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!

Our Last Day of All Day Everyday Togetherness

I'm going to make sure this smile NEVER goes away!

I'm going to keep this post short, because I'm already tearing up writing this first sentence!  So where do I begin??

Words cannot describe the love I have for the little girl who grew perfectly inside me for 40 weeks and 4 days.  She was perfect to me in utero.  I had no morning sickness, food aversions, nausea, excessive weight, etc!  She was perfect to me in delivery, as I had a medicine free delivery and 2 good pushes to finally meet her and perfectly allowed me to get quickly back into my pre-mommy physique.  And now she's been perfect to me for the 11 weeks and 4 days of her life that we shared together daily!

As I go to work tomorrow and take you to day care, I think of how you adjusted to life in the Lavender home.  You have been a healthy, happy and extremely hilarious baby!  I've enjoyed every moment of lost sleep, every diaper I had to change and even every cry that you shed to let us know you were in need.  I would have to be honest and say that it hasn't always been easy adjusting to motherhood, as breastfeeding certainly came with its share of pain, and lifestyle adjustments are still difficult to accept and endulging in my wine and spirits seem to be few and far between!  But it is all so worth it!

As I look back on these past weeks, some of the moments I cherish most are going to the mall and strolling you along as you took in every image you came across.  I enjoyed establishing feeding/play/nap schedule for you and feeling like my Ah-ha moment came when I finallly got the confidence to decipher your cries and anticipate your wants.  You enjoyed your activity time just as much as I enjoyed reading and playing with you.  Bathtime wasn't always friendly, but I finally found out how to make the experience enjoyable for both us!   Of course I can't forget you allowing me to photograph you at every chance I got!  You amused me long enough to get my money shots before you let me know "enough is enough"!  And lastly, I thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Shreveport, just you and me and you traveled like a pro!  I was certainly nervous about the trip, but you quickly allayed my fears with your consistent demeanor!

If I had it my way, I would be a SAHM (stay at home mom).  I thought I would NEVER say that, but having had the opportunity to stay home and nurture my child, it embed a brand new feeling of responsibility that I never had before.  But since that is not my reality, I feel even more responsibility to excel in my career and provide a life for her that she deserves and more!

The love for your child is the type of love that never goes away.  I will love my child to the day I die!

Thank you JSL for being as perfect as God has intended you to be!  Though I'm headed back to work, my evenings will be all about our family!  Please know that the sacrifices being made are ALL for you!