bless me

It's my first Christmas and I've got my first cold. I've got one heck of a cough and I'm sneezing like crazy. Good thing I haven't started with a fever...yet. Fingers crossed, that doesn't happen. Mommy and daddy took me to the doctors right away and they are taking good care of me!

Being sick doesn't stop me from being a happy baby though! Here is a brief video of me under my stocking and next to my first Christmas tree! Now that daddy is up I can start ripping in to my gifts!

Merry Christmas to all!
Love,
Alexis
XOXO

To All...

Merry Christmas to my friends and family!

I love you all!
Keep checking back for pictures from my First Christmas!

Watch me!

Many of you have seen the picture of me in my play yard. Here's a brief video of me having fun in it! I like to hit and kick the toys that are hanging. The big fish in the middle plays music that helps keep my attention.
Enjoy!

New things...

Every day I am getting bigger and bigger and I'm learning new things.

I a previous video you saw me "ooohing" with daddy. Here's a nother picture of me in the midst of  an "ooooh".

I'm supposed to get 15 minutes of belly time a day. I can't say I get that much just yet but when I do, I'm lifing my head and working my muscles.

I've also started sucking on a pacifier. It's not something I do all the time but occasionally it helps me calm down and even fall asleep.

Yummy...my thumb. This isn't something mommy wants me start doing so she doesn't help me out any. I usually end up with the side of my hand but I'm trying so hard and occasionally I find my thumb! (Sorry for the "red-eyes"! That's what blue eyes do in the flash!)

Lastly, I'm starting to hold on to my bottle when mommy is feeding me. I can't hold it all by myself but I'm trying. It's hard for mommy to get a picture of this but I'm sure she'll keep trying.

Keep checking back for more updates!

This Christmas...

Will be a very special Christmas for me!!!

Two weeks ago I got to sit on Santa's lap! One time I was by myself, I had a picture taken with mommy and I also had a picture taken with my five cousins (Taylor, Trevor, Sierrah, Myranda and Tannor). You have to look close to see me in that picture!!! HaHa!

This next picture mommy took to show off my hat! Isn't it adorable? I have matching boots but you don't see them in this picture!

Merry Christmas everyone!!!
Love,
Alexis

Update

My mommy and I are so glad my two-month well check is over!

How many of you thought I was over nine pounds? Well, in weight, I'm in the 39 percentile on growth. I now weigh 10 lbs 8.6 oz. I'm in the 53 percentile on length; I am 1' 10.52" long. And if anyone is curious I am in the 43 percentile on head circumference; my head is 15.2" around!  All in all, I'm doing very well.

I still have at least four more months on the Nutramigen formula. As you can see it's helping me get bigger. The doctors are hopeful we'll be able to switch to a soy-based formula at some point. They are also working with my sensitive stomach and trying to make me feel better.

As for the rest of my day, I see sleep. They tell me my legs are going to hurt from the shots and I may be a bit crancy tonight. We all hope it doesn't last long!

It's nap time for me!
Alexis

I'm two month's old today!

Horray! Look at me! I'm two months old today!

I woke up this morning smiling and happy! Just a little while later Santa came through our development on the Warrington fire truck! (The sirens got daddy out of bed thinking there was a real fire!)

I have a big week coming up. Tuesday I have to go to the doctors for my two-month check up. I don't mind getting weighed and measured to see how big I'm getting but unfortunately I'm due for my first round of vaccinations. :( That part of the appointment I am not looking forward to. Mommy and daddy are anticipating me not feeling too well afterwards. Wish me luck.

Wednesday is the sad day when mommy has to go back to work. Even though I will be at my Aunt Debbie's house and in excellent care, it still upsets mommy to leave me. Let's hope the adjustment goes well for all of us.

Ooooooooh!

Alexis is learning to ooooooh and aaaaah and likes to hear daddy oooooh to her. She tries to do what daddy does (and sometime she can do it back to him) but most times she just loves her time spent with him.

Here is a brief video of the two of them!

My First Thanksgiving!

It was a long day but well worth the traveling, the dressing & undressing, going in & out of my carseat, and being passed around.

My day started off with seeing my surprising first snowfall! It didn't last long, didn't amount to anything and it quickly turned to rain.

