Bananas!!

Hailey had her first taste of bananas today. She LOVED them! Hardly slobbered any of it! She practically ate the whole thing.

I think it's safe to say that bananas are a big hit!!

What I get to wake up to every morning...

Every morning and after every nap, I walk into her to room and see this! Makes morning time my favorite time of the day! Never thought I would say I love the mornings!

6 Month Appointment

Hailey's appointment went very well! She now weighs 15lbs 11oz and is 26 inches long!! She's our growing girl!

We can now give her up to 3 meals of solids a day. Looks like we need to go shopping for some more baby food!

As far as the apnea monitor, it is not going entirely away. I admitted to her it's more of a security blanket than anything but I am prepared to not have it any more. She decided that Hailey only needs to be on it at night until she is off of her meds. We can slowly wean her off of it whenever we feel comfortable and once we do not use it anymore it will go away completely. I haven't used it for a few naps already and I was actually fine with it. I think our comfort level is going to increase more and more. I have to admit I am about ready to be rid of this thing! But at least now we can get off of it slowly rather than suddenly!

So that's all to report for now! Hailey is doing very well and Dr.J was very impressed by how Hailey "responds" to you when you talk to her!

Hailey's 6 month photos

I am so excited to share these! My friend Jennifer whose is a professional photographer took Hailey's 6 month photos last week! She did an amazing job and captured so many of Hailey's expressions. I had so many pictures to choose from and I loved all of them! Here's a few of my favorites!

Courtesy of Jennifer Bagwell Photography

Rolling Both Ways!

I finally was able to get Hailey rolling from tummy to back on video! She has been doing it off and on but never in front of me. My dad said that she had finally done it in front of them outside of her crib! So today I put her on her tummy and within seconds she rolled! I grabbed the camera and she did it again! Hailey's 6 month appointment is tomorrow. Dr. Jabaji will be so proud to know she has mastered rolling both ways!

Here's the short video!

Hailey's Big Play Date!

Hailey had a big play date on Saturday. I met up with some ladies from TheBump message boards I have been a part of since I had the miscarriage. We have been an online support group for each other. We went through our losses, trying to conceive again, pregnancies and births of our babies. The ladies a part of this board are from all over the U.S. but several of us are local to each other. We have gotten together before when we were pregnant and now all of our babies are born so we got together again!

It was a lot of fun. Hailey was the second oldest there so the play date was mostly for the moms! Some adult time to relate to each other about our babies! We will continue to meet up and watch our kiddos grow! Pretty soon they will be running around with each other and fighting over toys!

One of the ladies husband is a professional photographer so he snapped a picture of us before he left us to do our thing. In this particular picture, Hailey is the oldest (another baby showed a little later that was one month older than her) yet, as you can see, she certainly isn't the biggest!! She has some catching up to do!! =)

Hailey is 6 months old!!

Wow, can you believe 6 months ago Hailey made her debut in this world? Boy did she throw everyone threw a loop! Randy in San Francisco, Papa & Nana up north 6 hours away, she made everyone come running! Little stinker!

I have to say that watching Hailey grow and develop is an amazing thing. Despite her being 7 weeks early, she is on track! She LOVES to eat her sweet potatoes, although sometimes she wonders why is doesn't just keep coming from the spoon continuously (like a bottle) and gets mad if I don't shovel it in her mouth quick enough! We should be moving to fruits soon but I am going to give cereal one more try now that she is getting the chewing down. She still tongue thrusts sometimes.

Hailey can roll over both ways, although she doesn't do it too often. She loves to put everything in her mouth too! She is such a talker now. She babbles all the time and it's so cute being woken up in the morning by her talking to herself.

Hailey's next doctor's appointment is the 25th of this month so we will see how much she has grown! Her 6 month pictures are tomorrow! I can't wait for them. My friend Jennifer is doing them. I will post them as soon as I get them!

Now for some pictures outtakes!!

Is that one of those signs again?

Yup, it sure is!


If I could just get it in my mouth...

It's a little tricky...

Got it!! This tastes funny..

Huggies Overnights are Awesome!

I love these. I hate all other Huggies diapers, but these are great! Any regular diaper was just not cutting it overnight. Hailey was beginning to wake from being wet. Sometimes she was already completely soaked through, sometimes almost there. She sleeps about 11-12 hours and she's a heavy wetter overnight.

