My new blog design!

Finally! My blog has received it's well overdue facelift! Erin @ Designer Blogs did a great job on creating just what I wanted... when I didn't even know what I wanted to begin with! They are having a 30% off sale until the end of January, so go check them out! I also decided to change the title of my blog. When I first started this back when I was pregnant I couldn't really come up with a unique name. I knew the blog was going to be all for Kaylee so using her name as the title was the best I could come up with. Over the past 5 months we have came up with several nicknames for her but the one we use the most is 'Kaylee Bug' or something close to it :) So that is where the new title, 'A Bugs Life' comes from... at first I wasn't sure if I should go with it or not... but I think it's growing on me :)

Just a little note

Baby Girl,

I usually only write you a letter once a month but I really wanted to write one to you tonight. Today was a fun day because you are finally learning how to move around when we lay you on your stomach and you came so close to rolling over today! I was so excited for you but sad at the same time. You are growing up so fast on me... not only in age but in size. You are getting so big and are bigger than most babies your age. I have tried to start getting videos of you more often because I want to be able to look back on this time and remember all of these special moments. Even after what I went through when I had you, I have caught myself thinking at times that maybe I want another baby just because I already miss you being little... but I just don't think it would be the same because that baby wouldn't be you!

You are past the weight limit on the bassinet part of your pack n play and I have been thinking about trying to get you to start sleeping in your crib since you do such a great job of sleeping through the night. I think you would do fine but I just don't want to be that far away from you and the thought of you sleeping by yourself upstairs is just something that I'm not ready for. I know I am probably creating a monster but I think we will be keeping you in our room for several more months.

I love you so much Kaylee Bug and your Daddy & I are so lucky to have you here with us. Your sweet personality and smile are my favorite things about you and I hope that never changes. You are tucked in bed asleep right now, so goodnight and sleep tight baby girl!

Love,
Mommy

where does the time go

well it sure doesnt seem like it but my little kaylee bug is already 5. months old that is. before you know it she will be half a year old then she will be 5 then 13 then 20 and so on. im afraid that she is gonna grow up on us so quick and she just wont be a little baby anymore. she already seems so grown up because she sleeps all night long, she is progressing very well, she seems to be very smart and very attentive to things. she has also learned her little "daddy i want that" face that im sure i am gonna see alot in the future and wont be able to say no to...ever. it feels like only yesterday that we got her little bouncy thing that she sits in with her feet touching the floor and she just jumps around in now and when we first got it her feet wouldnt come close to touching the floor that we had to stack pillows and blankets under her feet so she could reach to now talking about having to raise it up a notch cause she is gonna jump out of it one of these days. either she is growing taller so that her feet are on the ground or she is getting fatter and heavier that it cant support her. but its very funny and cute to sit there and watch her bounce and play in it

5 Months

Kaylee,

Yesterday you turned 5 months old and once again, I can't believe how fast time is flying by. It makes me sad to think that next month you will be 1/2 a year old! This past month we celebrated your first Christmas. We went back home this year and we might possibly go back to Tennessee next year but after that, if we are still living in North Carolina, I plan on us being here Christmas Eve & Christmas Day. As you grow up I want you to be able to wake up Christmas morning and see all of your presents from Santa under the Christmas tree. With your bedroom being upstairs, I can already picture you running down the stairs on Christmas morning, excited to see what Santa brought you :)

I am so happy that your reflux has been getting better over the past month. You still struggle with it at times but it is so much better than just a few months ago. Your teeth are taking their time trying to come in but haven't bothered you quite as much this month compared to last. You're still sleeping great at night... anywhere from 9 hours (which rarely happens) to 11 hours straight. No matter how sleepy I am in the morning I always look forward to sitting up and looking over at you. It melts my heart to see you turn your head towards me and give me the biggest smile when you see me!

