You be the judge...

Jason and I have received so many "Lesley looks just like Abby" AND "Lesley looks just like Jason" comments. I change my mind every other day as to who she looks more like. One thing cannot be denied - she clearly has her daddy's big head. Sorry honey! We've also been told frequently that she has my eyes. Whatever the case - she is the cutest baby we know (yes, we are biased, but really who is going to argue that)!

Please note in the following photo that we are not condoning drinking habits for toddlers. Jason clearly picked up his love for beer at a very early age. Honestly, this was the best photo I had that was scanned of Jason as a baby.

What were my parents thinking when they dressed me in this "interesting" outfit!?

Keep in mind that we are a bit older than Lesley in these photos, but it's the best comparison we have right now. I guess time will really tell who she takes more after.

I've been trying to get a post together about being a working mother (and how much I hate it) and also about this great book that was recommended to me regarding breastfeeding. Hopefully soon I can get my ideas on paper (or on my keyboard I guess)!!!

Father's Day Fun!

Lesley went swimming for the first time today at Grandma Cheryl's pool. She kept her eyes wide open and seemed to enjoy the adventure. Her eczema did break out later in the day, not sure if it was the heat or the pool water. Sheesh! But, I think there will be more trips to Grandma's pool this summer. Luckily the lotion and cream we have seems to take care of the skin issues pretty quickly.

Happy Father's Day!

Lesley decided it was time to start the day at 6am Saturday morning. Mommy was not pleased but we let Daddy take a long nap and hung out for several hours and got creative with our Father's Day cards. Since we are saving money to buy a bigger house (!!!) (this is directly related to the amount of "stuff" I have), we went for the hand made card.

Another blow out! Mommy and Daddy knew this one was coming because I hadn't had a dirty diaper since Saturday morning. They were glad that it didn't happen during church or in the car seat. After Mommy found me in the swing this way, I pretty much went straight to the bathtub, clothes and all after this incident. Mommy figured the tub was easier to clean than the changing pad. There was no way she was getting those clothes and diaper off without spreading the nasty stuff. Good thing Oxy-Clean can handle all these stains I'm creating!

I hate my tummy, but Mommy figured out that I really like being propped up this way. I'm getting so strong and can hold my head up for a long time.

Odds & Ends

A few more of the professional photos we had taken...

Just a few blurbs for the week....

Cousin Katie gave Lesley "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" book along with the colorful caterpillar above. Lesley has quickly decided that's her new favorite toy. She can easily grab it and get it to her mouth to chew on. We now read that book as part of her bedtime routine. The caterpillar was made by some Benedictine nuns in Atchison. Thanks Katie!

While we were in Iowa, we noticed that Lilly likes to bite/chew/suck/etc. on her lower lip. Sure enough, on Monday both Katie and myself noticed that Lesley was now doing the same. Not sure if she is mimicking what her cousin Lilly was doing, or just found a new, always handy, "toy" to suck on. Seems like every day there is something new...

"Um, Miss Lesley...what happened to your clean outfit I put on you 15 minutes ago?" Yep, went to get her out of the exersaucer Tuesday morning for a quick kiss before heading to work and this is what I found. Of all the days for Daddy to leave a little earlier and for me to hang out and wait for Katie, it had to be the day her diaper E-X-P-L-O-D-E-D. Let's just say it wasn't a fun event trying to get that off her without getting the nasty poo all over the place.

Not much planned for this weekend (thank goodness!). We have tickets to the Royals game tomorrow night and are hoping to get all the gutters on the house replaced. We also want to get a new storage shelf for our basement to house Jason's beer making equipment and Lesley's toys. I might attempt to make it to a yoga session since I haven't been for several weeks. There's currently no mommy/baby classes on the weekend, but I could go to either the prenatal/postnatal class or try a restorative class which should include a lot of relaxation. Sounds nice!

Have a great Father's Day weekend!

Beautiful Babies!

This weekend was Lesley and Lilly's baptisms. We had a wonderful day Saturday and the babies did a great job during church. Lilly decided to take a nap during the entire service and barely flinched with Father Frost sprinkled the water over her head. She woke up just in time for photos. Lesley didn't want to miss out on anything and was therefore exhausted by the time the baptism was over. So all the photos will have her with her eyes closed. I guess it would have been too good to be true if both babies were awake at the same time during this special ceremony. At least Lesley entertained everyone, she was smiling with big eyes and even "laughed" at Father Frost at one point.

Lesley also got to meet Grandpa and Grandma's horses and help Great-Grandma Holtz pick strawberries this weekend. She really enjoys the toys that Grandma Nancy has at her house and has decided her cousin Lilly is the most interesting person ever. The expressions on her face when she sees Lilly is priceless.