So far, no leaks!!! And she stopped waking up! I recommend these to anyone with a heavy wetter overnight! Hailey tummy sleeps and they still hold up overnight. Amazing.

Only downside is the smallest size they make is size 3. It says it starts at 16 pounds. Hailey roughly 15 pounds, maybe less and fit just fine. I actually think we may be moving to the size 4s in a month or so, if not sooner. Also they are about $12 per pack of 36 but if you think about it, you use one a night so the pack will last a little over a month. If you go to http://www.diapers.com/, you can find a 54 pack for $22. I found the 36 pack at Babies R Us. I didn't want to wait for the diapers to ship in 2 days, I wanted to start using them the day I heard about them!

During the day, I still LOVE Swaddlers! She's in the biggest size they make right now (Size 2-3..yes that's a size!) but will stick to the Pampers brand after. I wish Pampers made something similar to the Overnights but they don't until toddler age!

Until then, Huggies Overnights it is!!

Before I was a Mom

Before I was a Mom,
I never tripped over toys
Or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not
My plants were poisonous...
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind
And my thoughts.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held down a screaming child
So doctors could do tests.
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night
Watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held a sleeping baby just because
I didn't want to put him down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces
When I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small
Could affect my life so much.
I never knew that
I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom,
I didn't know the feeling of
Having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel
To feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond
Between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small
Could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night
Every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.

I had never known the warmth,
The joy,
The love,
The heartache,
Or the satisfaction of being a Mom.

I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much,
Before I was a Mom .

Getting so big so fast!!

Hailey can hold her own bottle!! She is getting better at it and holding it longer everyday! She still needs some work but practice makes perfect!

Here are the pictures. Please excuse the laundry on the couch, I was in the middle of folding!

Tales of an Unhappy Baby 3

Now that she is getting older, the temper tantrums are slowly beginning. Sometimes I can't help but laugh when she's the middle of them. I am so mean! Ha!

AVON Lady

I signed up to be an AVON rep.

The extra cash will help pay off the never ending medical bills it feels like we have.

If you are in need of an AVON rep, I can be your lady!!

You can always order from my online store at: www.youravon.com/mwiesman This is available 24/7 and can be shipped directly to your home.

Want FREE shipping? When ordering online and choosing direct delivery, enter the code: FSANY and there you go!! =)

If you are local to me, I can get you a current catalog and you can order through me. If you are farther away, across the U.S. even, you can order through my online store (don't forget the free shipping code) and the products will be delivered to your home. Even if you are local you can still order online!

Thanks for your continued support! We are hoping this will get rid of these bills so they don't have to be hanging over our heads for a few years!

Baby Babbles

I decided I just had to record Hailey's babbles. I am sure I will want to look back on her first babbling moments and be able to hear them. I tried to catch her while she was squealing but of course she stops when I pulled out my cell phone. You can't really see much, the point was to just capture her voice. I couldn't hold the phone where she can see it because she will stop and stare at it. I got 2 good recordings! She has such a cute little voice!!

How we found Hailey sleeping this morning!

We went into Hailey's room this morning and this is how we found her. She was slightly underneath the sleep positioner (Randy had moved it before I got the camera) and her blankets were on her. But if you notice she is completely sideways and one of her arms is out of her shirt! How she managed that I have no clue! But too cute!! (BTW- She belly sleeps so she didn't roll on her tummy in the night).

Hailey has definitely discovered her voice!

For the past 10 minutes she has been playing on her play mat, squeaking, screaming and babbling up a storm! With each scream she kicks her feet and spreads out her arms. She has been doing this pretty often for awhile. She is very impressed with her new skill!!

Operation Soy: Complete!

And a success! She is officially on soy exclusively!! She can tolerate Soy just fine. I guess she must only have the allergy to milk proteins!

Also, we have ourselves a babbling girl! Hailey "talks" all the time. She will even babble in her crib for about 5-10 minutes before deciding she's ready to be up. It's cute to listen to!

The squeals are coming full force. She will squeal when she's happy, when she's mad, out of no where. It's so adorable. Makes me laugh.

My friend Lisa was over the other day and Hailey decided she was in our conversation too and talked with us! She's already getting started with girl talk!

