Merry Christmas!

Mya had a wonderful Christmas! She turned 6 months old on Christmas Eve. She enjoyed partaking in the family festivities at Bill's house. It was nice to catch up with the family and she enjoyed playing with her cousin Sophie. On Christmas day, she opened her gifts late afternoon as Bobby had worked the night before and was still sleeping in the morning. Santa brought Mya a Mickey Mouse Doll, Laugh & Learn toys, wearable blankets, books, clothes, pjs, and a Leap Frog toy named Violet. For dinner, we had prime rib, sweet potatoes, cole slaw and green beans for dinner. It was delicious! Joe & Katie prepared a wonderful meal.

In the last month, Mya has started eating solids again. She has had rice and oatmeal cereal. We are going to try wheat and barley cereal and then progress into fruits and veggies. She has started to sit up by herself for longer periods of time. Her attention span has grown and she enjoys watching the Mickey Mouse Club, playing with other children and laughing. Once we start laughing, she quickly joins in. She loves bouncing in her bouncer and walking in her walker. She is definetly defining her personatily, as she will let you know when she is not happy and wants something else. She is also quite the Daddy's girl :)

Just this weekend she has started holding a sippy cup and she will be taking a bath in the big tub instead of the whale tub. She started splashing and kicking all of the water out of the tub in the sink. We also started cleaning out her closet as she is takine 7 oz of formula at a time in addition to the cereal. She is growing by leaps and bounds.

5 months & Thanksgiving

Mya has turned 5 months old and has since tried rice cereal. She doesn't really love it and doesn't know what to do with the spoon, but it will take practice. We thought she had an allergic reaction to the rice, but it was a viral rash. Mya had contracted RSV a respiratory virus and we had our first trip to the Pediatric Urgent Care. She started wheezing and it scared me, so I was happy I took her in. Thankfully my mom went with me. Bobby was working. Dr. White tested her for RSV and it was positive and treated her with a steroid to open up her airways. She seems to be responding well. My entire family has been under the weather. I had a 24 hr stomach bug, Bobby had Mya's virus and now I think I'm battling her virus. I'm taking lots of sudafed and hoping to feel better soon. Because the entire family was sick, we did not have our usually Thanksgiving festivities. Usually we run the Annual Turkey Trot and go over to Bill's for dinner. This year, my mom came over and together we cooked a Thanksgiving Dinner. It was nice and intimate. I good fit for Mya's first Thanksgiving.
Other mile stones Mya has had this month was riding in her stroller without the car seat and she's been laughing much more. She's also been making noises and sounds, so she's finding her voice. She loves to watch the Mickey Mouse Club and jump in her jumper. She is learning how to sit up by herself and we are working with her on rolling all the way over. She weighs 14 lbs 13 oz.

4 Months old & first Halloween!

Mya is growing like a weed. We just had her 4 month check up and she is now weighing 13 lb. 9 oz (she's in the 50% percentile) and is 25 1/2" long (90% percentile for height). She is long and skinny :) This month she had her first Sears Photo shoot and celebrated her first Halloween. Mya was Tinkerbell and she enjoyed watching me hand out candy. She also visited our neighbors, Ernie & Edna who gave her a book and some cute chew rings and rattles since she is too young for candy. Mya also attended her Aunt Sarah & Uncle John's first Halloween party. Her cousins dressed up as Mario and Luigi. She visited the rotary club on Friday, Oct. 29th and enjoyed spending time with the girls. Mya is very social and enjoys looking at everything. As for TV...surprising enough, she likes to watch it and specifically the Mickey Mouse Club. She loves looking at things and is finding Belle and the cats more amusing.

North Carolina Photos

3 1/2 months old

Mya has been a very busy beaver this past month. She has already attended several events. On Sept 25th she attended her cousin Sophie's 2 yr B-day. She enjoyed watching Sophie play with her new red wagon, climbing playground and Dora the Explorer books & trike. On Sunday Sept. 26th she attended her cousin Logan's 6 Yr B-day at Jungle Bounce. She enjoyed watching the kids play on all of the huge blow up houses and slides. She enjoyed the music and met Rosal, Rachel & Ben for the first time.

At the beginning of October Mya caught her first cold, but the ped said she was fine. She went on her first long road trip up to Peoria, Illinois to visit family and attend her Grandma Lori's & Grandpa Troy's wedding. It was a 20 hour drive up to IL and Mya did very well. She slept most of the way, but once we hit IL border she was over it. It was the last longest 6 hours of all of our lives. Mya was very unhappy. She had a lot of firsts on this trip. She rolled over for the first time from back to belly. She went down a slide and swung on swings with her daddy. Her daddy wore her in the Snugi while he did these activities. She went to her first Apple Orchard at Tanners and got to see lots of Billy Goats. She attended the wedding ceremony, but was miserable afterwards, so we did not make the reception. She did have the opportunity to meet alot of her family including Great Grandma Ellen, Cousins Jack & Allyson, Uncle Shane and many more.

