5 Months Old!!!

Sayler Jaye Doss this is getting out of hand!!! How did you get to be SO big??? It makes Mommy so happy and sad at the same time. Last night Daddy and I were looking back at some videos of you from a few months ago and I got all choked up just looking at how little you were and how much you have changed in such a short period of time. Even your little voice is different...I just don't think I was cut out for all of this growing up stuff. I'd prefer to be in charge of when you grow and change and I have reached the end of my comfort zone...so if you could push the pause button right about now I would appreciate it. However, no matter what you will always be Mommy's little tiny!!!

Here's what you have been up to lately:

• You weigh somewhere between 16 and 17 pounds. We don't go back to the Dr. for 3 more weeks so I won't have your official "weigh in" until then...but for now unofficial will do.
• You are pretty long, but you can still fit into your 3-6 month clothes...but barely. I think in a week or two Mommy will have to add a lot more items to the storage box holding all of your clothes that don't fit anymore. I HATE doing that...it makes me so sad to pack away all of your sweet little outfits knowing you will never wear them again. But, Mommy does get to buy cute new outfits for you to wear so I don't stay sad for long.
• You wear a size 2 diaper during the day and a size 3 at night. The 2's were leaking at night so we had to go up a size. I will be excited when you can start wearing Huggies Overnights but they start at a size 4 and that is a bit to big for you still.
• You are sleeping through the night every night...PRAISE JESUS!!! Mommy is so proud of you. Daddy was out of town last weekend and I bit the bullet while he was gone and did "Sleep Sense" sleep training with you. The first night you cried and fussed for about an hour and a half off and on...and ever since that night you have been sleeping between 10 and 13 hours straight. I had to do the sleep training while Daddy was gone b/c he would never have let you cry for that long and would have rescued you. And Mommy would have still been getting up to feed you 2 ounces twice a night when you are a Freshman in college!!! You are Mommy's big sleeper and I am just so proud of you and how well you sleep. You take great naps at home and at daycare. You never fuss when we put you in your pack n' play you usually just lay your head down, put your thumb in your mouth and go right to sleep. Sometimes you "toot" around for a while and look around the room and lately you have been scooting all over your bed...but you never cry about going to bed and Daddy and I are so blessed to have such a good baby.
• We have started feeding you rice cereal and strained veggies with a spoon and you are a champ already. You love seeing Mommy getting your bowl ready and know exactly what is getting ready to happen when you get into your highchair. You like to help Mommy and Daddy by grabbing our hand and helping to push it into your mouth...just in case we didn't know where you wanted the food to go. Ha! In the next 3 weeks Mommy is going to try and get you exposed to most of the vegetables, and then once you hit 6 months I will introduce the fruits. I'm no fool...I know if I would have given you any fruits first there is NO way you would have tried the veggies (like mother like daughter)!!! You are a great eater and are still taking between 20-24 ounces of formula each day in addition to 2 servings of veggies and rice. See for yourself here (password is Sayler2010).
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  Chowing Down with Daddy!!! from Stephanie Doss on Vimeo.

  
  
  
  

• You are talking so much and your new favorite sound is this ahhh,ah,ahhhh,ahhhhh, ah sound you make in the back of your throat. It sounds like a little sheep and it cracks me up! You squeal with delight when Mommy and Daddy play "I'm gonna get you" and put our hands way up above you and bring them slowly towards you and then tickle you like crazy. You can be a total fuss bucket and if Mommy throws her hands in the air and plays "gonna get you" you smile from ear to ear and squeal. It is the best sound I have ever heard and I love knowing that I can make you laugh and smile. It melts my heart!!!
• Here's the BIG announcement...We are moving to Kansas City!!! Mommy and Daddy got the green light from work (after a lot of tense negotiations behind the scenes) and we are moving in mid-June. Daddy went to KC last weekend and found us a house. We put in an offer ant they accepted it a day later. We are moving so we can be closer to Grandma and Grandpa and have lots of friends and family close by. We know you are going to be so happy living in KC and we can't wait to get there. Mommy is nervous about driving you to KC as it is going to be a long time in the car, and I doubt you are going to sleep the whole way like you did last time. But Grandma is flying down to make the drive with us, so hopefully between the two of us we will be able to keep you happy.

