Siena August Rose | 3 Month Update

Our sweet Siena girl is 3 months old! Time is flying by and I am cherishing every moment. Siena's personality is growing everyday and we love it! She is so smiley, beginning to coo all the time and loves to kick! Her eyes are staying blue and she is rolls on rolls which I can't get enough of. I want to smooch on those chunky cheeks all day long...and I usually do too! :)

Noah still adores his sister...when he notices her that is. I am thankful for no jealousy issues but it kind of cracks me up that he literally doesn't acknowledge her existence except once or twice a day. He will kiss and hug her goodnight and that's about it. He is just a busy little guy!!

I am so proud of our girl for so far handling our big move so well. It was tough when we were in lodging on base and didn't have a swing or bouncer for her during the day. She likes to sit up when she is awake. She ended up being held a lot more than usual, which I didn't mind but that resulted in me getting a lot less done during the day. She is becoming a lot more alert and awake more often during the day. I am sad that her sleepy new born days are behind us but watching her grow is such a blessing.

STATS.

Her stats from her 2 month appointment:
13.04lbs (95%) and 23.5 inches (89%)
She is growing much faster than Noah did who was always in the 50% for weight and height. She handled her 2 month immunizations like a boss too! I was more upset about them than she was. haha.

She wears 3 month clothes and jammies and some 3-6 month sizes. She has outgrown some of her 0-3 month jammies. Her arms are growing faster than her legs just like her big brother does!

EAT.

Siena is still nursing every 2-3 hours. I was tracking her feedings but I haven't been using my app and just following her lead. She is pretty efficient and doesn't take a long time to nurse even in the middle of the night. I pump every morning after her 1st feeding of the day so I have a bottle to give her before bed. I give her 3 oz and she typically take 1-2 oz because she also nurses. I like to make sure she is full before bed time and also have her practice with a bottle in case she ever needs one during the day. We use the Breastflow bottle. With Noah I used the Mam bottles and tried with Siena but the flow seemed to be too fast. I also tried the medela bottles and she also had a hard time with how fast the nipple was.

SLEEP. 

Siena goes to bed at night between 8&9 pm. I warm a bottle of breast milk and put her in her sleep sack. She started breaking out of her swaddle so I have stopped swaddling her arms. I tried using the velcro to swaddle her in the sleep sack and she HATED IT (we swaddled her arms up not down). Since she sleeps in her baby nest she stays snug even with her arms free. I have been so thankful I have her baby nest while traveling and bouncing around between family. It has kept her comfortable and consistent with a place to sleep no matter where we are. She typically sleeps 6-7 hours straight before waking up and she nurses quickly and is back down for another 4 hours or so. I am totally fine with one night waking! She definitely understands what night time sleep is all about and has been doing great! Last month I mentioned that she would wake up and want to look around for a while before going back to sleep, thankfully she has stopped doing that and only wakes to nurse.

The first night we were in the states was rough for her. Her poor body was so confused. Our last flight brought us to Denver where my aunt picked us up and Siena became very overtired because it was her bed time in Italy. By the time we got to her house and got settled in to bed she was up and down all night. She was definitely tired and wanted to sleep because she would cry when she was awake. Poor girl was so jet lagged. The airline had also lost our pack and play which had her baby nest stuffed inside it. My aunt borrowed some things for us to use but I think since it was unfamiliar to her she didn't do so well. Noah on the other hand will sleep in any crib or bed you put him in. Thankfully they found our stuff a few hours later.
By the next night she was back to her normal sleeping self! We even went up North with my sister and her family the first day we were in Arizona and she slept great. We kept her in her baby nest in between us in the king bed in our hotel room.

Typical hotel nap!

FAVORITES.

• White Noise- Sister still loves the sound of the vacuum! I play it all night and during almost every nap. If she in inconsolable and needs to sleep we can usually get her to calm down with white noise.
• Solly Wrap- I wore her through every airport while traveling and she always fell right to sleep. I love that the wrap fits in the diaper bag so easily. 
• Nursing- Girl loves to eat! She loves to hold on to my hand while she nurses and it is seriously my favorite.
• Swing- Being without her MAMAROO in lodging was so hard. Now that we are visiting family I am able to borrow a swing from my sister and it has helped so much! We are not opposed to nap time in the swing! 
• Her baby nest! I am so so glad I made this purchase for her! I may get the larger size when we transition to her crib. 

