Catelin at One Month and Fourth of July

Catelin turned one month old on July 3rd, so I am a couple of weeks late on this post.  She has been doing really well and is growing like a weed. 



One month stats…weight: 9 lbs, 3 oz; height 21.5”

Catelin has smiled quite a few times, but it is usually as she is falling asleep (so I don’t think that counts as her first “real” smile).  It is adorable, though!  She loves to look at fans and turns her head to voices or loud noises.  She is not the biggest fan of tummy time and has even rolled over a few times because she was so mad!   Her big brothers absolutely adore her…



We are starting to work on her day time schedule, but I am mostly feeding her on demand right now.  The first couple of weeks, she was waking up 2-3 times a night; after she got up to her birth weight, I started doing the moms on call evening/night routine (bath, swaddle, white noise, etc).  She has done really well with it - most nights, she goes to bed around 9:30 and sleeps until some time between 2:30 and 3:45.  Her final wake up time is usually around 8:00. 

Needless to say, I am thankful that she is doing well with the sleeping.  Her nursing, however, has been a real struggle.  For the past few weeks, she would nurse 15-20 minutes on each side and about 10 minutes after finishing, she screamed like I never fed her.  I would end up pumping and giving her the rest in a bottle.  I really don’t have time to do that with two toddlers running around, so I decided to go to a lactation consult.  After a 2 hour long session with the lactation nurse, the bottom line is she has an “immature suck”…in other words, she is lazy.  Now I am trying to nurse her when I have time, but for most feedings I have to pump and give her a bottle. On top of that, I got mastitis last week (UGH!!).  I feel so blessed to have a healthy baby, and I know in the grand scheme of things this is a very small problem, but it is still incredibly frustrating.  I am hoping and praying that it will get better as she gets older.

On the fourth of July, we took the boys to the Dunwoody Country Club carnival (Lisa was kind enough to watch Catelin for the evening).  The club really went all out- they had carnival rides, 6 different bounce houses, tons of bubbles, snow cones, and cotton candy.  They even let the kids play in a sand trap like it was an enormous sandbox!  The night concluded with an impressive fireworks show – MJ absolutely loved it (Ty was a little scared of how loud they were and had his arms wrapped around me the entire time)!

Hot Summer Days

Here are a bunch of pictures from the past few weeks…

The week before our anniversary, Steve and I celebrated by going to the Lady Antebellum concert (the boys spent the night with my parents while Lisa watched Catelin)...it was wonderful to have an evening out!  The night of our anniversary, we had an incredible dinner at Restaurant Eugene – I have never been there before and it did not disappoint.

Having fun with grandma!

The boys survived their ISR swim classes again this year.  MJ only had to do a 2 week refresher course while Ty transitioned from float to the swim-float-swim sequence (which took 4 weeks).  In order to graduate, he had to swim across the pool solo while wearing winter clothes, shoes, and a regular diaper.  Here is the video

Ty’s first trophy!

We have been spending a lot of time at the country club pool- the boys love it, and Catelin hangs out in her car seat in the shade as long as it’s not too hot.  She even made a trip to the zoo!






Ann came to visit on Father’s Day weekend.  It was great to see her and catch up.  She spoiled the boys with bubbles (which they LOVED) while showering Catelin with adorable clothes and a gorgeous name plate for the nursery.

Ann with her Goddaughter

We moved Ty into MJ’s room when Catelin was a week old – Ty is now in the Thomas the train toddler bed and MJ is in a “junior” bunk bed.  The transition has gone surprisingly well, and they sleep great together at night.  Nap time is a different story- it takes about 30 minutes of me going in and out of their room to finally get them to go to sleep.  In the beginning, I was putting Ty in a Pack-N-Play in the guest room for his nap, but he quickly figured out how to climb out of it and now refuses to be in anything that resembles a crib (ugh)!

Here are a few more random pictures I just had to post:

At the park

My little Justin Bieber (why can’t I get his hair to stand up like that?!)

At the doctor’s office (Catelin’s 2 week appointment)

Catelin got her own sign on our swingset (“Catelin’s bridge”)

MJ showing off his soccer trophy

Both of my boys love coffee (who knew?!), so grandma treats them to their very own Starbucks “kids” cup when she comes over.  (yes, it is decaf)!