to let her cry it out... however it's not like a "putting herself to sleep" cry it out - more like a "someone is surely trying to kill me so I will scream bloody murder and work myself up more and more until someone comes to get me" cry.  She is never so tired that she just gives up, slows down and eventually zonks out. So sleep is... not good.  Terrible.  Although finally moving her into her own room was major progress.  Somehow we have zero issues getting her to take naps during the day, perhaps because 99% of the time it's on mommy...oops.

Likes:  Shrieking and screeching, watching and smiling at the dogs, SHOPPING! phones and remote controls, bath time and yelling like someone is falling off of a cliff (AAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh.............)  

Dislikes:  Going to sleep at night.

Best moment:  Seeing Heidi baptized in the church that I grew up in and that we got married in!  Also, Ryan had to go out of town for work and I was super nervous about Heidi actually sleeping while he was gone - she did AWESOME the first night - yay!!  

Worst moment:  Nothing comes to mind

Eating: Still exclusively breastfeeding, every 4 hours. However, we have tried a few solid foods just for fun (and in an attempt to fill Heidi up a little bit more before bedtime!)  We have tried bananas, avocados and sweet potatoes!  Avocado was the only thing that she really didn't care for.

Things I want to remember:  Everything!

Month 6: Mama

I do still feel somewhat imbalanced... although just sometimes not very often.  Almost like a PMS kind of thing.  I am sure this is from the hormones that accompany breastfeeding.  I am also So. Freaking. Hot.  All the time.  I'm always hot and sweaty and I get hot flashes constantly.  If I had it my way, I would just hang out with menopausal women all the time because they know what I'm going through!!  Other than that I can honestly say that breastfeeding is not something that I hate.  It took me several months to get here, and for my boobs to adjust and stop making me feel miserable and gross all the time.  But we're here.  We did it.  6 months!!!  A goal that 5 months ago (hell even 3 months ago) I thought I would never make it to.  And guess what?  We're going to keep going!

Personal info coming your way.... but OMG yall major scare this month.  Remember how last month my period returned for the second month in a row??  Well.... this month the day came and went.  Nothing.  My brain was telling me "Surely, SURELY my body is still just out of whack and getting back to normal. SURELY."  However, there was a part of me deep down thinking... "WHAT IF?!?!?"  It's possible.  And it wouldn't be the absolute worst thing in the world.  But definitely not something that my body is ready for again quite yet.  So I was freaking out but trying not to jump to conclusions... but still freaking out... I refused to take a pregnancy test because that would make my fears more real despite the result.  I just wanted to stay in a world where that wasn't even a possibility.  I told Ryan while we were on a walk one day.  He just laughed.  For being such a planner, ducks-in-a-row kind of guy, he has always been super unconcerned (maybe unstressed is a better word...) when it comes to having babies (somehow!) and for that I am extremely grateful.  He said that I was probably right and that my body was still probably just adjusting to not having a baby in it anymore, but if that WASN'T the case that we would be okay. And he would laugh.  Even though I told him that it would NOT be funny.  One week later... my suspicions were right and everything was back to normal.   WHEW.  (Turns out there actually is a pretty decent amount of science backing up the whole "exclusive breasfeeding = birth control, which I might get more into later...it's pretty interesting!)  So I basically had a full week of semi-panic mode, but other than that there is nothing really new or exciting to report on my end.  

Here are some pics from our 6th month with this angel!!

Took Heidi to PetSmart (or as I like to call it the free zoo).  She's checkin out those mice!

Fish.

Grocery shopping is exhausting!

But running at Memorial Park isn't so bad.

Ready for the pumpkin patch!

Not feelin it...

Our little strawberry!  Heidi's 1st Halloween.

This is how we eat dinner around here...

A tree planted in my grandpa's name in Kingwood.  She was super happy to take so many pictures with it and I had a hard time holding it together!

Finally some cool weather so we can enjoy our little outdoor fire!

Eating some bananies!  Hazel is wondering what the heck is going on.

Sitting in an heirloom chair at great-grandma Warners!

A baby owl spotted at the Rice football game!

The only picture I took of all 3 of us. Oops!

Aunt Carrie showed up in the middle of bath time - and Heidi was NOT a fan of that to say the least...

The cutest hats.

Dr. Davis baptizing Heidi.

The whole group.

Our girl on her special day!

Month 5 - Heidi

Month 5: Baby!

Age: 5 months

Weight:  Somewhere around the 16 lb. mark, although I never actually checked this month...

Major calendar events:  Attended her first birthday parties (Becca Rose turned 1 and Beau also turned 1!), 4 month shots, 1st overnight away from mom, met Jenny and Matt, first play date...WHEW busy month!

Milestones:  Nothing major that I can recall

Sleep:  Sleeping through the night although every now and then she will wake up to eat.  Still in our room (oops) and we said goodbye to the swaddle!  Now she just sleeps in her sleep 'n play jammies

Likes:  Laughing and smiling - smiles at just about everyone! Water bottles and just about any container of liquid

Eating:  100% breastmilk every 4 hours

Month 5: Mama

Well it's been confirmed.  100% positive my body is back on track reg. my ladyness.  Oh damn.

Got enough spit bubbles, Heidi?

Hanging out with Aunt Emily

This is one crazy lady

Happy girl!

Ready for her first play date

Friends!

Petting Hazel.

We love you "Uncle" Chris!