Friday, September 27, 2013

Big Girl In Her ExerSaucer

Hollis absolutely LOVES her exersaucer. I found this exersaucer at a garage sale in my neighborhood for $25! After 30 minutes of cleaning it like a crazy woman, it's as good as new.

This is Hollis' new favorite place to play. She gets so excited sitting up and will flap her arms around and even spin in her seat by wiggling her legs. I'm loving this exersuacer for many reasons, but the main thing that sold me was the little photo pages on it...originally it comes with some generic farm animal pictures but I decided to add pictures of Mommy, Daddy, Mimi & Dadoo, Nana & G-Daddy, PawPaw and cousins Julianne, Farrah & Bella! I think it will be fun for Hollis to look at and practice saying their names when she gets older.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

4 Months Old!

Hollis Leigh is 4 months old today!
Below is her 3 month summary...

Weight: 14 lbs 6.5 oz---68th percentile
Height: 24.75 inches---69th percentile
HC: 15.75 inches---25th percentile

UPDATE from Doctor visit: Dr. Stelle said Hollis looks great! I was concerned about her head being in the 25th percentile, but Dr Steele said that as long as her development is on track with her age (it is!) and there is growth between each well visit then all is well. She said if we show up at her 6 month appointment and there has been no growth or development then that tells her that her brain may not be growing. She said she is certain this will not be the case with Hollis since her development and growth are doing good (please pray that this is the case).-- Dr. Steele said that we should introduce cereals now that Hollis has hit 14 lbs and 4 months. She said to feed her cereal in the morning and night. Once Hollis gets the hang of the spoon we can introduce yellow foods (banana, squash etc.). I'm so excited to start cereals with her!--- My suspicions were right...Hollis is definitely teething. Dr Steele confirmed that her gums were rigged and are getting ready for some teeth!--- At our last visit Dr Steele said Hollis' head looked a little flat on her left side but said she feels improvement and that and said it will even out now that Hollis is enjoying sitting up in her excersaucer and bumbo seat.---Hollis also had her 4 month shots at this appointment. She took them like a champ and didn't cry for the first one but wailed as soon as the second one hit her leg...she cried for about 15 seconds until I picked her up. TOUGH cookie! Overall, Hollis' appointment went well.

Hollis is still sleeping great through the night! Some nights we won't hear a peep out of her and other nights she wakes up fussing. On the fussy nights, we just slip her the paci and she's good!

I'm still loving her first feeding in the morning. We cuddle in the bed and sing songs.

Hollis lights up when she sees Daddy. If he comes close, she just smiles at him. I tell her all the time she is so blessed to have him as her Daddy.

I bought Hollis an excersaucer at a garage sale last weekend and she absolutely LOVES it! We put a blanket around her back for support and a pillow under her feet so she can touch. You can tell she is proud of herself when she plays in it. She likes grabbing all the toys and playing with her ball while sitting in it. (pictures and blog post to come)

Remember last month I said she was showing interest in her feet? Well, she found them and grabs them constantly! She also figured out how to bring them to her mouth. Mmm nothing better than toe jam in the mouth! ;)

Ryan and I started small group this month, so our parents have been watching Hollis for us while we do that. She's done OK...some tears and a couple inconsolable moments but her Grandparents don't mind! I love that she is getting some quality time with them! Thank you MiMi, PawPaw and Nana!!!

Hollis is still showing signs of teething. Drooling and gnawing on everything! She's also had flushed cheeks and her temperature has been a few degrees higher than usual (no fever though). I do feel a bump in her gums but do not see any teeth trying to break through. Time will tell...

Naps are the same...still waking up around the 45 minute mark. I will be glad when we move past that, because right now it just messes her all up. She will not go back to sleep on her own, we have to rock her again or move her to the swing. I've tried patting, rubbing her head, and sshing to get her back to sleep...none of that works.

Hollis is still on a 3.5 hour feeding schedule but showing signs that she is ready to move to a 4 hour schedule. She takes 4 oz of formula and anywhere from .5- 1.5 ounces from me (my supply is still low and varies). Once we move to a 4 hour schedule, I may have to give up breastfeeding. My supply is already limited and I feel like I'm producing even less because sometimes Hollis does not feed for very long on my breast. It's going to be a sad day when we stop breastfeeding but I know that it's time. I'm just proud of myself for pushing through all the obstacles for 4 months.

Sweet girl has some thick and pretty blonde hair. It's growing in evenly too...so pretty!

Her favorite toys are her orange grip ball, light up snail, Sophie the giraffe, Taggiez Elephant and purple teether.

In the last couple days I have stood her up on buffet in the foyer in front of the mirror and she loves it. She smiles at "the baby in the mirror" and talks to herself. It's adorable!

I've started singing our songs with hand motions and she gets a kick out of that. Itsy Bitsy Spider, Patty Cake, ABC's, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. She always smiles when we start singing songs to her.

Hollis rolled over from her belly to back! We are still working on back to belly.

We caught her first laughs on camera too. She will really start laughing with we bite on her feet and blow on her belly.

Hollis' has been sleeping in her pack n play in our room but now that she is 4 months, we will move her to her crib. I'm not ready for that but it's best! She loves her crib already (she takes naps there) so I don't think we will have any issues.

WE LOVE YOU, HOLLIS!!!! Thank you Lord for allowing me to be home with this sweet angel. I'm not sure I could handle not being with her all day! And THANK YOU to Ryan who works so hard for our family...you my love, are a stud!

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Roly Poly

Hollis hit another milestone this week... she is rolling over from belly to back! Yesterday morning we came downstairs and I laid her belly down on the activity mat and went to make a bottle. As I was stirring the bottle I turned to look at her and saw she was on her back! I could not believe it and ran over to praise her and see if she would do it again! I caught the second one on camera! She continued rolling over the rest of the day, my little roly poly.

This video is funny to be because her reaction at the end is like "Yeah, I rolled over. Big deal!". She does get really excited when she rolls over and she looks for me to make sure I saw her and then she smiles so big. I LOVE IT!

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

First Laugh

We caught Hollis' first laughs on camera and it's too sweet not to share! I live for those sweet smiles and laughs. The thing that gets her so tickled is when we make noises and kisses on her neck. ahh I love it!



"Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”
Psalm 126:1-3

Monday, September 9, 2013

Gurley Girl

Saturday Paw Paw showed up at our house with biscuits and a UGA jersey for Hollis! He was getting Hollis game day ready! She looked so cute in her little jersey and it seems she may have brought the dawgs some good luck! ;) Paw Paw called Hollis his "Gurley girl"!

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

H Found Her Voice

Hollis found her voice while we were in Florida! The weeks leading up to this trip, H would make high pitch squeals every once in a while but never really "talked". While I was changing Hollis into her bathing suit she started with the squeals and then started "talking" to me. It was THE sweet thing! I stood there and just talked back and forth with her and you could tell she was so excited. Here's a couple videos of her talking...



Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Hollis & Julianne

I am LOVING these pictures of Hollis and Julianne! These sweet girls are already wearing matching outfits...so sweet!

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Cape San Blas Day 7

Our last night on the beach was PIRATE NIGHT! Pirate night is a tradition that started last year in honor of Pirate Jack (Ryan's Grandfather). 2 beach trips ago he came out one night after dinner in his full pirate costume and it was awesome! We all loved it so much that we decided to dress up as pirates last year and surprise him! We kept the tradition going this trip and it was fun as always!

We found the booty!!!!



IMG_0642
IMG_0675IMG_0687