4 months

My sweet Cora Jane I can't believe that you are already four months old.  You are growing up so fast.  You surprise me everyday by doing something new.  Cora Jane you are starting to get a little personality and it is so stinking cute.  So here is what you are up to these days:

• You are wearing mostly 3 month clothes, but they are quickly getting too short.
• You are still wearing size 1 diapers, but will soon need to move to a size 2.
• You still drink 6 oz. every four hours and your snack bottle at bedtime.
• You sleep really well and mommy and daddy thank you for that!  If you do cry at night it is because you have lost your paci and can't find it.
• You don't like to be rocked, but when you decide to let me I savor the moment because they are few and far between.
• You let mommy and daddy know when you are ready to take a nap or go to bed.  You will rub your eyes and you get fussy.
• You make us laugh because when I take your bottle away to get you to burp you get mad.
• You are such a happy baby when you wake up.  I typically have to wake you up to get ready in the mornings which I hate because you are sleeping so good.
• We started Kindermusik and you love it!  You smile and squeal a lot on Thursday nights.
• You have started to giggle and that just melts my heart.
• Your daddy has started getting you undressed for bath time and you two have fun.  He will blow on your belly and you just smile.
• You have started to grab your toys and actually hold  on to them.  Sometimes you can even figure out how to get your paci in your mouth.
• You have done so well with Mrs. Amber.  You are always happy when we get there and I love to see that smile when I get there to pick you up.
• You have started trying to roll from your back to your tummy.  You haven't been successful yet, but you are giving it your best shot.
• We have been working on tummy time and you will now lay on your tummy for more than 30 seconds.
• You are a squirm worm.  You will turn yourself around in a complete circle on your gym mat.
• You like sleep like your mommy because you still take 3 naps a day and two of them are at least 2 hours at a time.

You did great at the doctor for your four month check-up.  Dr. Andy said you were a healthy baby girl.  You didn't even cry too much with your shots.  It broke my heart because you were so happy and then as soon as they gave you your shots you were in shock and then realized what had happen.  You calmed down by the time we got to the front counter and then you were asleep by the time we got to the red light.  You did run a fever on Wednesday, but you were back to yourself on Friday.  Mommy and daddy love you so much. 

4 month stats:

As of Janurary 31st...

You weigh 14.6 1/2 pounds.

You are 24.5 inches long.

Your head is 16 inches around.

A working mommy

Unfortunately I can't be a stay at home mom and I've been back at work for a month now.  I'm learning a balance of how much I can do.  I'm having to let things go that would have put me over the edge before Cora Jane arrived.  The house isn't as clean as I wish it was.  The dishes aren't put up in a timely manner.  And clothes don't always get folded.  Most days I'm exhausted by the end of the day, but I wouldn't traded it for anything.  I have manged to keep clothes washed and have some type of meal for us to eat.  There is a part of being a working mom that I can say is a good thing.  I treasure the precious time I do get with Cora Jane.  I can't wait to pick her up every afternoon.  I love that she is now staying awake longer in the afternoon.  When we get home she wants to play.  She has been going down for a nap around 5:00 and sleeping for about an hour.  She is getting so funny these days.  She just laughs and smiles most of the time.  I adore my little pumpkin pie!  
Thankfully I love my job.  Getting to be the library media specialist at my school has been the best blessing for our family.  I enjoy doing what I do everyday.  I can leave work at work and I'm not stressed at all.  I also have a wonderful aide that works part time in the library.  She makes my job a lot less stressful.

As a side note...We now have a weekly adventure.  I signed Cora Jane up for Kindermus!k.  Our first class was last night and she had a blast.  I can't wait to see how much she learns over the next 15 weeks.

One year ago...

We found out that we were pregnant.  Just three weeks prior to finding out we were pregnant we had gone to the doctor to find out what our next step was to getting pregnant after months of trying.  Due to my endometriosis and pelvic congestion syndrome we were having trouble and Dr. A suggested that if we were ready he would start me on Cl0mid my next cycle.  But the week that I was suppose to start my cycle something just wasn't right so I came home that Thursday and decided to just take a pregnancy test.  It was the last one of the many I had bought over the past 9 months.  I was home by myself so when that test turned positive quickly I didn't exactly how what to do, but I knew that Donny would be home soon.  I quickly got to my monogramming machine and made a onesie that said "I love you Daddy."  When he got home the onesie and test were on the couch.  I was in the sewing room.  When he walked in to see me he had the biggest smile on his face.  He said "Really?"  We had to go eat Mexican that night to celebrate.  We decided to keep it a secret until after we were 8 weeks.  We told our parents at 8 weeks and then started letting the world know after 12 weeks.  After months of prayer, pain, and doctor visits we were beyond excited to start this new journey.  Now we have a beautiful, healty baby girl!

A week of firsts!

