Kitty dreams!

A few weeks ago, we were shocked to see that our cat Georgia had a baby of her own! She gave birth to an adorable little black and white kitten. When she got old enough, we introduced her to Alexa... the pictures speak for themselves- she was pretty fascinated with the kitty. She was a little unsure at first, so Mark had to make sure she knew it was safe.


It didn't take long for Alexa to give the kitty hugs and pet her. She was enthralled by her fur!


Of course, it didn't take long for the kitten to end up in her mouth... at this age, anything Alexa can put in her mouth, she will!



It is going to be hard to give the kitten away since Alexa seems to like her so much, but three cats are enough to deal with. I love the innocence that Alexa sees the world with- everything is so interesting and fascinating to her. I am trying to learn to see the world through her eyes and appreciate the world around me more.

Dreaming of ice cream...

... and yogurt, and milk, oh and peanut butter... the list goes on and on...

Man, I must sure love Alexa- this not eating dairy is getting harder and harder for me. For those of you who don't know about it, Alexa is a multiple food protein intolerances (MFPI)baby, which pretty much just means she is unable to digest certain food proteins- in her case dairy, soy and peanuts. Because I am breastfeeding her, if I eat any of those foods, it is transferred to her through the milk and makes her a pretty miserable baby. I have been relatively dairy free since her birth, but I didn't cut out all forms of hidden dairy (items with milk in it) until just over three months. I went on an elimination diet which cuts out pretty much all food with the exception of a few for two weeks and then started to incorporate new foods as I could. I pretty much had it narrowed down after about a month and she is like a new baby- happy as can be and her reflux is soooo much better.

Hopefully she will outgrown her allergies, many MFPI babies do by 3 years and their digestive system matures. I may start incorporating some hidden soy to see if she tolerates it, but until then, I may just have to keep dreaming! You would be shocked to find out just how many things have soy and dairy in it... for instance, I had to change our spaghetti sauce because there is dairy in it. So that is why I am dreaming of ice cream-- Mark had a blizzard from Dairy Queen the other day- and ever since then... oh, what we do for our babies! For awhile it was getting easier, but then it got so stinking got here in Georgia the last week or so. You know that stifling hot that nothing seems to help? That is what it has been here. We've had 90 degree days pretty much all summer, but it has seemed worse lately. Maybe I'm just ready to be able to spend some time outside with my little girl- I just know I'm ready for fall to arrive.

In other Alexa news, she has been able to sit up on her own for a few minutes. She still uses her hands like a tripod, but she is sitting pretty independently! Here is a picture we took at Mark's parents- it is kind of hard to see, but she is sitting by herself!


Here is a cute picture of Alexa and her cousin Charley (Jessica's daughter)- she is exactly 11 months older and she loves Alexa so much! She loves giving her kisses!

Alexa also got her first little haircut- she was born with a ton of dark hair, that has been slowly falling out. She was left with three tufts of hair, one on each side and one at the top. So I trimmed it up for her. I'm no hairdresser, but it turned out pretty good!

Before:

During:

After: I'll have to get a good after picture...

A week of firsts!

I guess with a baby each week is full of firsts, but for some reason, this week Alexa has gotten to experience a whole lot of firsts...

~ She also has started teething this week, and has been pretty miserable from that- running fevers and just being out of sorts. We took her to her doctor to make sure her fever wasn't anything more and she is a whopping 14 pounds! She is still little for her age, but she is growing consistently each month, hitting her milestones and is just all around a happy girl! I love her new pediatrician~ I'm so happy we changed.

~ She also learned how to roll from her back onto her tummy this week- and looks like she'll be crawling before we know it! The times of laying her down and her staying in one spot is over and childproofing the house is now upon us!

~And then last night, Alexa blessed me with a WHOLE NIGHTS SLEEP! She slept from 8 pm to 7 am without waking up once! When I woke up this morning, I was shocked to look at the clock and see that she hadn't woken up at all during the night- it kind of scared me a little, but she is just getthing better at her sleeping! I will NEVER take for granted a full night's sleep again!

