Two under two...

It's not for the weak of heart!  Today nothing short of a miracle occurred and they both napped at the same time....for 2 hours!!!  I hope it's not a fluke and instead becomes the trend.  The "sync nap" as we call it, is much needed after a busy morning chasing around Leena, who does NOT stop for a second, and trying to protect enjoy Julianne too.  I love them both so dearly, but am a bit worn out by 1:00 when they go down!  Julianne is 8 weeks old now and she has become a great sleeper, going to bed at 7 and waking up only once to eat, then sleeping in till 7 again.  This is a far cry from what Leena did so I am happy beyond words!  Here are some photos of the past few days.  We have been pretty housebound with this cold weather.  I am ready for the Polar Vortex to move on over and bring some sun and warmth so we can hit up the zoo and the playground!

Leena loves to "rock" the swing and keep Julianne happy.  She also likes to climb in the swing herself and if I turn my back will do just that.  I hope it holds up for at least a few more months!

She has also had fun trying out old baby equipment.  She almost got stuck in this one!

Here are some of sweet Julianne at 8 weeks!

We have a climber...

And an avid reader.

Sister snuggles.

The Last 6 Months...

Guess I'm not the best at keeping up with this, but I enjoy looking back at details and pictures of Leena's first year because it does go quickly and I do forget to much of it!  She just had her 9 month checkup and is doing well.  She weights just a bit over 18 pounds, is crawling, pulling to stand, walking along furniture, and pretty much never still.  This past fall has been fun.  Here are some of the highlights:

• In early October - Mark and I ran a 50K race and half marathon, respectively,with good friends of ours, down in Georgia at Pine Mountain State Park.  It was my first trail race and I may be addicted. However, my clumsiness, as per usual, got the best of me and I wiped out/collided with a rock/tripped over a root (okay - still not sure what happened) at mile 9 and limped a good half mile with blood running down my leg before I got into the groove again and finished.  Mark came in 6th place overall and could barely move the next day.  My parents watched Leena while we were gone for this 3 day weekend getaway and she didn't miss us a bit hanging with them!

•   Later this month, I went to Louisville for a quick trip and Leena dressed up in her baby bumblebee costume with her cousins Drew (a ferocious bear) and Harper (a ladybug).  She officially started crawling on this trip!  

• The weather has been amazing!  Our friend Debbie did a family photo shoot and it only took 2 hours to get one photo of everyone smiling...

• In November, we hosted Thanksgiving again.  We had about 20 friends and family over and ended the night with a firepit on the back deck.  Leena handled the attention and craziness well, and indulged in her first turkey dinner (I think she ate half my plate!).  Mark's parents came for the weekend and helped watch her so Mark and I got to run in the Boulevard Bolt 5 mile Thanksgiving Day race - an annual tradition.  

• Now it's December and we're gearing up for her first Christmas.  This month has been fun - she's survived a few Christmas parties (and also babysitters while we go to parties sans baby).  The weather has been really warm so we've had plenty of days at the playground.  

• Last week my friend Leigh Anne snagged some Emmylou Harris tickets at the Bluebird Cafe for us.  I love Emmylou!  That was a fun treat for both of us.  Here are my iphone shots from across the room:

• Now we're packing up to head to both Louisville and Peoria for Christmas.  Leena has taken to disliking her carseat in recent months so this could be interesting...

3 Months Old

Leena is now 3 months old and we fall more in love with her everyday.  My favorite thing to do is go get her up in the morning - she is all bundled up in her swaddle and she just gets this big grin on her face and is so excited to start the day (wish I felt that great at 6:30!) She is a great napper (not such a great nightime sleeper though) and is getting more awake and playful each day.

In the past month she has started rolling over front to back.  She smiles and even laughs sometimes.  She can grab and let go of objects and loves her playmat or anything with a mobile.  Also, she has "discovered" her feet and has fun grabbing them.  Her favorite part of the day is bathtime, but she's just about outgrown her little folding bathtub.