Oh my sweetie...I just cant tell you how much my heart loves you!!! When you go to bed at night I find myself missing you until I go to bed and lay right next to you. I don't know how I am going to move you to your own room when we move. Daddy might find me asleep on your floor in the mornings!!! You are my precious little tiny and I can't wait to see what miraculous things this month brings!!!

Muah....xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo,

Mommy

4 Months Old!!!

Sayler Jaye...you are 4 months old!!! Actually you were 4 months old about 20 days ago...Mommy is very late getting this post up. I'm going to try and do a better job next month...but I have a lot of things to report on as you have been so busy this month!!!

• First things first...you are growing SO fast and getting SO big!!! We took you to your 4 month appointment and you weighed 14.85 lbs and were 26 inches long. Your weight was in the 75th percentile and your height was in the 97th percentile!!! Daddy and I are not sure where the height thing comes from as we are not tall...but you are growing like a weed my sweet!!!
• You are doing great at daycare and Ms. Mariah and Ms. Harriet love you so much. They spoil you and hold you all day long!!! The other kids think you are the little princess and yesterday when I went to pick you up a little boy named Blake told me I was not allowed to touch the baby! Ha!!! I think he must get told that a lot all day long!!!
• We have had lots of visitor's lately and you love all of the attention. Aunt Sharon (Boo) and your cousins Teesh and Nick came to visit you right after you turned 4 months old. Then Anut Sharon and Aunt Lisa came a few weeks ago to see you. You loved all of the kisses and attention and were such a good baby. Grandma and Grandpa came to celebrate Easter with us and spoiled you rotten!!! Grandma wanted to hold and snuggle you the entire time she was here...and you definitely let her!!! We had a great holiday and you were so good while Grandma and Grandpa visited. Hopefully we will spend every Easter together from here on out.
• You are teething and it is no fun. Your two bottom teeth have been giving you grief now for a few weeks but they haven't popped through yet and Mommy has heard from several people that it may take months for these first teeth to actually break through. YUCK!!! We are giving you Ryland's teething tabs, motrin, and Orajel to help you through it. You seem to be doing a little better...I think you are getting used to it. But you drool like a faucet and you chew on everything you can get your hands on. Mommy can't wait until your little mouth isn't causing you so much pain.
• Your sleeping has seen the highest of highs...and the lowest of lows this month. We started sleep training you the day you turned 4 months and that night...you slept through the night!!! From like 6:30pm - 4:45am...and then Mommy just patted your back for a little bit and you fussed for a while, but you fell back to sleep until about 6am. For the next week or so you did AMAZING with your sleep. One night you slept from 6:50pm - 6:15am straight through without making a peep!!! After about 10 days of this awesome experience...your teeth decided th throw a big old wrench in things and you have regressed...A LOT!!! You are up 2 or 3 times a night and Mommy does not see it ending any time soon. Dr. Paruolo said that we should wait to try and cry it out methods until you are closer to 6 months...so I guess Mommy and Daddy will white knuckle it through with you until you are a little bigger.
• You are changing SO much every single day. You smile all the time. Mommy loves when I go pick you up from daycare and as soon as you see my face you give the biggest smile!!! You are talking and cooing and squealing and we cannot get enough of it. You are just the sweetest thing and the best baby and we love you so much.
• You have turned yourself over a few times in your bed...completely on accident, but when you find yourself flipped on your back you get a little freaked out and fuss and cry until Mommy flips you back on your belly. You just don't seem to interested in rolling over at this point, but we are still working on it.
• We let you watch "Your Baby Can Read." For 30 minutes several times a week. You seem to like it and it keeps you entertained and who knows...maybe you will be reading Hamlet at 3 years old!!! Ha!
• Grandma fed you your first serving of rice cereal while she was here and you did great. We need to work with you more on your eating with a spoon, but on most nights you are just too tired to try it. But we will get there.

Well my little sweet pea that is all I have for now. Mommy can't express to you how much we love you and how much you light up our lives every single minute!!! We can't get enough of you!!!

Love, Mommy

3 Months Old!!!

Sayler Jaye Doss...you are three months old and Mommy has no idea how that happened!!! The time is flying by and some days I just want to stop the clock and slow it all down for a while. You are the light of Mommy and Daddies life and we cannot get enough of you!!! Here are some things you are doing lately:

• You are still in a size one diaper...but you would probably be just fine in a size 2. Mommy just has a ton of size one so we are trying to use those all up!!!