Grandpa Keith thought the girls needed their very own Kawasaki gear since everyone else in the family has at least one sweatshirt and t-shirt. I bet at least one copy of these photos makes it to Grandpa's shop for display, who knows maybe he'll use it for advertising. :)

The girls hung out with Grandma and Grandpa Holtz while the parents got some extra sleep on Sunday morning. I think this was Lilly's second outfit since there was apparently a big diaper explosion when Grandpa was on duty.

Lesley enjoying Grandma's swing and toys - she was actually looking at Lilly when this photo was taken. She tried to convince Mommy and Daddy to bring it home, but there's just not enough room in the car or at the house. Guess that means we'll have to go back soon to see Grandma and Grandpa

Change of clothes after the baptism before the party started.

What cute girls! (All of them!)

Lesley with her Godfather Uncle Andy and Godmother Cousin Katie

The girls with almost all the grandparents - that's a big group!

Not quite like a bath, but it was over before she knew it.

Lilly sporting her "My Aunt Loves Me" outfit

Great Grandma Holtz is so funny!

Whoa! That's a lot of strawberries!

Mommy was being so funny, I about rolled over laughing at her

Daddy, please don't let Zip eat my ears, nose, fingers, or toes. Thanks! (Oh, and watch out for Lane, he's a sneaky guy too.)

On another note, Lesley slept for 7 hours in a row last night - 9pm all the way until 4am. That's a record! I even got up about 3:30am to make sure she was okay since it was unlike her to still be asleep. Tonight Jason put her in her crib before she fell asleep just testing to see what she'd do. Until most nights, she just went to sleep. Usually she requires one of us to hold her, or walk her up and down the hallways. I think she's growing up! Is it possible I already miss that newborn stage...When is it safe to ask Jason for another one?

Where has the time gone?!

Lesley is three months old today. Can you believe that? Just three months ago our little girl came into this world....in some ways it feels like a lifetime ago, and in other ways it feels just like yesterday.

She is doing good with Katie although every day we get varying reports on how well she took the bottles and how her naps went. Both those leading to her daily "fussiness" report. She had gone from 2.5 ounces to 4.5 ounces but is now scaling back with really inconsistent eatings. She also started waking up twice at night - starving both times. I'm wondering if it's a growth spurt or because she's not drinking enough during the day. Not sure what is going on....She also is not taking many naps during the day which makes for long afternoon for Katie. This week she's either asleep when we get home or we get her to nap shortly after we get home. I guess we are still working on our schedule now that I'm back to work.

Speaking of work - it's going....ok. I find myself daydreaming about Lesley from time to time, wondering what her and Katie are doing. I also catch myself opening up my "Lesley Annemarie" picture folders and looking through snapshots. It's getting better though and I'm trying to remember that going back to work is harder on me than it is on Lesley.

We had a great evening today! She was excited to see when I got home. Excited is probably a strong description - she smiled (lots!). We got lots of fun photos tonight.

Lesley enjoying the bumbo seat that Grandma Cheryl and Granny bought her. We had borrowed one from friends but it was blue and Grandma Cheryl thought Lesley needed her own pink one.
Hanging out in the swing after a quick nap. See her chubby legs! Jason and I have both commented this last week how much heavier she has gotten. If only one of us worked at a vet clinic like my sister. Lilly gets weighed on the cat and dog scale frequently.

I found this exersaucer on a garage sale and she LOVES the duck. She just stares and stares at it! I think she also likes being at a similar level to the cats and not actually laying on the ground whiel they walk over and around her. She gets fixated on them from time to time as they wander about.

The highchair might be a little premature, but we thought she might enjoy sitting at the table with us while we eat dinner. And, this way we don't have to take turns holding her while we eat. Works out well!

We had some ice cream after dinner today and Lesley really, really wanted to try some. She liked it! (Don't worry, I only gave her enough to get on her tongue.) Looks like Grandpa Keith will have an ice cream buddy some day.

We are headed to Iowa again this weekend. The girls are getting baptized (finally!). More cute photos to come....

Need more sleep...

We survived our first week with me being back to work. One word sums up the week - exhaustion! Amazing how having a baby changes so much. Before Lesley came along, going to work 5 days a week for 40 hours was no big deal. Heck, I worked 60+ hours for about 2 months in a row and never felt as tired as I felt last week. She's still been sleeping pretty good and seems to be on a pretty predictible schedule, I just feel like I need at least 5 more hours of sleep every day. Hopefully it's just the first week tiredness and my body will adjust (and she will start sleeping through the night soon - Fingers crossed!).

