6 MONTHS!

I can't believe this little lady is already a half a year old! She is so different from the sleepy little baby I brought home. She's active, alert, talkative, and into EVERYTHING. She's almost perfected the crawl, but in the meantime, she has no problem rolling, scooting, and army crawling to where she wants to be. I am kind of dreading the walking, considering how much she can get into just by rolling! Her personality shines through more and more every day. One thing we've learned about R is that she is a social butterfly. Wonder where she got that from?! She has huge smiles for everyone and anyone, and just loves being around people. Considering that within minutes of her birth, our hospital room was flooded with people, and that sort of continued ever since we came home, I suppose she has been groomed to love company. She doesn't get cranky often, but when she does, I've noticed that it's on the days that she hasn't left the house. Little lady gets bored and stir crazy, just like her mama!

We have our first big trip as a family of three (or technically 5 since my parents are going) coming up. In three weeks, we will be boarding a plane to London, and then on to Scotland. Part of me is excited to take R on her first plane ride...but most of me is dreading it. I don't know when I became a nervous flyer since I do it all the time, but slowly over the years I've grown more and more nervous on planes. Throw becoming a mom into the mix and now I'm a downright paranoid nutcase! Good thing they serve alcohol on planes! The upside of taking R on her first international trip? She just received her most precious baby passport! I almost died when I opened it and saw the cuteness of her little face in the passport picture. Anyone have travel tips for surviving a flight with a baby? I plan to bribe people's compassion by bringing treats or buying drinks for the lucky people sitting near us, but this flight is LONG, so I may run out of ideas by hour 10!

OK, on to the 6 month stats: At R's 6 month appt, she measured:

Length: 26" Long, 50th Percentile

Head Circ: 16.5", 25th Percentile (def didn't get mama's enormous head!)

Weight: 15 lbs, 4 oz, 25th Percentile (don't let those chubby cheeks fool you-she's still kind of itty bitty!)

 Teeth: Workin' on them. No teeth to report just yet, but with the amount of drooling and gnawing, I'd say they'll pop through any time now. Hopefully later rather than sooner, as those chompers will most likely end our nursing relationship!

 Food: She's tried rice cereal, baby oatmeal, sweet potatoes (hands down her favorite), bananas, carrots (she hated them!), peas, butternut squash, and applesauce. Oh yeah, and ice cream. Someone let her dive into some Baskin Robbins ice cream cake, where she got a nice little handful of frosting and ice cream which immediately went into her mouth. Sorry baby, but you have to wait 6 more months for your next taste of cake!

Sleep: I think I had posted that my solid sleep through the nighter baby regressed when we stopped swaddling her. But since little lady loves to sleep on her belly with her face IN the covers, and since she could maneuver herself into that position while swaddled, it was clearly no longer an option. I'm happy to report, that she is doing much better on the sleeping front. She still wakes up once our twice a night to nurse, but it's for about 2 minutes and then she's right back to sleep. We plan to make the switch to formula after our trip to Scotland, so I'm hoping that those middle of the night wakes will stop.

Clothes: She is wearing mostly 3-6 month stuff still, although I'm getting ready to start buying in the next size. I had to by my firs set of onsies the other day. She had onsies to last her through 6 months old from my shower. Considering that I feel like I'm constantly buying things for her, the fact that I've never had to buy her onsies until this week was a win.

Pics: Here are some recent pics of my little love!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

What's wrong?! It's just a little frosting!

Hmmm this isn't ice cream cake!

Out of my way, Mom!

Playing Dress Up

Swim Time

Grocery shopping just got 10000000x easier now that she can sit up!

Happy Half Birthday to Me!

All cozy after our nightly walk

Chillin with Merlin

Of course I finally grow into all my cute hats when it's 1000 deg outside! 

I told you she loves to sleep face down. How is that even comfortable?!

One and Done?

It didn't take long after Miss R popped out for the questions about baby # 2 to begin. In fact, I think I was asked for the first time in the recovery room while I was holding my hours old baby. The thought of doing all that again was horrifying. I would have sent John down the hall for a vasectomy right then if I could have. Now, the actual childbirth part was a breeze. Probably the easiest part of the whole process. I was very fortunate to have such an easy delivery with no complications and very little pain, plus an easy recovery and an easy baby. None of that played into my decision to announce I was done. I had NO desire to be pregnant again. It's no secret that I didn't exactly LOVE being pregnant. The sickness just really got to me after 5 months of it. Was it worth it? Absolutely. Did I want to do it again? Absolutely Not! As they all say, pregnancy did become a distant memory. I have friends who are pregnant now, and they are asking me about feelings and sensations you get towards the end, and I can honestly barely remember. I remember that I was uncomfortable, but the actual details and feelings of being pregnant are fuzzy. That must be natures way of continuing mankind. You really, really do forget! My reasoning for potentially being a mama of one changed from not wanting to go through pregnancy again to not wanting to have anyone I have to share my love with. I no longer dread the thought of being pregnant, because after all, no matter how long 9 months seems at the time, it really does go by fast. I just couldn't imagine having another baby that I would love as much as sweet little R. I also couldn't imagine having to divide my attention between her and a sibling. I'm an only child, and my mom and I have often discussed whether you feel the same about your 2nd, 3rd, 4th born as you do about your first (something no person would admit most likely). Fast forward 6 months, and my mindset has definitely changed. While I am in no means wanting to add to our family anytime soon, I think that I am ok saying that I would like ONE more. This may seem strange, but part of the reason I'd like one more is because I sort of want a pregnancy do over. Now that I know what to expect, I know that I will enjoy pregnancy so much more the next time around. I know that I won't care one single bit about the gender, because you fall in love with that baby and can't imagine it being anything other than what it is once you have it in your arms. I know that every nauseous sprint to the bathroom (or planter in a restaurant parking lot) is worth it. Every muscle ache, headache, and um, other aches are WORTH it. Every drink you have to turn down, whether it be a 2nd cup of coffee or an iced cold margarita, it's worth it! And, that little baby will be another little creature that you and your hubby created, just like the first one. How could you not LOVE it the same? I grew up with a very small family-all only children all both sides. So that means I have a total of 2 cousins. No biological nieces or nephews for me. I think I'd like to break that trend in my fam and add just one more kiddo to the mix. One more. And not until R is at least 2 or 3. I need to enjoy every little moment with my first girl. And while I rest in the recovery room with baby # 2, my husband will be down the hall recovering from his vasectomy. You'd better believe it.