On Oct. 11th we left for Salisbury NC which was a 13 hour trip and Mya did extremely well. She slept the entire time. She met Grandpa Mac & Grandma Sandy. She also met Aunt Chrissy and Uncle Matt. She went to her first winery and took a little nap. She stayed in her first hotel room and laughed for the first time when her daddy tickled her. We arrived home on Friday Oct. 15th -a 10 hour leg of the trip. It was a great experience and we are happy Mya got to meet lots of her family.

2 Month Shots@ 12 Weeks old

Mya had her first set of shots yesterday. Katie's friend Amanda at Pediatric Specialists was the one to administer it. She got two shots in her legs and an oral vaccine. I cried more than she did. She broke my heart because she let out a "What the heck are you doing? That f*** hurts!" kind of cry. Once she was done, Bobby took her up in his arms and rocked her. We gave her a bottle immediately and she already forgot what happened to her. That night we gave her a soothing bath and massaged her legs. I took off the band aids in the water and was surprised to see so much blood on them. Usually when adults get shots we rarely bleed, but I guess a baby has less skin, so the needle is probably huge (I wouldn't know, I couldn't watch the shot being given...I know I'm a chicken ). She slept 11 1/2 hours last night and 10 hours the night before (straight...in a row!) She has been sleeping alot, so I imagine she is going through a growth spurt and may be tired from the shots too. Mya now weighs 11 lb 6 oz and is 24" long. She is in the 90th percentile for her height and the 75th for her weight. She turned 12 weeks old on Thursday and next Friday she will be 3 months old! She is already growing out of several 0-3 month PJ's and outfits, specifically because of her length!

Big Week!

Mya had a really huge week! She is now 11 weeks old, but this week she went to a restaurant for the very first time for lunch. She slept over her Aunt Sarah's on Wednesday Sept 8th while Bobby & I attended the Pasco Economic Development Council's Award Banquet. We are excited to report that Progressive Air Systems won the Service & Distribution category! We had some tough competition and we are very proud of this award. Mya did wonderful at Aunt Sarah's, she slept 10 1/2 hours...so it was her first time sleeping thru the night. Bobby and I were going to stay at Saddlebrook, but we decided to come home early. We passed by Sarah's around 12:30am and the light was on. I went to sleep about 1am, but I was so nervous the entire time. I was in fear that Mya was screaming her head off and Sarah was just cursing our names and vowing to never watch her again.
The next night, was Bobby's 33rd B-day and we went out to lunch at Olive Garden with Grandpa Joe and Mya was wonderful in the restaurant. She didn't fuss at all. She slept in her cradle next to my bed and only slept 7 hours and woke up for a feeding, which was pretty typical.
Last night, Mya slept in her own room in her crib for the first time over night. She slept all the way through from 8:30pm-7am, so about 10 1/2 hours! We went out to Chilis with Katie, Travis, Joe, Jason & Mateo. She was so good! We were there from 6pm-8pm. Her bedtime routine usually starts at 7pm. We gave Mya a bath, fed her and put her to sleep in her own room. It went very well. I woke up at 4:30am and 6:30 am to check on her and she was so still. I had to listen very carefully to hear her tiny breaths. Since it went well, we transferred everything of hers out of our bedroom and she is now completely moved into her room. Hopefully she will sleep through the night tonight as well. She had a really good day with a 1 hr nap, a 3hr nap & a 30 min nap. Hopefully, this will set the tone for the next few weeks. She is currently taking about 3-5oz of Formula. I have started making a couple of 5 oz bottles for when we think she has gone a long while and will take it. Next week Mya will be getting her 1st set of vaccines...so we are very nervous. Hopefully it won't be a big deal to her and she will just sleep it off. I will keep you posted.

2 Months Old

Mya is already 2 months old! She can hold her head up pretty well and can stand up with assistance. Today she stood up in her Whale Bath Tub (while I'm holding her) but it scared me because she's so slippery. We have learned that Mya is very opinionated and when she wants something, she wants it now! She loves to be held and hates being put down. She loves cuddling and playing on her pink mat. After she finishes her bottle she is all smiles. She Coos and stares up at the fans. She sticks out her tongue and she seems to be drooling alot more.

I've had to retire most of Mya's newborn clothes. Last week (Aug. 16-20th) I took all of her newborn clothes and put them away for the next baby. She is now wearing between 0-3 months, but not all of them fit. Some are still way too big and a few seem too small. Mya seems like she is getting longer and longer. She weighs about 10lbs unofficially. She doesn't see her Pediatrician until Sept. for her first set of shots. Mya is consistently drinking 4 oz of formula and occasionally 5 oz in the late night hours. Mya has also been sleeping between 5-7 hours at night! She even slept 8 hr 15 minutes one night and it scared me because I kept expecting her to wake up, so I kept checking on her to make sure she is breathing...