During the day you have struggled with your naps. You went from taking 1 long 3-4 hour nap during the day to only taking short 30 minute naps while your daddy or I hold you. Today you did manage to take almost a 2 hour nap while I held you. I hope we can get things back on track with your naps. You have been getting fussy a lot more and I think it is because of your short naps, but I'm sure we will get it all figured out! Your happiest times of the day, other than when you first wake up, is when you are eating! I have been feeding you solids once a day and trying to get on a more consistent schedule with that. We switched you from rice cereal to oatmeal which seems to be working better. At first you didn't like it but now it's not so bad. You still don't like green beans, carrots or peas but you love peaches, pears and sweet potatoes. I always put your Bumbo seat on the counter... which of course, your not supposed to do... :) and feed you that way. You like to grab the spoon and try to feed yourself, but I still have to hold onto it so that you don't stick the spoon down your throat!

You and your daddy have spent a lot of time together over the past 2 months since he lost his job, and I can tell that you really enjoy it. You love to just stare at him and smile and these past few days when he has left the house to go to tryouts, you have been so happy to see him when he gets home. He has definitely spoiled you by holding you all the time!

You continue to amaze me every day by how much you are changing. You still haven't figured out how to roll over yet but you are starting to learn how to sit up by yourself. You can sit without me holding you for a few seconds but then you forget to hold yourself up! You are starting to love your bouncy seat even more and I can tell you are getting taller because now you can reach the floor without me having to put a blanket under you. You also love Remi, Liza and Winston. Especially Remi, you will just stare at him and when we put him in our bed with you if he gets close enough, your eyes get really big and you try to grab him with both hands! There have been several times you have grabbed him, but you just squeeze so hard that he hates it :)

I can't wait to see how much you change over this next month little one! I love you so much!

Love,
Mommy

Almost 5 months and...

MY BACK STILL HURTS! When will this ever end? Ever since the anesthesiologists played target practice on my back with all of the epidurals and the spinal block, I have had the worst pain in my back... in the mornings it's really sore...then it starts feeling like something is stuck in my back and then by the end of the day the pain spreads to my whole back...

When I went for my 6 week checkup the doctor told me, "Oh, that's normal... the pain will go away within a month or so..." yea...so its been a month and it's still there! And if the pain wasn't bad enough, parts of my back keep going numb. Has anyone else had this problem?

But on a better note... within the next few weeks I will be making some big changes to my blog! I'm pretty excited about it and hope it all turns out the way I want it to!

And even better news... Kaylee has figured out how to feed herself with a spoon! Apparently I wasn't capable of doing this to her standards so she just took over... I caught it on video so as soon as I get it uploaded I will try to put it on here!

Just another day...

I really haven't had much to blog about lately... and if I did, I wouldn't have time because someone has been fussy! Monday I took Kaylee back to Wake Forest for her 2nd swallow study. It's so funny because the speech pathologist always tells me a lot of the babies don't like the study because of being strapped into the little chair that they sit in while being x-rayed... but Kaylee doesn't mind at all. As long as she is eating she is happy!

The study showed she will still aspirate if her formula isn't thickened but it isn't as bad. The biggest improvement was the fact that only a very little amount of milk is going up into her nose each time she swallows, which is great considering last time we went formula would go into her lungs and all the way up into her nose each time she swallowed. Her esophagus still has damage but it looked slightly better than the last study 3 months ago.

Other than the swallow study not much has happened since I last posted. We are still dealing with the short 30-45 minute naps, which has been going on for several weeks. It's getting old... but hopefully she will go back to the 2-3 hour naps soon... I can only hope right? I found these 3 pictures which are oddly all of her sleeping...

My little angel :)

Taking a nap with daddy & seahorse
She loves her flower!

Things have been stressful around here with Daniel's job search. I really would like to go back to work but it's hard to find a job that is flexible so that I can work around Daniel's schedule if he is able to find a job before racing season starts. Hopefully the next time I blog I will have good news!

Happy New Year Baby Girl