NOT A FAN.

• Car Seat- She still does not like her carseat. We can sometimes get her to nap in it, but she usually cries for a while before drifting off.  When we found out we would only get flown to denver and would need to drive to AZ we decided that me and the kids would fly while Robbie drove the dogs and luggage so that we could avoid her crying for 13 hours in her car seat. Noah loved his car seat so it's crazy to have a kid who loathes it! 
• Overstimulation- kind of an obvious one but something new to her. She is used to it just being me and her at home all day and the craziest thing being her big brother. Now that we are around a lot of family she has been passed around and held by a lot of new people. She can only handle so much before she gets super cranky and wants it to just be mom thats holding her. 

MISS SIENA AUGUST ROSE.

oh girl friend, you get more beautiful everyday. I love your blossoming personality and how much you smile. You bring so much joy to my day. I am so blessed to watch you grow everyday and learn new things. We love you baby girl and can't wait to see what this next month will bring. 

Wearing her big brother's outfit! 

First plane ride! She did amazing! 

Siena August Rose | 2 Month Update

I am sure I will say this every month...but time is flying! 2 months already?! I feel like I was just trying to walk her out of me haha.
She is turning into a little chunk which we l o v e. I mean really, what is better than a chubby baby??
Noah is still obsessed with her which we also love. She is beginning to smile and it's the s w e e t e s t thing but we can't seem to catch it on video or camera yet, but you can bet when I do I will be photographing it like crazy ; )

EAT.

Siena is nursing every 2-3 hours during the day. Usually closer to the 2 hour mark. She nurses great and we haven't had any issues! I have began giving her a bottle of pumped breast milk before bed time at night. She still cluster feeds during her "witching hour" which is usually 5 or 6 pm- 9 or 10 pm when she is down for the night. I personally like to do a pumped bottle because then I know she has a full tummy and will hopefully sleep for a while before waking to eat at night. She started off not being too interested and only drinking a little but now she's drinking about 3 oz before bed.

SLEEP.

Siena is becoming more and more alert and not wanting to sleep all day like a brand new baby does. I am beginning to learn her sleep cues, which has been really helpful when it comes to getting her to nap. In the morning she eats and then usually spends some time awake. When I see her yawn I know it's time to swaddle her, turn on white noise and get her in the swing. She usually falls asleep for that first nap pretty easily. That's when I try to get a workout in or work on a blog post. After she wakes and eats she stays awakes and is usually tough to get back down. At this point it's just important to me that she gets in her naps so if that means a little extra nursing or being held then so be it. Her late afternoon nap is her second best nap, and that's usually before her long witching hour where she doses on and off until bed time.

At night she usually wakes up once to eat. She typically sleeps 5-6 hours before waking, but I have been so lucky to get a 7 hour stretch from her! This was this past week so I am hoping this will continue. She is still sleeping in her baby nest which I love, but if she gives me trouble going to bed or wakes up after her middle of the night feed I put her in the rock and play next to my bed. Sometimes she wakes up and just wants to look around for a while before going back to bed. When this happens I dim my flash light and set her up in the rock and play and go back to bed. She hasn't done this the last few days so I am wondering if maybe her middle of the night party sessions are due to her tummy hurting so I have been giving her gas drops before she feeds. I don't mind her using the rock and play when she needs it but I prefer her baby nest. We'll be traveling and I will be bringing that with us for her to sleep in and I think it will help her transition to the crib eventually as well. I still swaddle her for naps and at night but she is beginning to break out of it from time to time. I tried the halo sleep sac but she doesn't like her arms down. I will keep using the muslin swaddles for as long as I can before I try something else. Babies are such mysteries! Right when you think you have them figured out, they change it up on you!

FAVORITES.

• Swaddling- her arms flail around like crazy if she's not swaddled tight
• Nursing- because duh. lol
• The 4Moms mamaroo. We love this swing! She naps in it during the day. She likes the motion of the car ride and tree swing. We love that it has white noise and when she's awake we can postition the seat upright so she can sit up.
• Being held. Girlfriend loves to have attention. When she is awake we will lay her down or sit her in her bouncer to look around which she likes until she has had enough and wants some lovin. We don't mind tho! Also, when she's being tough to get to sleep I can usually get her to doze off while being held. 
• The Solly Baby wrap. We wear her when we're out for long periods of time because she doesn't love her car seat. Robbie wore her the whole time we were at a festival because she would not sleep in her car seat. I love that the wrap fits him easily. He sometimes has a hard time with the carriers since he's so broad shouldered. 
• White noise. We have began using white noise at almost every nap and at night. She likes the sound of the vacuum cleaner. I paid for an app I still have from when Noah liked white noise so we can continuously play it all night. I don't mind it but the vacuum going all night has been an adjustment for Robbie. lol

NOT A FAN.

