4 months!

Endsley, stop growing.

I'm going to say it every day for the rest of my life. I love this little baby! I don't want her to grow up.

Yet here you are:

Being freaking adorable and all grown up.

Here's what you're doing this month:

• You're sitting up! Not totally on your own yet, but if I put you in a chair you sit just like a little lady. For a few seconds. You're definitely getting the hang of it though! I love it.
• You have definitely developed your own personality. You're "spicy" as your dad calls it. You have an attitude. If you don't like something - you definitely let us know. Mainly though, you are just as happy as you can possibly be!

• You eat everything. Everything goes in your mouth. Doesn't matter what it is. Goes in the mouth.
• You roll over from back to belly and from belly to back like a pro. Except for awhile there, you were pretty content on your belly so you didn't roll over to your back for a long time. Even when you got mad.

• You scoot backwards! If I put you on the floor, you slowly inch your way farther and farther back. It's so exciting watching you move.

• You mimic us. Which is how you learned to stick your tongue out. Oops!!
• You give "arms" for us. If you're in your chair or on the floor, you stick your arms up for someone to pick you up. You also do it if I'm carrying you and you get tired of me. Or if someone else is carrying you and you want to go to me, you give me arms. It is heartwarming.

You are 14 lbs and 0.5 oz and almost 25 inches tall. You're still slowly growing out of your 0-3 month clothes and into larger sizes. You wear a size 2 diaper now and I have had to move the snaps over on your cloth diapers. (Gross! Hehe, did I not mention that we cloth diaper?) You are getting so big. Your personality is amazing, watching you blossom into your own little person is the best thing ever.

3 Months Old!

Endsley, baby girl, today you're 3 months old! I'll be saying this every month until you're 1, and every year after, but I cannot believe how fast time is flying. You're SUCH a big girl! I swear you think you're all grown up. Please do mommy a favor and slow down. If I can impart one piece of advice to you, it would be to stay a child for as long as you can and savor every minute of it.

Here's what you're doing this month:

• You are LAUGHING! Full blown belly laughs. You laugh at everyone. Especially your Papa and your Uncles, you think boys are funny! Of course you wouldn't do it on camera...

• You can roll over! You're still getting the hang of it. But when you get tired of being on your tummy you just move your head, kick your legs, and roll over to your back. It sounds easier than it really is. It takes you awhile but you get better every time you do it.

• You scoot yourself in full circles. You kick your legs back towards you and then you push them out. You end up moving yourself all over the place. It's pretty impressive.
• You have a new love for the show Yo Gabba Gabba, you seriously go into a trance when we turn it on. Wanna know a secret? I love it too.

• See yourself up there? Kicking your legs furiously? Well you learned how to SPLASH in the tub! You love bath time so much. I didn't know babies could make such big waves but you have perfected the art.
• You also fart in your sleep... But i promise I won't share that with any future boyfriends or girlfriends. Cross my heart.

• You grab everything. Hair, clothes, toys, everything. You have stuffed animal friends (like Yoshi) that you hug and you love anything that rattles or makes noise.

• You are 13.2 lbs, 24.5 inches tall, and are in size 2 diapers@ You are outgrowing your 3mo onesies and are moving onto 3-6mo and 6mo clothes! You're in the 75th percentile for your weight and 90th for your height. We cannot wait to see what you'll surprise us with next mama!

Recap of the ... Month.

Sorry to say, but I am kind of doing a horrible job living up to my promise of posting blogs more frequently. I read somewhere that if you do something for 21 days, it becomes a habit. Currently I'm trying to do this with running. I think I mentioned this in my last blog. But if I didn't - I'm getting back into running! And it's going really well.

I tried using the Couch to 5k App but found that I largely ignored when I was told to run and when I was told to walk. Once I get into a good running groove, I'm not about to stop and power walk. C'mon. So I've just been running and walking at my own leisure and it's working out great. My first day I ran a whole mile! I didn't think I would last that long. My little mile felt like a whole marathon to me. I would have jumped up and down in sheer joy when I made it back home if my legs weren't about to fall off.

All of this running deserves a reward though, right? Right. So I decided to go to Plato's Closet (my favorite thrift store) with my mom and Endsley this week. I found a pair of True Religion skinny jeans that I was certain were too small and were going to leave me with a terrible muffin top. Apparently I am way to harsh on myself. They fit perfectly.

So I am ecstatic at this point because I have been dying for a pair of nice jeans. My mom is trying stuff on so I take Endsley and sit down on the little bench they have in front of the dressing rooms. And then Endsley gets really quiet. And then I feel her tensing up. And then I hear a very loud fart and she definitely just pooped. This sucks because I forgot my wipes at home. There's a Target next door so I figured I would pay for my jeans and walk on over there to buy wipes. I am about two seconds away from getting up when I feel something warm and wet running down my thigh. Endsley is peeing through her diaper! I grab a burp rag and clean the bench and notice that it's not just pee, there's bright green poo too.

