Recent Happenings & Pics

My sister and brother-in-law were in town this weekend to celebrate Karla's birthday. We've had a good time just hanging out & spending time together as a family. Enjoy some recent pics!

Sienna in daddy's hat

Celebrating Karla's birthday at Blanc Burger

Aunt Kitty loving on Sienna this weekend!

Kisses for Uncle Matt!

Rocking in her little chair made by Great Grandpa G! Daddy sat in this chair as a baby, too!

Video of Sienna rocking herself in her rocking chair!

Video of Sienna chattering & laughing at daddy! Sienna has been talking a lot, and is starting to make simple two syllable words like "yah" and "goo". So cute!

Tenderness

I was reading a few passages in Luke and Psalms this morning and was compelled to share with you all my thoughts. I was reminded of what a tender and loving Lord we have. In the story where Jesus raises the dead boy back to life, I always skim over the motivating factor behind his action. He saw the boy's grief stricken mother, and he was overwhelmed with compassion for her and raised her son from the dead. I love that we have a God who aches when he sees us sad and loves us so intensely. Psalm 68:19 says, "each day he carries us in his arms." Sienna LOVES being carried in our arms. When she is scared, tired or not feeling well, the only place she wants to be is in our arms. I love that God provides the same place for us. I pray that we can show Sienna how to find this place of peace and rest with Jesus as she grows older.

Prayers please

Sienna made her third trip to urgent care this morning for her ongoing ear infection. Her temp spiked to 103.2 degrees at about 2 AM, and I suspected that meant the infection never cleared her ears. Unfortunately, I was right. She got a shot this morning and will need another one tomorrow and Thursday. If the shots don't clear up the infection, we'll be head to the ENT doctor where there's a high likelihood she'll get tubes in her little ears. So if you could say a prayer for Sienna to get rid of this infection, we'd appreciate it. She's had a tough month battling this infection, and I know she doesn't feel well.

Princess

Sienna wore one of her fancy dresses to church tonight, and she looked like a doll. Seriously. She has the expression, eyes, button nose, little lips, cute chin & complexion of a doll. She truly is our little princess! Since we got 6 inches of snow today (on the first day of Spring, no less), she had to wear a long-sleeve onesie under her dress. We snapped these pictures of her afterwards.

Sienna has been going through a growth spurt this week. She's been eating more food and eating more frequently; plus she's been sleeping more hours in a day, which is very un-Sienna like! :) To help with her new found hunger, we've started her on baby food. So far, her favorites are oatmeal, carrots and squash. Her new high chair has been getting a lot of use, and Sienna loves to sit in it to eat and to play. This picture was after trying sweet potatoes for the first time. As you can see, the jury is still out on whether or not she likes them!

Happiest Baby on the Blog

Our photographer has posted a sneak peak of Sienna's 6 month pictures on her blog, and they are SO ADORABLE!!!! I know I am biased, but seriously, Sienna could be a baby model!! If any of you need a reference for children and/or family photos, let me know!

Click on the link below; it's the first post on the blog.

http://ccphotodesign.blogspot.com

Baby ears

Sienna still has her ear infection, poor little thing. We heard her talking (not really crying) around 2 AM on Thursday morning, and she just couldn't seem to settle back into sleep, which is unusual for her. So, I went in to check on her, and she was so hot. Poor thing had a temp of 102.2 degrees. We gave her some Motrin and brought her in bed to sleep with us. She didn't sleep much, so I figured either her cough had turned into something worse, or her ear infection never went away. At urgent care later that morning, I found out it was the later. The amoxicillin wasn't strong enough to kick the infection, so now she's on second, stronger antibiotic. About 4:00 yesterday afternoon, she had a BM that was blood red. Scared the heck out me! Ironically (or not), Scott had just left for an unexpected business trip. So, again, Sienna and I trekked to urgent care. After running tests on her stool, they determined it was NOT blood, but just a side effect to her new antibiotic. I guess it's fairly common to have red poop (????) with the antibiotic she's on. Would have been nice to know that upfront!

This morning, we made trip #3 to the doctor in a 24 hour period. Ha! This one was her scheduled 6 month check-up, though. She is doing fantastic. Here are her stats.

Weight: 17 lbs. 14 oz. (75th percentile)

Height: 26.25" (55th percentile)

Developmentally, she is on schedule, or a bit ahead. She's been sitting unsupported for over a month, and she recently started being able to stand on her own while holding onto the couch. WOW! She's been babbling quite a bit, and she gets really excited to see people she knows when they walk in the room. She has also started to smile and 'make friends' with strangers... she was charming all the nurses in the office this morning. We have started her on oatmeal and bananas, but it's time to really start the jar food, now. I can't believe she's getting so big!!

While the past month has been tough with all the life adjustments and sickness in our household, I was thinking this morning how it could be so much worse. While Sienna has been sick, she's never been in serious medical danger, and she has been a happy baby through it all. All the ups and downs have reminded me, once again, that I am not in control of my life, and that God has my best interest at heart. In a weird way, I think all these changes have prepared me for being back at work... to learn to roll with the punches, to make the most of each day and to not sweat the small stuff. We sure are blessed!

6 months

Happy half birthday, Sienna! You bring so much joy & fun into our lives! We are so blessed to have you in our family. You are such a happy baby, and we love you very much!

The month of February was a tough one for us - lots of change and sickness. It's appropriate that on your half birthday, you started feeling better and had a FANTASTIC first day at your new sitter's house. (We've switched Sienna from her daycare center to an in-home daycare about 1/2 mile from our home. We are SO excited to find this care for her!)

Some of the things you love at 6 months...

- Laughing! Every night when we take you to bed, daddy carries you up the stairs. I follow behind you two, and you look over daddy's shoulder and laugh at me the whole way up the stairs.

- Talking. You have definitely found your voice, and you are practicing a lot of different sounds.

- Reaching & lunging. We have to be careful about what is within a one foot radius of you when you are sitting, because you love to grab everything!

- Other kiddos. You love laughing and touching your friends. You especially love your friend, Caden Miller. Caden lets you sit on his lap, and you like to touch his face, smile and 'talk' loudly to him.

- Eating! Your appetite has grown, and we think you are ready for baby food. Mommy has made apples, sweet potatoes and bananas for you to try soon.

- Kissing mommy. In the past couple of days, you have started giving mommy kisses with your mouth wide open. They are quite messy, but I love them!

This is Scott and Sienna right before bedtime tonight. Love that belly - adorable!

This is one the new faces (lips pulled together) Sienna likes to make. Is she precious, or what?!