I am scared

These precious days are passing so quickly. I cannot get enough of little miss Anna. I absolutely adore her. I am so in love, with not only the man of my dreams, but our sweet baby girl. How can a mother not love her child? This is sad to admit, but I am adicted to her, in a good way. No, I don't hold her 20 of 24 hours. But I do cuddle, blow bubbles, laugh with her, tickle her, read to her, play, get to her eye level, wrap her in my snuggli so she can see at my eye level...I love her.

Someone told me today that it is not that hard going back to work. She has had two children, most recently a boy on July 18th. She went back to work after 10 weeks. Honestly, is she trying to convince herself of something, or is she trying to protect me by telling me this? I am scared...

I am not scared to leave her with the sitter (my cousin Melanie--I know she will be well taken care of and loved just as I would love on her), but I am scared of what I will miss. Will I be the one with her when she takes her first step, what about her first word? Why do we now live in a society that requires two incomes--heck, my husband has two incomes, so with me that makes three! Pray, that is something I have taken for granted and taken out of the equation these days--BAD! I know that God has the best and only plan. Am I listening?

4 months old!! October 15, 2008

Anna Campbell is 4 months old now. She weighs 13.07 pounds and is 25 inches long. She did better with her shots today than at her 2 month visit.

Johnny Jumper!

We tried out the Johnny Jumper today! Just how we imagined it; she did not know what to do! She looked scared. I am sure after a few days she will get the hang of it.

Anna Campbell has been sleeping in her crib at night for about 2 weeks now. So far, so good. I cannot believe how fast she is growing. We have our 4 month doctor's visit in two days, Wednesday Oct 15. I am going to guess that she weighs 14 pounds. We'll see :)

UVA Game, October 11, 2008

We had a mini reunion on Friday and Saturday at the UVA game. Mama, Daddy, Andy, Anna Campbell and myself traveled to Charlottesville on Friday, the 10th of October, to visit with friends from college.
Alyssa and Chad Burkhardt and Paula Chirhart flew in from NYC. We all went out to dinner to a college favorite, the Biltmore. We had their famous cheese fries and most of us ate salads--yummy! Instead of going out that evening for drinks-we are now party poopers-, the Sterner/Stoler crew headed back to the hotel. I hate to admit this, but I am more worn out now than ever, and Anna is not even mobile yet!
When we arried to the Marriott, we detoured by the indoor pool to discover how warm it was. It registered 90 degrees. I had a bathing suit for Anna Campbell so we all went swimming. Granted, not for very long as it was late and we had to get an early start for tailgating on Saturday.







On Saturday we met up with Alyssa, Chad, Paula, Tiffany and Seamus Campion, Lauren and Mason Baron, and Kelly Duncan--all girl friends from Tri-Sig (Alyssa, Tiffany, Paula), first year hallmate E-school and friend for life (Lauren) and E-school friend (Kelly). Everyone met up at Mama and Daddy's parking spot around 9 am. Then later we traveled to Rosalie's (Tri-Sig) parking spot and we met up with other Tri-Sig sisters, Adrienne and Ashley. We had a great time, but time was short because kickoff was at noon!

First big bath, October 8th

Anna Campbell loved the big tub bath. Mommy and Daddy joined in on the fun==this is PG, I promise! She seemed so relaxed. Anna Campbell has loved the water since day one, but this is a new concept to her.

WAAAYYYY Behind!

Okay, Okay, Okay, so I am a little behind on my blogging. Enough already! I never knew how little I would get done while I was home full time with Anna Campbell. I cannot imagine what our home will look like, or how it will operate once I start back to work in January! We'll see!! Just maybe there is a housemaid in my future:)

So, for all you that check regularly (and ask for more info) I have decided to work backward. I am going to give you the latest info and work back to July 4th (my last up to date post). I have learned that what really takes so long is converting my pictures to usable size files and then putting the slide show together. My promise to you all is that I will try to do better, and I will have to do this after she is asleep!

Today, Wednesday October 1! WOW, where has time gone? It is scary. We have not decided or really even contacted babysitters for Anna Campbell. WE would love to have someone come into our home, but the person we contacted that used to do that has not increased her hours to almost full time at a local department store. My Aunt Frances and cousin Melanie have a great daycare, and our plan is to call them. We are looking for something "small." I want someone to read to Anna, I want someone to hold her and I don't want a T.V. to be the babysitter.

Nursing has been frustrating for me for the past week or more. This past Thursday, September 18th, Andy's grandma B passed away. We left for Ohio that day and her funeral was Saturday. Anna Campbell did well her first long trip to Ohio (the longest trip so far). I do believe that this trip threw us both off. She would nurse for only 2-5 minutes on one side and then have nothing to do with me. I had my pump so I would pump to keep my milk up and also to relieve myself--who would have thought this feeling of fullness (engorgement) would be so uncomfortable? Her naps and sleeping were off, too. She slept some in her pack'n'play but she slept with us for a good part of the night. I think she felt more safe and comfortable; this was a new place for her. Never would I have thought an infant would pick up on changes in their environment, but I believe it now.

Today, Anna Campbell nursed pretty well. I thought that something was really wrong this morning when Anna Campbell woke at 8 am (after waking once already at 5 am) and she did not want to nurse. It was not until 9 am that she was interested in eating. Normally, even if she eats a little during her "dream feed" at 5 am, she would chow down at her normal wake time between 7:30 and 8:00 am. Anyone there with suggestions? Her naps are crazy too. She will normally wake herself about 45-50 minutes into her naps. She is still doing this (I will blog more about this later). She slept for 2 hours in her car seat today while I ran errands. After I got home around 10:45, she slept another hour in her seat. She normally stirs and wakes once she is still in the seat. She is taking 4 naps (9:30 am, 12:30, 4:00, 6:30-7 ish). The last one is a small nap normally and the morning tends to be the longest. Hopefully we can get her to sleep a little longer. I just don't think she is getting the rest she needs during the day. She goes to bed after 9 and is down until 4-5 am and then to finally wake after 7:30. Her nights are GREAT!!!

Okay, enough for now! Love to you all :)

P.S. If any of you have a Web Camera and want to set up a date night, let us know!