Squash is a BIG HIT!

I am thinking Hailey doesn't dig the Oatmeal cereal very much. She just didn't seem interested in eating it. At first I thought, maybe she isn't ready for solids yet. But when we are eating dinner and she is "licking her chops" or stares at me as I am eating like she is studying my every move, I am thinking this may not be the case!




So yesterday I try mixing the cereal with squash. This she takes to a little more. Then I try just the squash alone, now there's the ticket!




Today, I attempt the cereal & squash again. Semi-interested. Once I give her only squash, she chows it down like nobody's business (hence picture above). She even "chews" it. It was so cute. I switch back to the cereal squash mixture, she pushes have of it out of her mouth. Back to the squash, eats it hardly dribbling any of it!




I think she will like her veggies more! In a few days we can throw other veggies in the mix. If she likes squash she will love sweet potatoes!!

Belly Laughs

Randy got a great video of Hailey's belly laughs on his cell phone. It was so cute! You even get a squeal at the end!!

Second Day of Cereal = Closer to Success!

Day 2 of cereal went much better! This time I fed her about an hour and a half after her morning bottle. This way she wasn't starving but would be interested in eating.

I see she is beginning to understand that she is supposed to swallow and eat the cereal. You will see her "chew" it. I am sure oatmeal isn't the greatest tasting thing. She still spits it out. Eventually once she will eat some veggies (starting with squash...yum!). She needs to "master" cereal first!

Without further ado: Cereal Take 2

GI Doc Follow up!

Hailey now weighs 14lbs!! This made the GI Doc very happy. He said he would have been okay with 13lbs 13oz! He thinks she is taking the soy very well. He is not concerned with her poop (although it has stopped) as long as discomfort or blood doesn't accompany it, which it isn't! He made a comment that I am going too slow with the Soy and to speed it up. So I am happy to say I think we have bought our last can of Nutramigen! This makes our bank account very happy, and us of course!!

He also talked about weaning her off of the meds soon. So I imagine we will be talking about it the next few appointments.

Hailey has been developing so well and it makes us so excited! She has really been catching up with her milestones and I look at her less and less as a preemie! Not that I did a lot before but i kept in the back of my mind when comparing her to other babies or developmental milestone charts. She's cooing and talking. We will "talk" to each other. I imitate her, she imitates me. It's awesome!

She is such a ham too. She smiles at everyone, even strangers who talk to her. She's my happy girl!! She is currently trying to roll over again so I am off to watch and play with her! =)

First try of cereal = FAIL

This morning we decided to give cereal a try! Started with Oatmeal instead of rice as rice can constipate.

As you can tell by the title, this was an epic fail! But it was hilarious too. I made the mistake of trying to feed it to her before her morning bottle. She so was pissed she was getting a spoon and not a bottle! So I stopped, feed her then tried again.

Here are the videos!

So here's the second attempt. Much better but then the first! This time she's not so mad for a bottle.

As Promised....GI update!!

Called her GI doc today. He wants her to come in on Wednesday. I am unsure if it's a real concern but I guess its better to figure out if the different poop is due to an allergy or just the formula switch! We shall see. I will let you know Wednesday how it goes!

Although today, all poopings were normal. Maybe it was just a 3 day fluke! Let's hope so!!

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling

Hailey rolled over today!! She rolled from back to tummy! We knew it was coming. She seemed like she was really trying but couldn't figure it out. She did it several times so I know it wasn't just a fluke!

She rolled tummy to back Thursday during a nap at Grandma Wiesman's house but hasn't done it since. Today she rolled over several times from back to tummy!

Luckily we got them on video. We would flip her on her back so we could get it on video because she still doesn't have the tummy to back mastered.

Here are 2 videos. I had to post both because I am so proud of my baby girl! The usual age for rolling is 4-6 months old so for my 7 week early preemie to roll over at 5 months old is very exciting for us!

Operation Soy: Day 6

I know, I am lagging.

So far she does not seem to have any discomfort at all. This is good BUT her poop is possibly saying something different. I'd describe it to you but I pretty sure you don't want to know.

I called the GI doc Friday. They said the poop change could be just from the formula switch but to call on Monday if it continues. It's continuing. I am calling tomorrow. I will post an update!