A Little Pictorial Catch Up

I've been absent from this blog, but of course, you know the reason why.  Really, I wasn't supposed to continue beyond Jiselle's birth.  I only wanted to chronicle my pregnancy to her birth, but I extended it a little longer.  Now that I'm at the point that I no longer feel the desire to capture each milestone via this blog, I've found the perfect site to build my blog book!

But of course, before I capture all the thoughts, emotions, and feelings since over this time last year, I had to end this blog with the period to its ending.  Because words can longer offer each of these precious moments its due commentary, I will post a few pics that show how this little bundle of joy has turned quickly into her own...in just a short 7 months!

The  Ultrasound

Your 1st Birth Pic

Day 2 at home

Tired of all the photo sessions already!

Even smaller than Nina, the Yorkie

Playing Dress Up

Cold and upset after your bath

So many Expressions

A Mother's Love

Mommy/Daughter Nap Time

Dress Up again!

Your 1st Easter

My 1st Mother's Day

You let me have my body back early!

Grand Finally meets you!

Your Baby Blessing

I enjoy making your food!

Bouncing in your Tigger Jumper

Your 1st time at the beach ~ Ocean City, MD

6 months old - You're natural holding your bottle

All I can say as I end this blog is....We love you Jiselle!

A Little Luxury

I've said in previous blog posts that bath times have not always been pleasant for me or JSL...until I bought the Puj anyway.

Getting a shampoo...the first of MANY!

Now, she's all smiles while I wash and shampoo her.  And boy, is this a much better experience than when I was washing her in a little basin!

Bathtime

But just when I thought she was really enjoying bath time now, her Aunt Jess bought her a new spa tub!  I thought this little indulgence was the cutest ever.   It's the Summer Infant Lil Luxuries Whirpool bubbling spa tub.

I haven't opened it yet since she still comfortably fits in the Puj, but I'm really excited to try the new spa tub out in a couple more months.  This little tub can take her up to 2 years of age, so we have lots of time to create extra special relaxing spa days for her!

Hopefully she likes it....or this excitement is all for naught!

Thank You Easter Bunny!

Having grown up with the last name, Easter, meant that this day that honors the resurrection of Jesus Christ was extra special to us as kids.  I remember dying eggs with my mom the evening before, waking up to a nice little Easter basket, having our own little Easter egg hunt in our backyard, waking up at the break of dawn to attend Sunrise service, eating breakfast, and then heading back to church for the regular morning service.

Though we didn't do any of this with JSL this year, she can she look forward to sharing some of the same Easter memories as I had.

One of which is the annual picture with the Easter bunny!  I swear this Easter bunny and background looks exactly like my Easter bunny pics as a kid!

Future note to self when taking these mall pics...B.M.O.C. - Bring.My.Own.Camera!  By the time the mall attendants were able to take a clear picture, JSL was done with the bunny!  As you can see in her expression...she's over it!  This was after about 5 -10 minutes of them working on getting a clear shot.  I even changed her to the opposite lap because the bunny whiskers were annoying her as they kept brushing against her face!

As you know from the many pics I take of her, it's not hard to get her to smile or laugh, but after a while, your window of opportunity is CLOSED.  And the mall photogs hit that window!

I love taking shots of her with her bears!

My First Day at Day Care

Yes, I say MY first day at day care because I needed to settle and get adjusted even more than she did!  After tossing around various options for JSLs daycare, we finally landed on the old faithful day care approach, Bright Horizons!   We discussed DLs mom coming to live with us, we explored the nanny concept and even looked into home day care, but we made the decision (at this point anyway) to enroll her in the day care at my job.  Everything about the facility is focused on education & development where I have no doubt she will flourish!  This decision certainly ain't cheap, but another sacrifice we had to make as parents.  So, updates on my latest bag purchase or cute little outfit selection will be few!  (sad face)

Yes, this came with some pros and cons since my drive to work is an hour commute and a 60 mile drive, so just thinking of doing this everyday with precious cargo on board was a little unsettling to me.  Not to mention that now it will become a little more difficult to participate in the after hours happy hours that we as co-workers sometimes do.

But nonetheless, I enjoyed every morning and evening drop off and pick up of my baby girl.  She only lasts about the first 15 minutes of our ride before she's completely knocked out!

Here's her welcome sign in her classroom

Mommy dropping her off!  She has that look like she's say, "Mom, get over it already"!

Here's her teacher, Ms. Carrie

Her personal diaper cubby.  I took pictures of everything they had up with her name on it!  LOL

So after her first week, it was certainly bittersweet!  I enjoy the fact that she receives sensory and motor skills development on a daily basis and the fact that she's able to interact with other children as well, but the downside was that she still needed to get adjusted herself.  On days 1 - 3 of her first week, she only slept a max of 20 minutes each naptime because she still looks around trying to figure out where she is.  When I came to visit her on my lunch break Monday, her eyes were swollen because she was SO sleepy!  And she looked at me as if she was saying, "Mom, can we just go home so I can get some sleep!"  Or maybe that was my interpretation!  

So needless to say, she is out like a light when we get home.  I literally have to wake her to eat and change her diaper and then put her back to sleep.  Which in itself is bittersweet because yes, my evenings are free, but bitter that I don't have playtime with my baby girl!

I'm confident it will all settle soon and we all will adjust to our new lifestyle!