• Her car seat. She tolerates it and will sleep if we're moving in the car but the second we stop or get home and bring her inside she wakes up and wants to get out.
• Being cold. She is finally enjoying bath time as long as you keep her warm the entire time. If she catches a chill then all bets are off :)

MISS SIENA AUGUST ROSE

I love spending each day with you and getting to know your likes and dislikes. You celebrated your first holiday this month and it was so much dressing you up! I am excited to celebrate the rest of the holiday season with you! The love we have for you grows more everyday. You have us all wrapped around your finger! Happy 2 months baby girl.

TWO month photo dump

37 weeks & Ready to Pop!

How Far Along? 37 weeks!

Weight Gain? You guys, I am shocked at the scale. I went to the doctor and have almost gained 60 lbs! I can't even believe it but I know I'll be able to lose it so I'm not too stressed. Just a little shocked about how my body loves to pack it on when pregnant! 

Workouts? Other than walking I am not working out and it is driving me crazy! I feel so antsy but when I workout I start to contract so I needed to take it easy. I was bummed to have to cancel my spin class but it was getting pretty uncomfortable and last week I was cramping so I decided to play it safe so this baby wouldn't come too early.

Maternity Clothes? Nope, living in dresses and skirts and my husbands basketball shorts basically belong to me at this point haha. 

Sleep? I never had sleep issues when I was pregnant with Noah but this time around has brought some rough nights. Aside from being uncomfortable, I seem to wake up some nights and lay there awake for sometimes hours! It is awful. I haven't woken up to pee this whole pregnancy until this last week and now it's multiple times a night! So most days I am pretty tired and need a nap when Noah is napping. 

Best Moment of The Week? Going to the doctor and learning I'm already 1 cm dilated! Hoping this babe will be here sooner than later! 

Cravings? I'm not having a lot of cravings lately and I am actually having a hard time wanting to eat dinner. Breakfast and lunch I'm pretty hungry but dinner time I'm tired and just not in the mood to eat! 

Symptoms? Contractions! Some that stop me in my tracks. Lots of using the bathroom to pee. My belly has dropped a lot, pressure and this may be TMI but I think I lost my mucus plug. 

Looking Forward To? Meeting this babe and hopefully soon!! Noah's birthday is tomorrow which will be so much fun. I'm hoping next week is game time and we'll have little sister here with us. I can't wait for Noah to meet his sister! 

Family/Maternity Photos

Family photos are my favorite! I am usually the one behind the camera trying to get Noah to smile so it was nice to have someone else doing it. The day of the photoshoot Noah was being pretty naughty so I honestly didn't have high hopes for these photos. Thankfully he was SO good and was even saying, "cheeeese" for the camera. By the end he was over it but that's when we were just photographing me and it was getting close to bedtime. I'm grumpy when I'm tired too, buddy.  Also, it was HOT. We had been fighting with the weather for these photos and had actually had them scheduled a few days earlier but it loves to rain here in Italy. The day was looking good and we had good lighting but man was it humid. I don't agree with humidity and never will. Arizona girl thru and thru. Add in pregnancy and I am a sweaty beast. I was a bit nervous my makeup was going to melt off and I was going to look literally "a hot mess" lol but they turned out better than I expected.

What?! We're all looking And smiling?! One of my favs for sure!

This sweet boy will always be mamas boy! 

I love this one!! 

My almost 2 year-old and little sister!

These ones truly feel like a fairy tale. I love this man so much

This is probably our last time getting professional photos done while living in Italy (besides newborn photos that won't be outdoor) so I really wanted to have Italy as the main backdrop for these photos. I love them! This town is only 15 mins from our house and so pretty. We hiked up to an old torn down castle for the ones of just me. Only in Europe can you say that. I sure will miss this place! So thankful we got to photograph this exciting time while here. Can't wait to meet the babe cookin' in this big belly. This season of life is such a blessing!