We've taken lots of trips this month and she is a great traveler, sleeping the whole trip and letting all the relatives and friends pass her around.  We think she is a people person because she seems to love parties and being part of the action!

I started back at work which has been good.  I love my job, but love being home with Leena so working part time is kind of like having the best of both worlds.  It has been great to have Mark take care of her on the days I work - she loves her Daddy-time.

3 month photo!

 Someday she'll be able to play with you Ryman...

Naked time!

Life these days

Here's a few pics of the last few weeks.  Leena is getting more alert and is awake for longer periods of time so it's been fun to interact with her.  She started smiling (YAY!) and cooing some.  She is tracking objects and making eye contact too.  This for sure makes our days more fun!  Although, I still have conversations with her and Ryman throughout the day which are probably the result of being without adult interaction for extended periods of time - but at least she now seems to be listening to me!  :)

She has also successfully slept through outings to Ugly Mugs (our local coffee shop), several restaurants, and one grocery store trip.  What can I say - getting out of the house with a baby for any extended period of time now feels like a victory!  

And, the best news of all...she sleeps for SEVEN HOUR STRETCHES at night.  I am one who needs her sleep and needs some form of predictability, so this little routine at night is heaven.  Here's to hoping it will last!

And now for the cuteness:

Sitting up (sort of) in her monkey outfit that Catherine made for her.  I believe she lopped over soon after this was taken, but she's getting there!

That precious and coveted smile!  I make a fool of myself to get that out of her...

Hanging with Ryman on her play-mat

Practicing neck strength in her bumbo seat (who comes up with these names?)

Showing some East Nasty love (this was a gift I gave Mark for Christmas - and it finally fits her!)

Nothing is cuter than a sleeping baby... 

In other news - Leighanne and I decided to run the Nashville Music City Half Marathon this weekend.  Sure, I'm 7 weeks postpartum. Sure, she's going to be post-call.  Sure, we didn't really train and are both health care professionals that should know better.  But, we will be out there in all our sweaty, out of shape glory this Saturday morning!  What can I say, my stubbornness has gotten the best of me.

4 weeks!

I can't believe it's been 4 weeks since she was born. This month has flown (in a daze of sleep deprivation...) She's already put on nearly a pound since birth. She's starting to hold her head up a little bit and has outgrown her "newborn" clothes already! We love her so much and even when she screams her head off for a solid 2 hours for reasons that we can't figure out (that may have happened last night...) it's totally worth it to snuggle that little body and kiss those little cheeks every day!

The First Month

We've just been hanging out around here and trying to get some sleep! Leena is pretty flexible about where she sleeps - she loves the jogging stroller so she is able to nap while I go for my morning run around the neighborhood. She also sleeps well in the car which is great for traveling! She's still a bit young for us to take her places, but she has gotten to go on lots of walks and even made an appearance at neighborhood group a few days ago and got loved on by everyone. Here are a few pictures of her first month. Lots of sleeping/crying/eating/diaper changing and then repeat. :-)

Snuggle time!

Baby burrito. And she loves the beautiful quilt that Grandma Miller made for her!

Hanging with Daddy (and Ryman!)

The best place to sleep!

I could kiss those cheeks all day long!

It's been a long time since I updated this, but now we have a cute little new member in our family for me to blog about and obsessively post pictures of! Leena Kay Miller was born on March 7th at around 11 pm. She weighed 8 pounds, 11 oz and was 21 1/2 inches long. She was a week overdue as well - so we were good and ready to meet her. We didn't know it was a her until she was born, since we wanted to be surprised. It was so fun to find out in the delivery room.

first family photo!

I love this picture!

So though we're a bit sleep deprived, she is doing well, feeding like a champ, and even sleeping in 4 hour stretches at night (which is heaven). Here are some pictures of her first 2 weeks at home.

Snuggle time!

Tummy time - getting stronger each day

Her one week photo...

And her 2 week photo - I can already tell she's getting some chub!

Her first bath - she loved the warm water...

But not drying off! Brrr...