Katie gave us good reports every day. Of course Lesley had her fussy times, but that's too be expected with a 3 month old baby. We even had to increase the amount of milk we put in the bottles by the end of the week. She went from drinking 2-2.5 ouces per bottle the first day to 4 ounces by Friday. I think Lesley has gotten the hang of the bottle! Lesley even got to go to the mall and visit Aunt Denise's house Thursday. Katie and Aunt Denise wanted to do a little shopping - Lesley just slept which is typical for her trips to the mall. Then, Katie had to go to the dentist so Lesley hung out with Aunt Denise for a couple hours.

I had a big list of things to accomplish this weekend that didn't get done this week since each night after work, I just wanted to hold Lesley and go to bed as soon as I could. Well, I'm looking at the list and not one thing has been crossed off, and I can think of 2-3 more things that I should add. Even before I went back to work, I struggled with getting things done and now it's going to be worse. Our house looks clean on the surface, it could really, really use a deep cleaning. And, there's just "stuff" around that needs a home. We've quickly discovered that even though a baby is small in size, all the stuff that comes with a baby takes up a lot of room. I think a bigger home is necessary before Baby #2 comes along down the road.

For a couple weeks, I had gotten into the habit of putting Lesley in her swing in the middle of the night. After I'd feed her between 2-4am, she was difficult to get back to sleep. But the swing always worked so eventually, I stopped trying the crib and just put her in the swing. Well, last week I decided that shouldn't be necessary (mostly because we had to buy MORE batteries) so she just went back in the crib and would fuss/squirm for a little bit before going back to sleep. But...this morning she woke up at 5am, Jason was not excited to entertain after giving her a bottle so she ended up in the swing. This was the smile we got when she woke up again at 8:15am. We love a happy baby in the morning!

I've decided that I love the sleepers with zippers! So much easier to change diapers in the middle of the night. Just the other morning, Jason noticed that the button sleeper she had on did not get buttoned right. He asked me, "why didn't you button this right?" "Well, honey it was 3am, I was still half asleep and she was squirming around on the changing table, not to mention I was attempting this difficult feat in the dark." Anyway, this is one of the garage sale purchases I've made recently and we love this sleeper.

My friend Nicole hosted a "Baby Brunch" for all our co-workers who have recently had babies. In the photo from the top going clockwise is Cole, Collin, Lesley, Evan, and Clara. We had a great time hanging out with the babies and comparing notes on our birth stories and baby adventures.

Lesley is always in awe of her daddy and some nights just can't take her eyes off him.

We had some professional photos taken today since Lesley will be 3 months old this week. These are a few of my favorites. I will post a few more sometime this week.

Lesley's pouty face - it cracks us up and we just laugh at her when she does this. I tell her what my Grandpa Hoffmann used to tell us - "You better put that lip away or a bird might fly by and poop on it."

First Day with Cousin Katie

We are excited to say that Lesley's first day with Katie went pretty smoothly. She was in a good mood when she woke up so we got to cuddle a little while she ate in the morning. Jason helped get her ready while I got myself ready. I left before Katie arrived (in the hopes of avoiding more tears). I rushed home after work and even though Lesley didn't smile for me, she was excited to eat! She ate like 3 times between 5pm and 8pm...well, she wasn't so much eating all that time, just nestled up next to me. I think she missed her mommy just as much as her mommy missed her. Katie had written everything down in a notebook, i.e. nap times, eating times, how much she ate, diapers, etc. It was super nice of her. We hope Lesley increases the milk intake though - 1-2 ounces bottles isn't going to cut it. She needs to get back to her 3-3.5 ounces.

Last night, Lesley was very “chatty” and telling me all about her day. It was pretty funny because I would say, "and then what did you and Katie do" and she would start babbling and giggling. We both fell asleep on the couch before 9pm. Once Jason woke me up to go to bed, he stayed up with Lesley since she was being a stinker and not wanting to go to sleep in her crib.

Going back to work was hard (and was still hard today), but having Katie around makes it a bit easier to leave in the morning. Thanks Katie!

Look at the difference 3 months makes - Katie will have her hands full this summer, Lesley has grown quite a bit since she agreed to babysit several months ago.

Lesley has found not only her hands, but also her mouth! She loves putting just about anything in her mouth. Her favorites are her fists, forearm, and shirt/dress. We like putting things in her hand to see if she has the coordination to get it to her mouth. She was successful with this rattle the other day and only hit herself in the head a couple times. :)

Not quite big enough for the "Big girl" stroller - we'll have to try again in a couple months.