Dear readers, there is no bathroom in this store.

With my mom, we manage to pay for our things and high tail it over to Half Price Books where, luckily, they have a bathroom. Yay! I'm holding Endsley in the classic "must not touch diaper for fear of more fluids leaking out" hold. The plan is to give Endsley a bath. Amazingly, this particular bathroom has a huge sink and nice smelling soap. The water is nice and warm. The hard part is getting Endsley under the water without touching ANYTHING because we're in a public restroom and that is gross.

So I grab a million paper towels and wrap her in them and then lay her down on the other two million paper towels that I used to protect her from the gross diaper changing station. This has worked! Endsley is clean! During her bath, someone tried opening the door three times. And now she wants to nurse. Like right now. Boob time.

When we're finally done, I open the door and see the woman who has been trying to open the door to the bathroom the entire time that I'm in there. She was probably on the verge of peeing herself. I lift Endsley up and smile apologetically at the woman, she is not pleased. This is probably the meanest looking old lady that I have ever encountered. I'm not sure why she was so upset, you'd think she would understand considering she was probably wearing diapers herself.

That was mean.

I guess I should warn you, though you've probably figured this out on your own by this point, that this post is not going to flow together nicely and it's going to largely consist of all of the random stories that I have wanted to post but haven't gotten around to it.

That said - I cut my hair! Two weeks ago... Everyone asked me "Oh is this your mommy cut?" No. It's not. It's my "The high is 108 today so I decided that having less hair is way more beneficial for me." Did I convince any of you?

Okay I'm sorry but Endsley is being really cute and I'm super distracted by her right now. I'm ending my post. I'll get around to posting another tomorrow for Endsley's 3 month update!

Just keep swimming...

Guess what! Endsley went swimming for the first time today :) and momma got to wear a bikini for the first time since last summer. Same bikini, I haven't had time to go shopping. And it's like September. I'm not gonna buy one now.

(Sorry for not giving you time to guess.)

Little miss wasn't entire sure about the water. She loved changing into her swimsuit. But once I put her in the water I got this bland baby. She didn't laugh, she didn't cry, she didn't make any face whatsoever. Totally blank. It was like she was a pod person. It really threw me off because she LOVES baths. You'd think she would love all water. Nope. Dumb assumption.

Put her in a pool and you get an empty shell of a being.

You'd think with the adorable swim diaper and even cuter swimsuit, she would be all smiles. And she was! Who wouldn't smile when they were wearing a hot pink one piece with an adorable pineapple on the front and ruffles on the sides? I know I would. I'd smile so hard.

And so did Endsley. She continued to be her normal, happy self up until I put her in the water. I stood her up in the shallow end. And then I got this:

What IS that face?!

Maybe the water was too cold. Or maybe we screwed up by not bringing her bath toys. I'm not entirely sure. But that face stuck around the entire time we were in the pool.

I, however, had a lot of fun in the water! A lot more fun than Endsley did. Is that sad? I loved watching her reaction to the water, staring at the reflections of light in the pool, and trying to figure out what in the world we were doing. I also loved the water. I hadn't been swimming all summer since I was a giant whale. It felt awesome to be in a big pool again.

After about 20 or so minutes I decided it was time to change her back into her regular clothes and have some boobs (milk). Except no one calls it milk anymore. Chris, along with myself and my mother, now call it boobs. "Endsley, do you want some boobs?" Don't ask me how it got started. I honestly don't know. But Endsley eats boobs. I really hope she never picks that up when she starts talking...

Up until this point in time, we were alone at the pool. It only makes sense that someone would come into the pool when I'm trying to feed my child some boobs. In comes a woman in her late 50's and her son, who is MR. This makes for an interesting feeding session. The woman is clearly all kinds of pissed off that I'm breastfeeding out in public. I mean, I wasn't just hanging everything out there for the world to see. I had my nursing cover and a towel draped over us. Maybe she didn't want to explain to her son why there was a baby underneath a blanket? I dunno.

Whatever the reason - this woman decided to stare. me. down. The entire time I was feeding Endsley. Literally. I think we accidentally locked eyes at least twice. '

Let me say this again, I was NOT showing anything off here. The look I was getting from this woman wasn't the kind where she was just trying to figure out what I was doing or trying to catch a glimpse of Endsley. This was a "you need to go somewhere else, now" kind of look.

Chris went over to this last and said hello, she completely ignored him. It was so weird. I felt like we were intruding on her personal pool. Luckily Endsley finished eating and fell asleep so we could leave.

