Sleep Training + New Year

WOW!  What a crazy month!  December was full of great memories with my little family of three.  Millie had an awesome first Christmas and I can't wait to tell you about it however, it's going to take some time that I don't have at the moment but I promise to fill you in later.

Millie will be four months old on the third and by now, her sleeping habits should be pretty good.  But, they're not.  She went from getting anywhere between six to eight hours of sleep at a time to waking up every THREE HOURS!  I have no idea what happened, but she's been consistent for her whole third month.  Needless to say, it's time to start sleep training.  She needs to learn to soothe herself to sleep and be able to get herself to fall back asleep.  Soooo...last night was the first night we let her "cry it out" in her crib.  She cried for 25 minutes straight and it was the longest 25 minutes of my life!  It was so hard not to walk in there and pick her up and soothe her.  But I know in the long run she will thank me for it.  Thank God for Trevor becuase he kept me sane.  He took the monitor and wouldn't let me go in there.  Thankfully I was preparing dinner so I had something to do to occupy my mind.  I was afraid she would cry for over an hour but after she stopped at 25 minutes, I was relieved.  She woke up again at 11 and I fed her and then again at 2:00.  I let her cry again because I knew she wasn't hungry.  After eight minutes she was out again.  Phew!  I nursed again at 3:00 and then let her cry at 5:30.  Then we were up for the day at 7:30.  I am confident that after a few more days of this, she will be able to fall asleep on her own and keep herself asleep and then all three of us will feel more rested.  Pray that this works!  It's so hard!

I'm super excited that my mom and Mike are coming into town tomorrow to babysit while Trevor and I spend New Years Eve out.  We plan to take it easy and just go out to dinner and maybe have a drink or two after dinner then ring in the New Year at home.  But, Saturday night Trevor and I are going to the JW Marriott Hill Country to spend our first night away from the baby.  We need it so bad.  It's going to be hard to be away from Millie but I know that Trevor and I will be able to enjoy ourselves and have fun.  Hopefully I will get a full night's sleep!

I wish you all a Happy New Year!  I'll be back next year!



Happy Thursday!



Bird family Christmas

Last night we went over to Oma and Opa's house for Bird family Christmas.  We were all together...Oma, Opa, Nana, Trevor, me, Millie, Derek, Paige + 2, and Hudson.  We enjoyed a great dinner and then opened presents.  It's so fun watching Hudson open his presents.  He's at that sweet age where he gets excited about unwrapping each gift one at a time.  Millie got some sweet gifts as well including a college fund from Oma and Opa!  Get ready Harvard, Millie will see you in 18 years!  Trevor and I will work hard to build that fund so Millie can choose any college she wants (as long as it is in Texas). 

Millie's first Bird family Christmas!

Millie and her Aunt Paige who is expecting twin girls in six days!!!  Yay for cousins!

Millie Grace is 3 Months old!

I'm alive!  I'm so sorry I haven't blogged in over a month.  I feel terrible about it.  I've thought about blogging everyday but time gets ahead of me and it just hasn't happened.  But I'm turning over a new leaf and making it a priority to blog more often!

More importantly, Millie is three months old!!!  I can't believe how much time flies.  She is so active now and very attentive.  She just looks around and takes in every single thing she sees.  She loves to watch TV (not great) and is mesmerized by the lights.  I'm not letting this turn into a habit however her father loves that he can watch TV with his baby (also not great).  Millie is talking up a storm now!  She has the sweetest voice and I spend most of my days talking to her about all the latest baby gossip.  She also is beginning to reach for her toys which is HUGE!  She loves to put any and everything into her mouth (beginning stages of teething?).  I'm not certan how much she weighs although I assume it's somewhere around 13 or 14 pounds.  She is officially in a size two diaper but yet we still seem to have many blow outs...

We are getting so excited that Christmas is right around the corner!  Our house is always a comforting and warming atmosphere around Christmas time.  Here is a glance at our beautiful leopard Christmas tree and our family stockings...

In just six days my Aunt Viki, Uncle Joe, and their two most precious twin girls, Reghan and Rylee will be home from Singapore for Christmas!  I cannot wait to meet my beautiful baby cousins and introduce Millie to her great Aunt and Uncle and future best friends/cousins!

Yesterday Rachel came down from Austin with her precious son, Griffin.  He is almost exactly one month younger than Millie and SOO cute!! We had a great day and  got some cute pictures of the future Mr. and Mrs. Griffin Kingsbury!

I finished ALL my Christmas shopping today!!!  The End.