We had a wonderful dinner at Mom-Mom's house with her and Uncle John. I was told about mommy's favorite stuffing that Mom-Mom makes along with daddy's favorinte ham-loaf. Can't wait till I can eat real food!

Next we were off to Grandmom and Gandpop Yarrington's house. My family around this table was Uncle Ken, Great Granny, Pastor Andy Curtis, Grandmom, Grandpop, Great Aunt Carol, Great Uncle Harry, Aunt Lucy and Uncle Robb. Daddy especially enjoyed Grandmom's sweet potatoes and pecan pie!

My most special moment by far was meeting my Great Granny! Not many kids are lucky enough to even have a Great Granny! She held me, smiled at me and even burped me! We tried getting a picture of the four-generation of Yarrington's but it didn't turnn out so well.

Here are some pictures that will take you though my day!

Here I am with my Mom-Mom and me after my Thanksgiving dinner bottle!

Here are the four-generations of Yarrington's; Great Granny, Grandpop Jim, Daddy and myself!

Here I am with my Great Granny!

Here I am saying good-bye to Great Granny and one of daddy holding me.

Here's me with my Great Uncle Harry.

Here I am with my Aunt Lucy and Uncle Robb!

And last but not least her I am with my mommy and daddy!

I hope the rest of my family had a special day as well!
Love to you all!
Alexis



Tomorrow is...

My first Thanksgiving!
I already have so much to be thankful for!
Most importantly I have parents who love each other. They also love me SO much! They feed me every time I cry my "hungry cry", they hold me and rock me, they keep me clean, and they take the time to figure out my many needs.

I also have four sets of grandparents that I am very grateful for. They too love me and are proud to show me off whenever they can. Tomorrow I will get to see my Mom-Mom and Uncle John for dinner and I'll have dessert with my Yarrington Grandparents and many Aunts and Uncles. What I'm looking most forward to is meeting my Great Granny! We will have four generations of Yarrington's together. (Granny, Jim, my daddy and me!)

For my family members that I don't get to see tomorrow, I wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving!

This was me this morning but check back again soon for pictures from my first Thanksgiving!
Love to you all!
Alexis

Game Day!

Today is a big day for the Eagles; they are playing the NY Giants. We are a family of Eagles fans and now thanks to my Aunt Lucy, I can proudly support my favorite football team. I may even be the youngest Eagles fan out there! It's fun to share this time with my daddy too!

E-A-G-L-E-S  Eagles!!!

First Bath!

I'm almost six weeks old and finally my cord falls off. Up until now I've only gotten a sponge bath (which I love) but today I got my first tub bath! I was such a good girl and I seem to enjoy the water. Take a look...

It took both Mommy and Daddy to wash me but I smell good, I'm happy and I'm getting sleepy.

Me in my Play Yard

It's nice having daddy home on the weekends. We are able to take more pictures and even get them posted!
Here is Alexis in her play yard. This was an awesome gift we got as a shower gift. She's not able to reach the toys just yet but they rattle and play music and she enjoys her time in it!

Smile!

It's something I do often but not long enough for mommy or daddy to catch on film. Well, today they caught it! I was having such a good morning and I was a very happy baby! Here is the picture to proove it!

I'm one month old today!!!

Where did the time go! Alexis has certainly changed our world! She is so beautiful, yet a handful! We continue to learn from her, work with her needs, likes and dislikes and she continues to grow and learn new things.

Tuesday I had her to the doctors and she now weighs 7 lbs 12 oz. Yesterday she actually found her thumb and started to suck for a few seconds! It was the cutest thing to watch and listen to. I'm not sure it's something I want her to do, but I guess that too will be out of my control. (I remember saying we were going to try to not use the passifier but at night it can be our life saver!) She is a little girl who knows what she likes and wants!

Grammy Sue and Grandpop!!!

Finally I meet my Grammy Sue and Grandpop!!! We spent the day together letting Grammy spoil me! I was able to show off my super strong lungs and I reminded them just how sweet of a child my daddy was! Grammy helped soothe my tummy by rocking me and rubbing my back. Thanks Grammy!

Trick or Treat!

This is my first Halloween and I'm loving it!!! Who needs candy when I got Daddy!!! We without a doubt have a little monster on our hands!

My first meeting with Grandpop!!!