It was beyond weird. Other than that, the pool was really nice! Endsley stayed asleep for hours after our pool time. It was amazing. Suddenly, I'm starting to wish we went to the pool everyday.

Wishing it would rain...

What is it now? The millionth day without rain? I haven't seen it rain since Endsley was two weeks old. And even then it was like a ten minute shower. I'm watching the news right now and the weather map is still blood red. It literally looks like we live in hell. The map was white when they were showing the highs from today... 61 days that we've been over 100 degrees.

And here is the main reason why this is terrible: today I saw a fire take out too many homes about 20 minutes from where I live. I was at HEB whenever we saw the smoke and fire. It was awful. The air was thick and smelled like smoke. A soldier was walking past us and let us know that we needed to cover Endsley's mouth and nose before we walked out to our car.

We saw helicopters and planes flying over the fire and dropping water over it. But the smoke was still black and thick.

Thanks to Virginia G. for the picture.

You hear stories about fires happening in other states or cities hours away, but it is so scary when you actually see it for yourself. Especially when you have your child with you. I can only pray for the families that have been displaced that their homes and family members are safe. Please pray for them as well.

On a happier note - I'm posting blogs again! This is due in part to Endsley finally taking naps again. Did you know that babies can go a very long time without sleeping? I sure didn't. And it sucked. I had a very crabby baby!

Over the weekend I finally got to see my best friend Megan. It has been way too long. I love that girl to death! She came with me to Babies 'R' Us and helped me buy a new pack&play that I am completely in love with. Endsley can now sleep on her tummy in our room! She has her own little bed that pulls up right next to ours. Yay! I promise to post pictures of it sometime soon.

Chris also bought an awesome new jogging stroller so my butt can get back into shape. I haven't gotten to try it out yet but he went on a run with Endsley last night and he really enjoyed it. What did I do while my family was away? I took pain killers for my shoulder and soaked in the tub. Yes, it was amazing. Aside from feeling incredibly out of it from the pills. Hopefully it wont hurt that bad again anytime soon.

I really want to sign up for a 5k soon. There are a bunch coming up in the Fall. I feel that I could get into shape by then. I mean 3 miles is nothing! I used to run so much more... I miss it. I need to do this. It's good to have goals right?

Favorite picture of the day (can you tell I'm ready for colder weather?):

Endsley and her new Winter hat at the mall.

Endsley is 2 months!

Endsley Berry is 2 months old today! Unfortunately that also means that she got her shots today. I have been dreading, and I cannot emphasize that word enough, today for weeks now. Of course I know that getting her vaccinated is the best thing for her but ugh - why can't they make vaccines in drop form?? One of her vaccines was by mouth. So clearly we have the ability. Let's make ALL of them that way so that I don't have to watch my baby girl hurt. Thanks. But she's all smiles today!

So there she is! Doesn't even look like she got poked today. My little trooper.

Endsley here is what you're doing at 2 months:

- You're smiling and laughing!

- You have found your voice! You talk to papa just about every chance you get. You talk to me too, but not even half as much. You are very clearly a daddy's girl. We love hearing you talk so much.

- You've gotten over your fussy period before bedtime! And you have a bedtime! You go to sleep at 1:30 am and wake up around 1:00 pm. You still wake up to feed but your longest stretch of sleep lasts about five and a half hours.

- You are teething which means you are a drool machine. I should probably buy you more bibs.

- You blow spit bubbles.

- You have discovered your hands and suck/chew on them whenever you feel it's necessary. You still hate paci's.

- You stick your tongue out. This is completely my fault because when we play "monkey see monkey do" I stick my tongue out at you A LOT and so naturally, you copy mama. It's okay. I think it is absolutely adorable.

- You pick your head and shoulders up off of the floor whenever we're having tummy time. You also kick like nobody's business. You actually scoot yourself along a few inches!

- You ROLLED OVER from your back to your tummy three weeks ago! You haven't done it since, but I believe in you.

- You love to stand up. There are times when I barely have to support you. You straighten your entire back and neck and push, push, push with your legs. Sometimes your face shakes with the effort that you're making. It's hilarious and you love doing it.

- You can raise one eyebrow just like your papa and I can! I love when you make this face.

- You are currently 11 lbs 15 oz (I say 12 pounds when people ask) and are 23" tall. Your head is 15" around. You wear size 0-3 months and they are getting snug! Same with your diapers. You're still in size 1 but you could go into a size 2 easily.

Little nugget you have grown like a weed! We can't believe how big you are. You make us so happy in ways that we could have never imagined. I love watching you become your own little person and interact with us more and more.

Happy August!

Remember when I used to blog? Me too.

I don't know what happened to the last few weeks of my life. I feel like I fell asleep and woke up in August. Geez. Okay! So I'll be writing a lot more this month. Promise.

And they wont be super lame posts like this one.

Yay!