17 weeks old!!!

I'm FOUR months old (one day early)!!! And boy what a month is has been! Norah has moved up a size in diapers, and we've packed away all of her 0-3 month sized clothes! She rolls all over the place...from her back to her belly and back again! She likes being on her tummy now, probably because it's on her own terms, and she's the one who put herself there! Such a stubborn little girl! She seriously wont sit still. She is the squirmiest little thing in the world! You can tell she's just dying to crawl and move around! She is also LOUD now! So very vocal! It is hilarious! Everything goes in her mouth now too...hands, toys, blankies and burp cloths, mom and dad, and she tries for her feet! She likes to hold onto her bottle now (with assistance of course), and has even picked up her pacie and tried to get it in her mouth...kept hitting her upper lip instead! Not sure if she knew exactly what she was doing, or if she was just trying to put SOMETHING in her mouth! Either way, I was pretty impressed at the time! We still have a very decent routine running, which includes a nice 2-hour morning nap...which sometimes means mommy gets a nap too! Thank goodness...even if its only an hour, it makes all the difference and helps me catch up a tiny bit from the weekends! Dad enjoys his quality time with Norah on the weekends, but doesn't take advantage of the nap time like I do!

^^This was the hardest month to capture so far. She is SO squirmy and wants to look at anything else but the camera! She always has her hands in her mouth too, making it impossible to see her face!!^^

^^Right after her morning nap, and BEFORE her bottle...hehehe^^

Uncle Henry came to visit! We had a really nice time together, and Norah really loved her uncle! Lots and lots of grins and squeals for him! He requested that she sport some Cardinal's gear...that didn't make daddy too happy...

^^and this is apparently where quality time with Uncle Hank get us...^^

We also got to take Norah swimming for the first time while Uncle Hank was here! She loved it! We just bounced around in the water, and she lasted over an hour! She got pretty pruney and I figured it was time to take a break. She fell asleep for a quick minute after that, then let us all know that it was time to go home!! So bossy :)

We had our first "play-date" this week with a one-year-old little girl...which means Norah just sat around and we watched Lili play! Lili kept wanting to play with all of Norah's things...pacie, bottle, toys...it was so cute! Whenever Norah cried Lili got sad and started to fuss too. Hopefully we can do it again soon! We were also able to meet daddy for lunch and have a picnic at a park near his job site! It was gorgeous in the shade...Norah had plenty to look at and was very content the entire time! Daddy made the mistake of feeding ONE bird near us...and instantly we had 30 birds stalking us! Gross. Time to head out!!! I think Sunday after my shifts and a nap we will head back to the pool...considering it will be over 100 degrees!!! Gross again! That's all we know for now!

16 weeks old!

16 weeks old!!! Our gorgeous blue-eyed princess is one active girl! Now, the moment you lay her down she flips over to her tummy, then back again! Cant leave her alone for one second! I cant believe how much she has grown!

Uncle Henry arrived last night...pictures will have to be on next weeks post! Norah has a bunch of smiles for him already!! This past week has been pretty standard...and for some reason her morning naps have been exceptionally long...which is ok by me because then I get a nap too! Here's what's been happening in Norah's world:

^^she was totally captivated by her tutu all day! Kept lifting it up and staring at it:)^^

^^doesn't look sure about the face I'm surely making to her...blonde hair!^^

^^this would have never happened just a few weeks ago! Doesn't act like its the end of the world to be on her tummy anymore! And of course...hands in mouth at all times...^^

^^HANDS^^

Sweetest girl in the whole wide world! I'm heading back to work tonight...so it'll just be two men and a baby! All I know for sure is that grilling out is on the agenda while I'm not here...I'll find out later how they passed the time :)

15 weeks old!

15 weeks old, and so much has happened in a week!!! First, I celebrated my first Mother's Day last Sunday.  I went back through all of the pictures we've taken in this short time, and my how she's grown! I just love that little girl to pieces!!!

from one week old...

...to 3.5 months old!!

Second, Norah got to meet her Uncle Sean and Aunt Meghan! They came to Vegas for a long weekend to celebrate Sean's 30th birthday! Norah is so darn cute she's hard not to love, but I do believe they got to experience her wrath when she was taken out of her routine! Moral of the story...we live in Norah's world, and don't mess with baby!!

Norah has had some week herself! She decided on Sunday that she was going to actually participate in tummy time! She still hates it, so don't get too excited, but at least she's DOING something!