Grandpop flew in from Florida last night just to see me!!! I stayed awake just long enough to see him, have him hold me, and even burp me! It's so nice to finally meet you Grandpop!!!

A good day!

Today was week three of having Alexis to the doctors for a weight check. She was born weighing 7 lbs 4 oz and came home weighing 6 lbs 10 oz. Week two she weighed 6 lbs 10.7 oz. The doctor wants to continue seeing Alexis until she reaches her birth weight so at today's appointment I was very happy to hear she is slowly reaching that goal. Today she weighed 7 lbs 1oz! We are almost there! You have no idea how happy mommy was to hear that!

Eyes wide open!!!

Here's a look at our little girl with her eyes open! Something we don't see too often throughout the day!

Bad habit #1!

Yes, we know...this is not something we want to get into the habit of doing but it was too cute to not take a picture of.

While mommy went to get her shower daddy watched over Alexis. You can't see it in the picture but daddy's eyes are closed and he is providing her with some "white noise" otherwise known as snoring!!!

Oh how she loved it!!!

Alexis is finally here!!!

Sorry for the delay in getting a picture posted. We thought this would be a much easier and faster way to get pictures out to everyone but we didn't realize we would have to find the time to post!

Our baby girl is hours away from being six days old already! She is so incredible and has truly made our family! We are learning more and more every day; what she likes, what she doesn't like, her funny little facial expressions, and most importantly how to be good parents. We have some work to do in getting her back on the right sleepping schedule of sleep during the night and not all day long.

Some cute little things we've noticed about here are...she has one really long eye lash on her left eye. She often times will open her right eye and keep her left eye closed. When she sneezes, she sneezes twice. She has the cutest facial expressions (especially when she's sleeping). Daddy has learned early on that she has a wimper that will get her anything she wants!!! She's loves to be swaddled and cuddled, but please leave her right arm out...she's ok with her left arm being tucked away! She doesn't like her feet being rubbed, unless she is sound asleep! This is just to name a few...we could go on and on about just how beautiful our little girl is!

It's now a waiting game...

Our hope of having Alexis on 10-10-10 is just about over.

I've finished up my last day at work, her room is all ready for her, our house is clean (thanks to Ben), laundry is done and unfortunately I've seemed to give up on the hope that she's going to come early. I was really hoping that I had my last doctors visit but it looks like we'll see him tomorrow.  My new wish is that he tells us to go to the hospital right from his office. I understand we'll still be (three days) early but I don't know how much more of this I can take.

I have horrible back pain, I'm not sleeping, and I haven't had any contractions. We've been doing what we think will help her come along a little faster; walking a couple times each day, doing squats and driving fast over speed bumps. If anyone has any other suggestions for us, I'll gladly try it.

I remember thinking back to our 20-week ultrasound when she was so active and we had to redo an ultrasound in order to get good photos. Why wouldn't she rather be active outside of me, in her new home? I promise to keep her warm, Ben will swaddle her and we'll love her every second of every day! That sounds better to me already!

My biggest fear now is that she'll come late. Please keep your fingers crossed and say a prayer she'll come out right away!

I was asked...

a very interesting question the other week.

I was asked "with all the things first-time moms tend to give up durring their pregnancy, what do I miss the most and can't wait to have once I have our little Alexis"?

I was never a huge chocolate lover, so I certainly don't miss not being able to eat chocolate. It's probably better if I don't eat it, ever again!

Ben and I were never huge drinkers, so not being able to have a glass of Riesling at dinner for nine months (or for the time I will be feeding Alexis) doesn't bother me too much either.

I think what I'm craving the most and what I can't wait to have again is Sushi!!! Ummm I love the Lobster Dynamite Roll at Ooka! Hopefully that will be our first date-night outing as new parents, (just as it was on our very first date)!

Awaiting her arrival...

We have been working really hard to get her room in order. I've washed a lot of clothes, done some rearranging and as Ben says "been nesting like a mad woman". I feel really good about bringing Alexis home and showing her the new room!

I've learned that she won't fit right in to Stage 1 diapers and that she needs the newborn size first! I've also learned that I only need to make room for 0-3 and 3-6 months clothing. (I didn't need to wash everything all at once!) Ben is learning what diapers cost and just how quickly someone so small and precious can take over our condo!