• You are eating 4 ounces of formula about 7 times a day with a big 5 ounce bottle at bedtime.


• You have an established bedtime routine that we do every night starting at around 6:30pm. It is bath, bottle, bed and you are usually knocked out by 7pm. Daddy and I want to extend this gradually so that we are starting your bath at 7:30pm. We just don't get enough time with you during the day to put you to bed at 7pm.


• You love your bath and are starting to splash around in the water a little bit. You also love when Mommy rubs you down with lotion and gives you a little massage. Whenever we get you out of the bath Mommy wraps you in a towel and lays you down on her bed and rubs you dry with the towel and sings this little song to you. It goes, "we're gonna warm this baby up...we're gonna warm this baby up. We're gonna warm her up, we're gonna warm her up...we're gonna warm this baby up!!!" Sometimes you love it and sometimes you are ready to move on to the bottle part of our routine :)


• You still hate to get dressed. Sleeves are the bain of your existance!!! You hate when Mommy puts your arms in and out of any sleeves and you fuss until it is over.


• You have started cooing all the time. You just started one day when Mommy to you to Kroger to go grocery shopping. We were walking down the aisle and you just started saying, "whoooooo whoo whooooooooo." I love hearing you do this little hoot owl routine and try and get you to do it all the time.
• You still love playing on your play mat and are really good at grabbing the toys and holding on to them. You will stay on the mat for 30 minutes to even an hour sometimes playing.
• You are really in to trying to put your fingers in our mouth. If we open our mouth in front of you many times you will reach your hand up and try and grab at our mouth...it is so cute.
• You have also started putting things into your mouth when you get them into your hands. You love your purple softy and your bunny and you are always trying to suck on them.
• The biggest change this month is that Mommy went back to work on February 22nd and you started going to daycare during the day. It was a very hard day for Mommy and Daddy as we just want to hold you and snuggle you all day long...but that doesn't pay the bills does it baby girl??? You go to Bright Start Leadership Academy and it is just a couple of miles from our house in the subdivision just down from ours. Ms. Mariah cares for you during the day and she is such a blessing to us. She sends us pictures and text message updates all throughout the day and spoils you with hugs and kisses all day long. There are lots of other kiddos there that you love to watch (Samuel, Desi, Eugene, Jake and Micha). We know that as you grow you will love going to Mariah's and will have a special bond with her.

Well sweetie that is all Mommy can think of for now. I just love you so much more than I ever understood was possible and seeing you grow and change is the joy of my life!!!

Love you,

Mommy

2's Company!!!

Sayler Jaye-

You are 2 months old and I am trying to figure out how that happened!!! I remember you turning 2 weeks old and being so sad and now you are 2 months old and I feel like I better strap on my seatmelt because this is going to fly by and pretty soon Daddy and I will be dropping you off at college...tear!!! OK can't even talk about that right now. Let's talk about what you are up to:

• You are growing out of all of your newborn and 0-3 month clothes and are starting to transition into your 3-6 month stuff.
• You still wear a size 1 diaper.
• You eat between 7 and 8 bottles a day 3-4 ounces each. You are a good eater and definitely let us know when you are hungry. You start sucking on your fists and doing these grunting noises which turn into full blown wails if we are taking too long.
• We took you to your 2 month appointment this morning with Dr. Paruolo and you weighed 12.6 pounds and were 23 inches long. That is 75% for height and 90% for weight!!! We were so happy that you were growing so well. Dr. Paruolo said you were perfect (which we already knew) and that Mommy and Daddy were doing a great job.
• You still take medicine for your reflux but we had to change it because the old medicine wasn't doing the trick. You take 1ml of Zantac twice a day. It tastes so nasty but you suck it right down like a champ.
• You have gotten over your loathing of bath time and now Mommy thinks you actually like it. I have even caught you smiling at yourself in the mirror a few times. It makes me so happy as I want you to have fun in the bath every night as a part of your routine.
• You are not sleeping through the night yet, but you are still on a great schedule. Mommy asked some of her friends on Facebook advice about their experiences and I am going to go forward with the following plan. Getting you up at 7:00am for your first morning feeding and then feeding you at 10,1, and 4. Then waking you up at 6:30 for as long as you are taking your evening nap and giving you a bath, then bottle then books then bed. Mommy then gets you up at 10pm for a dream feed and puts you right back down. Hopefully within the next 4-6 weeks you will start stringing together 6-8 hours at a time...but I still don't mind snuggling you in the middle of the night (as soon as I pry my eyes open :)
• You are really starting to smile a lot...and started doing it about 7-8 weeks. Especially first thing in the morning (you are a morning girl so Mommy knows you get that from your Daddy because Mommy hates the morning time and always has!!!). It melts my heart when I will get close to you and start talking to you and you will give me the biggest smile....ohhhh I could just buy you a pony when that happens!!! You are also starting to coo and make lots of little noises when you are happy or excited. You love when Mommy and Daddy play the tongue game with you (sticking out our tongue at you and then putting it back in out mouth over and over again). You get so excited about it and try SO hard to stick your tongue out too. You have done it a couple of times and we clap and praise you!!!
• You get so fussy when you have burps stuck in your belly (which happens a lot). Mommy has to burp you for so long to try and work it out. But as soon as that stinky burp slips out you are happy as a clam.
• You have such trouble sleeping on your back and I think it has a lot to do with how uncomfortable you were when you were really struggling with your reflux. So we bought you this sleep positioner that has 2 wedges and we position you on your side. Dr. Paruolo sadi that was perfectly fine and you sleep really well in it. Mommy still puts her hand on your back all night long to make sure you are still breathing. I think I will probably do that until you are 25!!!
• Your hair is getting SO long and starting to curl on the top of your head. I can't wait to see your sweet curls as your hair grows and grows.
• You LOVE Baby Einstein videos and it is so fun watching you watch them. You get so excited when certain things come onto the screen.

Sayler...Mommy loves every single day with you and has never been happier in my whole life than I am right now caring for you. You are the light of my life birdie!!!

Love you forever,

Mommy

1 Month Old!!!

Sayler Jaye...you are one month old!!! (Actually you are 6 weeks old today...Mommy was just a huge slacker and didn't get this post drafted until 2 weeks after the fact.) I can't believe it has already been 6 weeks...you are changing so much every day right before our eyes and I just want to push pause and take a few more moments to soak it all in. Here is what you have been up to:

• You wear a size 1 diaper...but you could still fit in the newborn size too. We just don't have any more as people told us not to buy to many of those b/c you wouldn't be wearing them for very long.


• You still wear all newborn clothes but there are some things that will probably not get any more wears out of you because you have grown out of them...I don't know why but that makes Mommy sad :( Guess I better suck it up and get used to it huh?


• You are a GREAT sleeper and take several long naps throughout the day and sleep 3-4 hour stretches through the night. You have done that since you came home from the hospital and Mommy is so grateful that you are such a trooper when it comes to catching some zzz's. Mommy gets up with you in the night since she gets to stay home with you all day and Daddy has to get up early to go to work. Even though Mommy gets a lot less sleep she gets SO much love during those late nights with you...I will actually miss getting up with you when you start sleeping through night. Crazy huh?
• We have you on Enfamil AR formula. It has helped so much with your reflux and spitting up. The Dr. diagnosed you with reflux about 3 weeks ago and it has been so hard to see you struggle with it. After you eat you just arch your back and kick your legs out and let out the most painful cries. Mommy has cried too just watching you be in pain. Dr. Paruolo prescribed Prevacid solutabs for you and they were working terrific for the firs 3 weeks and then in the last couple of days you have been struggling again. Mommy gave you 3 doses instead of 2 and added some Gripe Water to your bottle and it seems to have helped a lot and I am so thankful.
• We call you the following names: SaySay, Toots Magoots, Big Woman, Little Mama, Birdie, Mama's Big One, Lover, Pumpkin, Say Jaye.
• You took your very first trip to Nebraska to spend Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa in Omaha. You were an ANGEL for the entire trip...both ways. The drive was about 13 hours one way and for the trip up and back you slept almost the entire way and hardly fussed at all. Mommy and Daddy were so proud of you and couldn't believe what a good little traveler you were. Grandma loved on you the entire time we were there and I am sure is missing you like crazy. She and Grandpa got you a doll baby, a tea set and elf on a shelf for Christmas. We are so excited to play with all of them when you get older.
• You have started to smile a bit when Mommy or Daddy talks to you and when I tell you it melts our hearts...I mean melts them. We can't wait for you to start cooing and smiling more and more.
• You love tummy time with Daddy and will lay on your tummy on a pillow on his lap while he jiggles his leg and fall fast asleep.
• You HATE taking a bath...it makes you madder than a hornet. You never scream louder than when we are giving you a bath and then putting lotion on you afterwards. I know you will start to like it soon enough but Daddy and I will dread bath night until then :)
• We tried to take a walk with you in the stroller on a nice day...it lasted about 15 seconds. Let's just say you were not a fan and we promptly turned around and went back inside. Hopefully you will love walking with us very soon as we can't wait to take you out and about.
• You are SO strong. At your 2 week Dr. appointment the Dr. made the comment that you were really strong and that you could hold up your head so well for being so young. You hold your head up for long stretches and look around the room. Mostly you look at the ceiling fan...Daddy and I think you have a crush on the fan as you will stare at it for 20-30 minutes and smile and flirt with the fan. You heart the fan and we get jealous watching you pay so much attention to it!!!
• You are the light of our lives and we cannot imagine living one day without you. We love you Baby Girl!!! Can't wait to see what you are up to next month!!!