 

She also decided to roll herself over to her back that day! And THEN on Wednesday she decided she was ready to roll herself from her back onto her belly! It's like she knew how to do it all along, but was just too stubborn! We have our hands full already with this sassy little girl! The rest of the week has been pretty standard. She's growing up before our eyes though! She's really taken a liking to her feet...she holds on to them and pulls on her toes, and tries to get her foot in her mouth. Here she is on her play mat, trying to touch all of the toys simultaneously...and then gets her foot!

 ^^ you can see all her blonde hair coming in here!^^

 ^^deep in conversation with her 'lovey'...cooing and blowing bubbles at it!^^

^^Well, she made it halfway over, then just decided to hang out on her side for a while^^

Work is going well. I'm pretty darn exhausted after my shifts (ok, that's an understatement...), but still cant manage to sleep well. Unfortunately, that's nothing new...five years of night shift and horrid sleep patterns...I must crave the torture. I always tell myself "this is my last night shift job EVER!!!" or "I'm never working in a hospital EVER AGAIN" and I still go back time after time! I think that the folks that work night shift are a special breed, and way more fun to be around, that's for sure! And there's something to be said about being challenged, and forced to think critically...who knows, maybe I'm in it for the long haul! That about wraps up this week in Norah's world!

14 weeks old!

I survived my first weekend back at work last weekend. It was definitely slow-going at first: getting used to charting again (on the worst charting system on earth, by the way!), re-learning codes to get into cabinets and doors, and re-learning where everything is in the stock rooms! It was very exhausting...I didn't nap like usual before my Friday night shift, and I only ended up sleeping 4 hours total on Saturday! We sort of "celebrated" my birthday on Sunday, which consisted of me in my pajamas on the couch, a pizza and my little family! I baked my own birthday cake! It was a weight-watchers recipe I found on Pinterest...I think next time I'll stick to the calorie-filled cupcakes...

Here we are before I left for work last Friday...

And Norah with daddy on Saturday while I slept!

We've had a pretty uneventful week. I'm back in night-shift mode...which means the insomnia has returned! I'm too tired to sleep, if that makes sense. There's no time to recover now with the little one to take care of! And I'm another year older...not 29 like I thought for a few days, just 28! Old age setting in!!! Just a few shots from the week...

Norah and Daddy watching the Stanley Cup playoffs! Ohhh boy...

13 weeks old!

Well, the time has come. I'm going back to work tonight! I couldn't stay away forever, but this time home with my peanut has gone by way too quickly!!! I'm glad that I have all week with her...I can do anything for two nights a week! I'm also glad that daddy will get quality time with Norah that he misses during the week...and we'll be saving on a babysitter or daycare, at least while we're here in Vegas!

Our little baby is 3 months old!!! And boy, does she have quite the personality! It's amazing how she's definitely her own little person already. There certainly hasn't been enough time for her to learn to act like either one of us, but I'm pretty sure she already has my attitude!! I don't want her to grow up too fast, but I can't wait for her to start talking because she sure will have LOTS to say! We're in trouble :) At three months old, Norah is full of smiles, coos, funny faces, songs and dances! Still waiting on that "official" laugh, though!!! We estimate she weighs about 12 pounds (by our bathroom scale!); we wont know for sure until her four-month appointment in June. She's definitely more focused, looks a lot at her hands, and always has them in her mouth 'discovering' them! She plays a little with her toys, and can hold on to them for a little bit. At night, she sleeps for 7 hours, eats, then goes right back to sleep for 3-4 more hours. She's nailed down a solid morning nap too...and we're hoping her afternoon cat-naps turn into one solid nap one day! She has really good head and neck control, but you'd never know it if you watched tummy-time! Three months later and she STILL hates it! She just lies there and screams and cries like it is the worst possible thing to ever happen to her in her little life! Maybe we'll have better luck in month 4! She brings us so much happiness and joy...she's just the best!!!

(^^singing loudly here!!)

(^^trying to climb out of her Bumbo!)

(^^this dog couldn't care less!!)

And we cannot forget the fourth member of our little family...here he is excited about our walk!!

Disclaimer: I don't know if we'll be having our weekly posts on Friday's anymore given my new schedule (it was my Friday task, and now I'll try to nap instead!!)...I'll try to keep up the best I can!!!