2 Months

I can't believe my little girl is two months old!  I just can't believe it.  We went today for her two month check up and her first round of immunizations.  Millie is now 12 pounds 8 ounces (88th percentile), 23.75 inches (80th percentile) and 50th percentile in head circumference.  BIG GIRL!  I'm so proud of her!  She likes her food.  When it came time for the shots, she started bawling before they even poped the cap off the needle.  It's like she knew what was coming.  Thankfully the nurse was great and gave her the shots quickly so mommy could soothe her baby.  It was MUCH harder for me than her.  Bless her heart she is napping now.  She has to be exhausted after all that trauma this morning!

On another note, Trevor and I started putting her in her room on Monday, November 1.  The first night she slept eight hours straight!  I thought, "why didn't we do this sooner?".  The next night, however, was awful.  She didn't go down until about midnight and then she was up every two hours.  Last night was a little better but we're still having issues.  Hopefully she gets back on her good sleeping schedule for my selfish sake.

Millie is smiling up a storm now!!  Every morning after we eat and change her diaper, she lies on her changing pad and we have our happy time.  I talk to her and smile at her and she will just stare at me and smile back and coo.  It's the most precious time that I will always cherish.  She is the light of my life, no doubt.  She loves her mirror too.  I stand her up on her feet and she will stare in the mirror at herself as if she's trying to figure out if that's a reflection or just a picture.  She's extremely observant.  Her head is getting much stronger and she loves her tummy time. 

Being a mother is the most incredible gift that I thank God for everyday.  I couldn't ask for anything more.  I have a loving husband, a healthy daughter, and the most amazing family and friends anyone could ask for.  I am truly blessed.

Baptism + Halloween

At this very moment (9:38 AM) Millie and Trevor are STILL in bed snoozing which is allowing me the opportunity to finally post about Millie's baptism and also about her first Halloween. 

Saturday, October 23 was the day we had Millie baptised at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic church, our worship home.  It's also the church where Trevor and I got married in 2008.  Millie looked so beautiful in a white Feltman Brothers dress that I wore when I was her age.  It was complete with little white bloomers, white lace socks, a Feltman bonnet, beautiful pearl cross bracelet from her Godmother and Aunt, and a gold James Avery cross necklace from her Oma and Opa.  Litterally seconds before it was our turn to go up to the baptism fountain, Millie had the BIGGEST (and loudest) blow out diaper that I have ever experienced!!!  The whole church heard it. Bless her heart she blew through her diaper and all over her bloomers and dress.  Trevor and I rushed her to the back of the church to change her.  It was a sight to see...Trevor holding her upright while I took off her socks and soiled bloomers wrapping them up in a plastic bag then lying her down to change her diaper while trying not to ruin the dress anymore than it already was.  Luckily, there was only a little poop on the back of her dress so she didn't have to get baptised naked.  By the time we were finished, everyone was waiting for us to make it up to the altar.  Haha, it was definitely a day to remember! 

Saying hello to her grandparents.



Annointing with oil



About to be baptised with her parents and Godparents (Adriane Pillow and Derek Bird) next to her.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit



Millie's Baptised!

 She was so well behaved and sweet.  She is so blessed to have so many people that love her and who came to her baptism to celebrate.  Thanks to all our family and friends who joined us in this special day. 

After the baptism we went over to Oma and Opa's house to have a celebratory brunch.  Breakfast casserole, cinnamon rolls, bacon and fruit salad were on the menu complete with orange juice and champagne.  All together a glorious day!

Now, yesterday was Halloween and Trevor and I had a great time hanging out at home handing out candy to trick or treaters.  Last year on Halloween I was in downtown Austin dressed as an 80s Bridesmaid for my best friend, Danielle's bachelorette party.  We lived it up on 6th street and had a great time.  Trevor was at a Widespread Panic concert with his buddies.  Oh how times have changed!  This year we stayed home but we did dress Millie up for her first Halloween.  She was a pink bunny rabbit (the cutest rabbit I ever did see)!  Her cousin Hudson came over to trick or treat and we snapped a few pictures.  He was a cute little puppy dog...



Sweet cousins.



Happy Halloween from the Bird Family!

Nate

Do you watch The Nate Berkus show?  It's amazing.  That's all I have to say.

Fabulous Fall

It's officially Fall in the homey town of New Braunfels, Texas.  The weather is a beautiful 76 degrees, the trees are full of colorful leaves, and Halloween is right around the corner.  With Halloween comes pumpkins and of course, pumpkin patches!  The Methodist church in town was the perfect place to take Millie to pick out our pumpkins and take a few photos in with their many back drops.  Here are a few pictures from our visit to the pumpkin patch...

We had so much fun picking out our pumpkins for our annual Bird family pumpkin carving contest!  Last year it was just Trevor and me but this year we are complete with THREE!  Here's how this year's pumpkin carving went down:

Trevor's is the skull, mine is the witch, and Millie's is the cute little bat.  We had lots of fun but I think Millie was too tired.  She slept through the whole thing but next year will be tons of fun for her!