Love,

Mama

I thought I knew...but I had no idea.

Sayler Jaye Doss...you were born on November 19, 2009 at 8:42 pm. You weighed 8 lbs. 2 oz. and were 20 inches long. You had a full head of black hair and were the most precious baby your Mommy and Daddy could have ever dreamed of. How could we have ever imagined a love like this? Both Daddy and I ask God every night how we could be so lucky to be the recipients of God's most perfect creation. You are the best thing to ever happen to us...we love you more than words can express.

Here are some pictures of your birthday and your first days at home.

Mommy posing with you still in her belly the morning we left for the hospital.

Mommy all checked in at the hospital.

Mommy and Daddy waiting for your arrival...I think I had the epidural at this point :)

After 13.5 hours of active labor you arrived!!! Mommy was so relieved to hear your loud cries.

Here you are letting everyone know that you mean business!!!

The Dr.'s checked you over and told us what we already knew...you were perfect.

Here is Dr. Livingston. He delivered you into the world and we love him for it!!!

Daddy went and spied on the nursery staff to make sure they were taking care of you and took this picture. He was protective of you from the very start.

Here you are in the hospital the morning after you were born...sleeping like an angel.

Mommy and Daddy took you home on November 21st...you wore the sweater and bonnet that Mommy wore during her baptism when she was a baby. You looked so cute!!!

Fired Up...Ready To Go!!!

This is one of your most favorite places on earth...laying on Daddy's chest always puts you right to sleep.

Grandma and Grandpa got there on that same afternoon and this is a picture of the first time Grandma held you in her arms. She is head over heels in LOVE with you and was a great big help to Mommy and Daddy for the first 2 weeks you were home.

Daddy rocking you. You were so alert for the first time!!!

Mommy's precious little woman. How cute are you???

Lying on the changing table after your first sponge bath...you are not a fan of the bath, or having your diaper changed, or getting dressed. Basically anything that causes you to be cold makes you madder than a hornet!!!

Mommy and Grandma took you to your first Dr.'s appointment on Tuesday, December 1st. They said you had a touch of jaundice but it wasn't serious. They had to take a blood draw from your heel and it broke Mommy's heart to see you so upset. Everything else was perfect and you are a happy and healthy baby!!!

The Dr. said in order to get rid of the jaundice we needed to put you in the direct sunlight as much as possible. Grandma called this your "sun therapy" and here you are sunning yourself on her lap.

Look at my precious girl...I could just eat you up and I never get tired of looking at that face.

Again...your most favorite place on earth.

Our little razorback!!! That bow is bigger than your little peanut head!!!

Grandma took this picture of you on our bed and Grandma, Grandpa and Daddy all saved it as their screen saver. I think it is a pretty adorable picture of a pretty adorable baby.