Aunt Sarah is doing a fantastic job watching Mya while I go to work. Everyday Mya gets to walk her cousin Logan to Kindergarten and she does tummy time with Sarah. It is a blessing to have family so close by and willing to watch her. I had my Post Par tum check up on Monday, Aug 23rd and have been released. My C-Section cut has healed nicely so I'm ok to exercise regularly. So far everything seems to being going much better. Mya is always surprising me and I love her more and more each day.

1st Week Back to Work

Wow! What a week it's been. Monday, August 9th was my first day back to work at Progressive Air Systems. I'm currently working about 6 hours per day=30 per week. I cried when I dropped Mya off at Aunt Sarah's...actually back up, I started to cry the week before I dropped her off. I had so many fears and feelings of sadness leading up to that Monday morning. I have so many things to be thankful for, first of all...Sarah is a wonderful mother and she made me feel comfortable about dropping my first born off to her. I still cried, but once I got into work I felt better and being busy and feeling needed definitely helped. Bobby has been very helpful in helping me take care of her and get myself ready for work. I usually drop Mya off at Sarah's by 8:45am and Bobby goes to sleep about 8am. Currently he works the 3rd shift and comes home to check on us frequently. He is trying to stay up when he is home and take care of Mya so I can get some sleep. It's been great because I've been able to work out a couple of times in the morning before she wakes up.

Mya is 7 weeks old today. She seems to be doing very well over at Sarah's. Sarah says she is enjoying Mya and is happy to watch her. She is doing us a huge favor! Mya still eats about the same and manages to give me about 5-6 hours of sleep when she is first put down followed by shorter 3-4 hour naps. She is extremely fussy around 6-7pm, which happens to be when I am trying to get her to go down for the night. Sometimes I have to give her gripe water to calm her down and I hate doing it, but thankfully most of the time it works and she relaxes a bit. I hope that she grows out of this phase soon.

New Born Photos by Rebecca Brittian

6 Weeks Old

Mya is 6 weeks old now! She weighs close to 9lbs and she enjoys eating about 4 oz of formula every 2-4 hours. At night she sleeps between 4-6 hours and during the day we wake her about every 2-2 1/2 hours for feedings. We ran errands this week as Mya got to visit the US Post office, our bank, and Progressive Air Systems. We visited Mya's Great Grandma Judy at her house for a while. Grandma got to feed Mya and spend the quality time with her. She also met Maria Richards, my hair dresser, and Maria's sons: Dylan & Dean this week. My mom came over yesterday and spent a few hours with her Granddaughter. My mom helped Bobby give Mya a bath while I attended my JSL Board meeting. Mya seems very content, but things are about to change (again). This past week Bobby went back to work and I managed the night feedings on my own, needless to say, I was exhausted in the am. This coming week, I will be going back to work and Mya will be watched by her Aunt/my sister-in-law Sarah. Sarah is very excited to be taking care of Mya. I am ready to get into the impending routine. It has been really nice to be off on maternity leave for 6 weeks. I've enjoyed "almost" every moment spending time with my family, getting to know our daughter and rekindling my relationship with Bobby.

Mya's 1 Month Old! Time is Flying

It's hard to believe that yesterday Mya turned 1 month old. She is growing up so fast and time is flying. Bobby goes back to work in a week and I will start shortly after him. We have been enjoying our time off together. It has really brought us closer as a family.

Mya has had a very very busy week. On Sunday, Brian and Jolene came over and had dinner with us. They got to meet Mya for the first time. It was really nice to see them and spend some time catching up with them.

On Monday, she visited Progressive Air Systems and got to meet all the girls in the office, as well as her cousin Brittani, Uncle Bill, and many other Progressive Air Employees. We also took her to Toys R Us for the first time, so it was her first official shopping trip.

Tuesday we visited Jason, Melissa and Mateo Marques at their home. Jason cooked us a delicious meal...chicken piccatta, so yummy. This was the first time Mateo got to hold Mya and he sang to her as well, it was so cute.

Wednesday, my mom came over and watched Mya for the second time. Bobby and I went on a "real date" just the two of us. It was strange not having the baby with us as we ventured out. We went to sprint because our new black berries arrived and we had to transfer our contacts over and then we saw the movie Eclipse. We missed Mya so much, we never went out to dinner...we'll have to work our way up to that.