So, this week was the beginning of a new chapter in the Sisco household.  I went back to work on Tuesday.  I was blessed to be able to stay home for an entire three months with Cora Jane.  It was the hardest but best three months of my life.  I was very nervous about going back to work and leaving her at daycare. I had heard the stories from so many friends who cried the day they had to drop their baby off for the first time.  I worked so hard to mentally prepare myself for Tuesday.  It also helped that Cora Jane would be staying at an in-home daycare with only three other children.  Plus, I knew that she would be in great hands.  I knew for the a long time that I wanted Amber to keep my children whenever that time came and thanks to a lot of prayer it worked out the she had an opening and then would hold it for me until I did go back to work.  I have a long history with Amber's family and I love them so dearly.  I have always looked at her parents as role models and I'm so thankful that they are still apart of my life.  Cora Jane is going to be so spoiled by so many people.  Okay, sorry back to the week.  So, Tuesday came and I dropped her off and she was happy when I left so it helped to know that she wasn't crying.  I didn't cry but I was sad that I couldn't just be a stay-at-home mom.  I only checked on her one time (instead of the million times I wanted to send a text.)  She did great besides eating.  She is a nosy eater and it took her over an hour for the first bottle that Amber tried to feed her and then she didn't take but two ounces of her second bottle.  She wants to know what is going on around her and wasn't used to all the noise and distractions.  It was a work day at school so I was able to get permission to run to the bookstore without having to drag Cora Jane in and out.  But I was SO glad when it was time to go pick her up.  The next day she did so much better with her eating thanks to prayers and her Bon-Bon.  Amber's sister, Bonnie, is a nurse at Children's and she came over for a bit and Amber asked her to try to feed Cora Jane to see if she could do any better.  She again determined what we already knew that she was a nosy eater, but she fixed her a Dr. Br0wn's bottle with a cut nipple.  She did great!  So, at daycare she drinks out of Dr. Br0wn bottles because apparently I'm the only one that can get Cora Jane to eat successfully from the Aven! bottles with the variable nipple (by the way I tried the Dr. Br0wn bottles before and they totally stressed me out with the rice in them so I'm sticking to the Aven! bottles at home.)  The rest of the week went really well.  She stuck to her schedule except that everything was moved up one hour.  She does really well riding to and from daycare.  She isn't always the the best rider.  I put her a toy bar on her car seat that she has figured out how to play with.  It just puts a huge smile on my face when I hear her playing and cooing in the back.  Most days she falls asleep on the way home and I put her down for a nap when we get home.  Her taking at nap as soon as we get home is kind of sad to me because I just want to play with her, but it is also a blessing because it gives me time to get everything ready for the next day and get supper started.  (I must confess if I have a few minutes I do get on FB and just sit.)  She only sleeps about an hour so after that it is playtime. 
This week I also started putting Cora Jane in the bath tub after I give her a bath in her small tub.   She is still small so I still bath her in the sling in the baby tub.  But I put some water in the big tub and hold her up or hold her floating.  She will just sit there and look at her feet or push off the side of the tub if she is floating.  She has started to kick and make the water splash.  I love to watch her.
We had a lazy Saturday.  Donny went hunting for the day so it was just the girls at home.  She was really good but at night she wanted to walk.  It gets tiring at times because our house is only so big.  We washed bottles, vacuumed, danced, etc.  She was so ready for bedtime by 7:30.  I must add that Cora Jane is sleeping like a champ!  She might cry one or two times, but she finds her paci and goes back to sleep within minutes.  So, mommy has got some really good sleep the past couple of nights.  I pray that it continues!
Sunday I was determined to make it to church.  I was going to mom's church since Donny was at work.  I kept her on our weekday schedule so that she should be waking up/eating about the time we needed to by at church.  She had to get up a little earlier and I was going to feed her once we got to church so maybe she wouldn't spit up so badly.  I had also decided that I was going to leave her in the nursery so that I could focus on the sermon.  I was so nervous about this.  I took her to the bed babies and Harper was the only other baby in there.  Mrs. Anita came to feed her so that I could go into the service.  I had to keep praying during the service to stop worrying about her.  I was so worried that she would scream the whole time or would be a difficult baby.  But when I went to get her she was playing and happy.  Of course she didn't eat well, but she went down for a 3 hour nap when we got home so she must not have been too hungry.  My baby girl loves some sleep and she gets it honestly!  (I also got to catch a nap myself!)  So, Cora Jane made it in the nursery for the first time! 
We also made our first full blown grocery store trip.  I decided to put her in her carrier and we walked around the whole store.  She only spit up a little which I was thankful for because usually the afternoons are a little worse when it comes to spitting up.  She did so good!  I got so many compliments on how cute and good she was doing. 

Going back to work hasn't been so bad.  Wednesday was the first day back with the students and I got so many hugs.  I loved seeing all my kiddos.  I have a lot of work to do in the library, but I will get it done eventually.  I have to keep telling myself that Rome wasn't built in a day.  I just have all these ideas and plans that I want to get done and there just aren't enough hours in the day.  My to-do list just keeps getting longer.  The best part about my job is that I can leave at 3:15 and not have stuff to do at home.  And for that I'm so thankful!  Getting the media specialist position was a huge blessing and I'm striving to do the best job that I can!

Cora Jane's firsts:

• She went to daycare.
• She is playing in the bathtub sitting up (with help.)
• She stayed in the nursery at church for the first time.
• She had a successful grocery store trip.
• She has also started squealing so loudly.  I was washing bottles and I heard her.  I went to make sure she was okay.  She was watching M!ckey Mouse Clubhouse and just as happy as could be.

And it's shameful to say that I haven't taken any pictures this week!

*I also wanted to thank you for those of you who have left comments on my blog or mentioned something in person.  Even though my blog is mainly to have a journal of our lives but I like to know that people are reading it.