Here are two pictures of her room. Don't worry, when she is ready to sleep in her crib I know to remove the stuffed animals. I've also been told the trick of when she outgrows an outfit, to take it out of the closet and pack it away!

Thanks again to everyone for helping us make her room, her own!

It's Shower Time!!!

We have a lucky little girl in my belly. The first surprise was a shower thrown by my mom and sister-in-law. I was told we were going to Mryanda's birthday party. At the house was about 20 of my family, friends and co-workers!
It brought back memories of a little over a year ago, when we were there for my bridal shower! It was again a beautiful day, fun filled with games and prizes and many, many gifts to open. Our little girl is surrounded by family and friends who already love her so much!

My second surprise came on a day when I wasn't feeling my best at work. It was a busy day, I had so much work to do (planning on my LOA), and I wasn't feeling my best or looking my best. I was asked to go for birthday cake and once I got to the top of the ramp I noticed two dozen or so of my fellow co-workers. I was completely shocked! They got me! I work with very kind and generous people who are also very anxious to meet our little girl. We got gift cards, clothes, hand-made items and books.

Our third and final surprise came when I was asked to come to the Mill because both Ben and Jim were getting a "Sportsman's Award". I was so excited for Ben and was so excited that I was able to make it. When we got down the stairs and rounded the corner Ben and I noticed the balloons and gifts. It was a shower for Ben from his co-workers! Needless to say I was quite upset that he wasn't really getting an award.

We had a beautiful spread of food, my favorite Jewish Apple Cake and a beautifully decorated butterfly cake. Ben also works with thoughtful and generous people who can't wait the arrival of Yarrington Mills 5th generation!

To all of our family, friends and co-workers we say Thank You! These parties were so wonderful. We appreciate the time and effort you gave to make the arrival of our little Alexis so memorable! It's amazing to feel the love that surrounds us both within our families and also within our work families.

I've expressed to some close friends that many years ago I had thought my dream of finding my very best friend & soul mate, and my desire to have a family was lost...and then I met Ben and my life has changed. I tell him all the time that I love the way he loves me! We recognize this next step in our life's journey together is going to be new and a learning process as we go. What I already know now is that Ben's love for his daughter is going to be nothing less than the love I receive and she is going to be the luckiest little girl in the world to have him for a Daddy!

At 22 weeks

At 22 and 23 weeks we had ultrasounds done at both Grand View Hospital and Lehigh Valley Hospital. The reason for these ultrasounds was to make sure everything looked good with our baby's heart. Rest assure, our little baby is PERFECT!

We had just heard a story the night before the 22 week ultrasound that if you want to find out the sex of the baby to look for either a "pickle" or a "hamburger". Our tech took her time looking for what she needed to see and then asked if we wanted to know the sex. With out a doubt we were so anxious to find out. I remember laying on the table and looking at Ben. Within seconds of her asking us, Ben's face lite up! He quickly shouted "it's a hamburger"!!! I was in total shock! I sat up, looked at the tech, she confirmed and said "hug your husband", it's a girl!!!









The next week was our second ultrasound at Lehigh. This tech was specifically looking more in depth at the heart and at the end of the appointment reconfirmed that it was "still a girl"!

Our first 8-week appointment

March 8, 2010 we had our first doctor's appointment. This was our way of making sure we were absolutely pregnant. With not knowing what to expect it turned out being very exciting.

We had our first ultrasound and got to see our little peanut. The best part of all was when the tech turned on the volume and we were able to hear the little heart beating. It was a quiet sound, however loud enough to bring tears to our eyes!

When I first learned we were pregnant!

It was the morning of February 5, 2010. I woke up at my normal time to get ready for work and decided to take the test. Two minutes go by and I see a plus sign. We were indeed pregnant! Ben get's up a few hours after me so I went about my usual morning routine and went to work.

What was I thinking??? I couldn't focus nor could I get anything done at work, knowing what know. I was so excited and I couldn't share my news with anyone. Needless to say, I wasn't at work for very long. Once I left I went to the store to buy a onesie I could decorate as a way of telling Ben our news. I drew on the shirt, made him a card and put the positive test all in a box and had it ready for him to open once he got home from work.

 Ben was happy to have recied a gift, that he had no idea what was inside. He was super excited! We decided to go to dinner to celebrate our news.