Friday, Mya attended her 1st Trinity Rotary meeting and she made an awesome impression. We had a visit from the new District Governor and her husband as well as some past district Governor's. It was wonderful, Mya was on her best behavior and everyone loved meeting her. She was even flirting with Dr. Hassell. I was so proud of her.

Mya seems more alert and she is holding her head up longer. Also, when we do a few minutes of tummy time, she picks up her head and moves it side to side. She also tries to get her knees under her....training to be a crawler lol. Today, she deliberately batted at a toy when playing on her mat. She makes great eye contact and smiles sometimes. As far as sleeping goes...it's hit or miss. Sometimes she'll sleep a 4 hour stretch and sometimes it's only 2 hours. However, she did sleep a 5 hour stretch the other night and it was wonderful! This morning/last night was not that pleasant, as she only slept 2 hours the first session, followed by 4 hours, followed by only 2 hours. So needless to say we were up quite early this Sunday morning. Hopefully she will sleep longer soon. Preferably by the time I go back to work :)

3 Week Birthday

It's hard to believe that Mya is 3 weeks old today! Time is really flying by and she is changing so much so fast. This week we had a visit from Grandma Lori and Aunt Chrissy from IL. It was nice to have them down to visit and share some tips with us. Mya had another visit at the Pediatrician and she gained 7 oz, so she now weighs 7lb 7oz. She has a blocked tear duct in her left eye, so we have to massage it regularly. Hopefully it will unclog on it's own. Our next pediatrician visit isn't until September where she will receive her first set of vaccines.

Mya has been doing very well on the formula change. She is taking about 3 oz every 2 1/2 to 3 hours. At night she has been sleeping for about 3-4 hours, so Bobby and I are extremely happy! She is still not a good day time napper, but we still try to get her to nap so she's not such a crabby butt. Mya had her first real bath and it was given by Aunt Chrissy who is a NICU Nurse in IL and has 3 children. She taught Bobby and I how to really soap her up and get her clean. Mya hated the bath of coarse, but smelled wonderful afterwards. Hopefully she will like it soon.

Bobby and I got to go out to dinner with the family on July 13th. My mom watched Mya and it was the first time we left her alone with someone. Bobby and I were both a bit nervous, not because Grandma was watching her, but because it was the first time we'd been away. We went to Hooters with Aunt Chrissy, Aunt Katie, Travis and Grandma Lori. We were only gone for an 1 1/2, because we missed her so much.

Mya's 2 Week B-day

Mya is now 2 weeks old and weigh 7lbs! Bobby and I are adjusting slowly to parenthood. Lately Mya has not been taking naps during the day and she is extremely fussy. I think she is getting over tired and nothing we do can console her. Thankfully this does occur during the day and in the evening we add some Gripe Water to her bottle and she is calm and sleeps well for a couple of hours between feedings. We took Mya to the pediatrician yesterday to verify that there was nothing wrong health-wise and the doc switched her formula to a hypo-allergic one. We are testing to see if she not sleeping because she is extremely gassy. Which is true, we have found that she is very gassy and this may be why she is not sleeping well. She eats great though...about every 2-3 hours she'll take 2-3oz. She's only been on the new formula for 1 day (Similac Ailmentum) which is very expensive, but if it works we'll pay whatever to keep her happy and healthy. Yesterday she was so tired she fell asleep on my chest. It was adorable and I loved every moment of it, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the formula change will work.

Tuesday we had our newborn photo shoot with Belle, Bobby, Mya and me in Largo. It started out kind of rocky. Mya was inconsolable, but we added some gripe water her bottle and she calmed down. We had a very enjoyable time. Belle was on her best behavior too. Mya peed on her Daddy...lol, she was in the buff for the photo shoot and it was a 50/50 shot it would be me or him. Luckily it wasn't me :) The photos should be ready to preview on Saturday.

I had my 2 week post C-Section OB visit. Dr. Marks says all is looking well and I should still continue to take it easy at least for another 2 weeks. I've lost 23 lbs so far of the 56 I put on. I'm due to see my mid wife mid August for my final post-partum visit. Hopefully all will go well and I will be able to drop the rest of this baby weight.

Mya's 1st Week

It's hard to believe that Mya has already been with us for one week! Bobby and I are completely in love with her and that bond strengthens everyday. We are sleep deprived, but have never been happier. It's amazing how a day can just fly past you and you feel like you really never got anything done. I have so much respect for parents, it is a culture shock! We seem to be adjusting a little better each day as we learn and try to give Mya what she needs. Our pediatric visit went well. We had a touch of jaundice, so when we saw Dr. Hernandez on Monday she asked us to come back on Thursday. On Thursday's visit (Mya's 1 week birthday) she had gained 6oz and was almost to her birth weight! Her jaundice was virtually gone and Dr. Hernandez was very pleased with Mya's progress. We are very thankful to have a healthy and for the most part "happy" baby.