~ We took our first short vacation as a family to St. Augustine, FL. Mark and I have gone there for weekend getaways ever since we first got married. We usually stay in a hotel right on the beach and do lots of shopping at the historic district. This time we stayed in the historic district and walked everywhere for exercise (still working on the baby weight!). We were so proud of Alexa-it was really hot- like 90 degrees and she was such a trooper! She was so good and only got a little fussy when she got really tired. We all went to the IMAX theater and watched a movie about the Grand Canyon- it was pretty entertaining, but I got SOO much more enjoyment out of watching her watch the movie. She was so cute following all the shapes and people in the film. I love how she is really starting to notice and interact with the world around her more.

~ While we were in St. Augustine, we took her to the beach for the first time. We'd been by the ocean before, but this was her first time ON it... we got up super early to watch the sunrise and take lots of pictures while the sun was coming up. Alexa was pretty tired so we didn't get as many smiles as usual, but she was fascinated by the waves. I can't wait until next summer when she starts playing in the sand more.

~ While we were in St. Augustine, I was reminded of the true blessing that Alexa is to our family. The first time Mark and I went to St. Augustine was after our first miscarriage which was almost exactly four year ago this week. We were both so extremely sad during that trip and neither of us felt that we would ever be able to have a baby. It struck me as we were watching the sun rise on Sunday, life is amazing--here we were with our beautiful baby girl, enjoying the beach and the beautiful weather... the loss of our other babies has really made us appreciate the miracle of this life all the more. God is amazing, and knew exactly what we need when we need it. I hope all of you who are blessed with children recognize just how truly miraculous each life is...

Finally getting to the blogging!

I've totally been meaning to start a blog about Alexa's life for all my family and friends who we don't get a chance to see very often. Unfortunately, just as things go in a mother's life, time has flown by-- Alexa is now 5 months old! I am going to be doing some back blogging, starting with her birth and a few other memorable things that have happened over the past 5 months, it may be hard to pick just a few things, because each day is truly memorable.

I'm going to start by going over some highlights from the last few months... we have a ton of really cute pictures on Picasa web albums, so if you want to check out more pictures than what I have here, feel free!

http://picasaweb.google.com/karamcdonald03

Lets see- how to start??? I guess from the beginning...

• Alexa was born on April 3, 2008 at 11:45 am, via c-section. I had some pretty bad complications during my pregnancy complete with bedrest and severe preeclampsia, so she was born 4 weeks early, which makes her a late term preemie. She had pretty standard preemie complications when she was born- she needed oxygen, glucose, antibiotics and a bilirubin light. We couldn't hold her for 24 hours, which was the LOOONGEST 24 hours of my life. However, she was our little miracle baby- born on Thursday, off oxygen on Friday, out of the NICU on Saturday, off all machines on Monday and home on Tuesday! She stole my heart from the beginning!
  
  

• The first two months were full of new experiences- as new babies go, she was always pretty easy. She slept for 3-5 hour stretches pretty much from when we brought her home. She had a few nights where she was up at all hours, but she wouldn't be a baby if that wasn't the case! She started spitting up A LOT by about 4 weeks, so she was diagnosed with GERD (reflux for babies). The reflux caused her weight gain to be pretty much nonexistant, and she was pretty miserable. She got sick Memorial Day weekend and had to be admitted to the hospital for tests. Poor thing had to have spinal tap... it was so sad. We also had a test done to diagnose the severity of her GERD, which ended up being moderate to severe. She started on medicine after leaving the hospital at 9 weeks and still is on it everyday!
  
• Over the 4th of July, we traveled to Ohio to visit Grandma Cindi and all the crazy uncles and their Significant others... we also checked out the BalloonFest and got to introduce Alexa to fireworks! It was a great trip, although it was really hard leaving Grandma.

~ There have been thousand and one new experiences over the last five months... I can't believe how fast the time has already gone. I can't even begin to list all the things that have happened. Most of the things that have happened are everyday things, but to Alexa, everything is new, and each day is different. She has gotten to fly in an airplane to Ohio, see fireworks with Grandma, swim in Bamma's pool, go on walks with Papa, laugh at her daddy, learn how to give hugs and kisses, and melt her mama's heart everytime she smiles. I know all parents say this, but I really think I have the most amazing daughter in the whole world!

I look forward to sharing new moments with friends and family from near and far. We love you all so much!