Mommy found this photographer (Miss Amy) over a year prior to you being born. I knew that I wanted her to take your newborn pictures. So off we went on December 2nd to have your pictures taken...and guess what??? It snowed that morning!!! Can you believe it...snow in TX!!! You were SO good for the entire shoot and the pictures turned out AMAZING!!! But how could they be anything other than amazing with such a beautiful model? This picture took some time to get set up. Daddy is actually holding this basket up off the table while Miss Amy shoots the pictures. His arm was getting tired...but he toughed it out an we got a pretty fantabulous picture of you!!!

How precious is this shot of you resting on Daddy's arm? About 5 minutes later you peed all over his arm and the floor :) Oh well...

Mommy loves this one of you with those cheeks!!!

And this picture brought tears to my eyes the first time I saw it. You look like an angel here...and you truly are Mommy's angel.

I love the little folds you have around your belly here...you are just delicious!!!

So what are you up to during these first few weeks? Well...you eat every 2.5 to 3 hours. And you take between 2 to 4 ounces depending on your mood :) Mommy is breastfeeding you and also supplementing with formula to make sure you are getting enough to eat. We took you to your 2 week well visit on December 4th and you weighed 8.75 lbs. and were 21.5 inches long. You gained almost a pound and grew an inch and a half!!! Mommy was happy and sad at the same time...as she wants you to stop growing so fast!!!

You are a good sleeper but Mommy thinks you might have your days and nights mixed up a little bit, as you sleep a lot deeper and for longer stretches during the day and lighter/shorter at night. But that is OK...Mommy cherishes those nighttime feedings as we get to share some good old Mommy/daughter bonding time.

You LOVE to go out in the car and have gone out on 2 lunch dates already. One with Mommy and Grandma to Corner Bakery, and the other with Mommy, Daddy and Grandma to Applebee's. You were so good and did not make a peep during either lunch.

We are learning more and more about you every single minute and just love you to pieces Little Miss!!! We are looking forward to our trip to Omaha for Christmas on the 22nd to show you off. Everyone keeps telling us how beautiful you are. They have no idea exactly how beautiful until they see you in person.

I will love you forever Sayler Jaye,

Mommy

The home stretch...mark

OK baby girl...we're almost there. 5 more weeks and both of our worlds are going to be turned upside down (yours will literally be turned upside down as you are chillin' head down right now!!!). Here are some things that have been going on for the last few weeks:

1. We had 3 baby showers for you!!! Yes 3!!! You got so many great things and we think we have most of what you are going to need for your big arrival. You are so blessed to have such generous friends and family already.

2. I think you doubled in size over night!!! You are getting so big and making your presence know at all times. You are a very active little girl and are kicking me constantly with a lot of vigor!!! You also move around a lot and Daddy thinks it is so funny to watch you move around in my stomach (yes you can see all of your wiggling from the outside). Daddy loves to put his hand on my stomach throughout the night and feel you move...you amaze him on a regular basis.

3. You weigh about 5 - 5.5 lbs. Mommy thinks you are going to be about an 8 lb. baby when you are born. The Dr. says you are in the 60th percentile which is good. Not to little and not to big. Mommy is still hoping that you will be born on or around the 18th as Dr. Livingston said he will induce my labor up to a week before if I am dilated at least 1 cm. Mommy DOES NOT want to be in the hospital on Thanksgiving as Grandma will be here cooking up a storm and trust me baby girl...we DO NOT want to miss out on those yummies!!! But nothing is more important than you so whenever it is safe for you to come out and meet us...then that is when it will happen. We are just so excited for you to get here!!!

4. Daddy is leaving tomorrow for his big celebration in Las Vegas with 2 of his friends. Daddy is turning 30 on Friday and he is ringing in this milestone in a big way. I think he is going to have a lot of fun...but Daddy is a little bit worried about leaving "his girls" for 4 days. I keep trying to assure him that we are going to be OK...but I anticipate a lot of phone calls and texts while he is gone. We love that though don't we? He is such a good husband and Daddy to us.

Mommy can't even express how excited she is for you to get here. My heart is SO FULL of love for you and I can't wait to see your little face, and your little toes, and find out if you have a full head of hair (Mommy was bald) and just look at how precious and beautiful you are. You are the miracle of our lives baby girl and we are just so proud to be your parents.

See you soon Little Miss,

Mommy