Just felt like documenting the nicknames I have for Lydia...

- Peanut
- Princess
- Pumpkin
- Beautiful
- Munchkin (occasionally "Munch Munch")
- Baby love / little love
- Lump Lump (occasionally "Little Lump")
- Squirmy / Squirmy Wormy / Wiggles
- Honey (occasionally "Honey Bunny")
- Sweat pea
- Angel

...that's all I can think of right now. I think that covers the majority of them though. It's gonna take this child forever to learn what her real name is. :)
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My baby turned 4 months old yesterday! I know I say it constantly, but I really can't believe how fast time flies by. She has changed and grown so much from that tiny little lump that I brought home from the hospital.

We had her 4 month doctor appointment today, complete with shots. Ew. I do not like seeing the look on her face when those shots hit her little legs. Poor thing just screamed! But thankfully she calmed down very quickly after it was all over. Just like her 2 month shots, she only cried for a minute after I picked her up and she fell asleep right away on the way home. If it continues to be like last time, I expect her to sleep most of the afternoon... but we'll see. :)

She got a clean bill of health from the doctor. Her ear infection cleared up nicely and both ears look "beautiful" according to the doc. All her parts look good and she's hitting milestones that she needs to hit. My perfect little angel.
With the car packed up with what would logically appear to be 3 weeks worth of stuff, my little family embarked on our first weekend camping trip. We bought a nice, big, "family" tent and were ready for the adventure.

Every year my whole family (Mom, Dad, brother + their families) tried to get together at least once for a camping trip. This year we decided to go to Indian Lake State Park. The campground was nice and the weather turned out to be really great. It was hot when we arrived on Friday, and that night we were concerned about storms & possible tornados (always lovely news to hear when camping in a tent with a 4 month old baby), but the rain came and went during the night without any casualties leaving temperatures a bit cooler on Saturday.

Lydia did really great with all of the activity. She loved attention from her cousins & the rest of the family. Bedtime was a little later than usual due to everything going on and it being so bright outside, but Lydia still slept well both nights until 6:30 or 7. The only thing I didn't appreciate from her was all the poop! My little stinker hadn't gone in nearly a week and thus decided to let it all loose all three days we were away. Yuck! It was decided that one of the onesies was too far gone from the mess to worry about bringing home, so we suffered the first clothing loss of Lydia's life.

Sunday was Father's Day. I really enjoyed being able to see my daddy that day as well as celebrate Brent's first Father's Day. I bought Lydia a new "Daddy's Little Sweetie" onesie and made him a card with pictures of him & Lydia. We cleaned up the camp, ate at the Pizza Hut buffet, then I tried to let him relax for the rest of the evening while I unpacked and got Lydia to bed.

Here are some pictures from the weekend:












A year ago today I knew for sure I was pregnant. Crazy to think about how that day changed every day thereafter. I'm so glad to have my little girl to hold in my arms now. We enjoyed a relaxing day at home today and I even got to snuggle with her while she napped this evening. Not enough words exist to properly express the love a mother has for her child.
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This weekend Lydia took her second trip to Nana & Grandpa's house in Cincinnati. My mom's birthday was on Friday & my oldest brother's birthday was Sunday. Erin (sister in law) was throwing a surprise party for Joshua on Saturday, so our family journeyed down to be a part of the fun. We had a great time and Lydia really enjoyed seeing her Nana, Grandpa, Aunts, Uncles, and cousins! Don't they look so sweet in their matching outfits??


It turned out to be a lovely day for fun at the park. A bit warm in the sun, but since I try to keep Lydia out of the sun anyway, it was perfect weather for being in the shade!

I was nervous about having Lydia away from home now that we have her bedtime routine all established. I worried that she might have a terrible time getting to sleep and staying asleep in a new place without our typical setup. But my sweet girl is smart and flexible... she did awesome and slept through the night all weekend in her Pack N Play with no trouble at all. This is GREAT news for me because we're taking her camping in a couple of weeks, so I would really be in trouble if she didn't like to sleep away from her crib!

So yeah... the weekend was a success, but sadly today (Monday) has not been so great. Lydia still slept well last night and took a great 3 hour nap this morning, but I noticed her ear was... well... yucky. When I was feeding her after her nap, I noticed waxy goo in her left ear and it smelled awful. I'd had to clean that same ear off the previous day and figured she just got spit up in it. So I cleaned it up again today and put her down on her blanket where she proceeded to grab at that ear for awhile. I called the doc's office and they said to bring her in.

I took her to the pediatrician, but still wasn't convinced anything was wrong. In fact, I started to feel a little foolish as the nurse kept asking questions and I kept answering that Lydia was doing okay (eating well, sleeping well, not super fussy, only tugged at her ears a teeny bit this morning, etc)... perhaps I shouldn't have bothered bringing her in. Lydia sat on my lap smiling and talking, not seeming the least bit irritated while we waited for the doctor to come in. At last she had her ears checked and I was actually really surprised when the doctor remarked, "Oh my that looks terrible!" ... "So it's infected?" I responded ... "Oh yes. I can't even see her ear drum there's so much fluid. I'm surprised she is still so happy!"

My happy little girl. :) Anyway, the doc didn't want to give Lydia an oral antibiotic since she is so young, so we are trying ear drops first and going back for another look at her ear on Thursday. We're on strict orders to call right away if she starts being really fussy or gets a fever. So far everything is continuing as normal though. As I type this Lydia is fast asleep in her crib. Hopefully her stinky ear will be all healed up in no time!
Lydia is absolutely LOVING bath time without the hammock. Tonight we put her in her baby tub (inside the big tub) and her little legs just went flying... splashing water all over! She'd then pause to look at me and grin as if to say, "Look at what I can do, Mama!" We put a little toy at her feet that she can kick at. I'm not really sure if she likes kicking the toy or just likes kicking in general, but it's great fun to watch her.

Night time has been glorious around here lately. Knock on wood, but I think we might have tackled the old bedtime woes. Our whole family is finally getting good nights of rest and Brent and I even get to have a couple of hours to ourselves after the baby is in bed.

It's really great to be getting 7-8 hours of sleep again. Two whole weeks now without a middle-of-night feeding. This is super helpful as I've started my new job. Now I can get Lydia up around 7 to feed her, dress her, and do our other little morning routine items. Then she goes down again for a morning nap at 8. Typically this nap will last until 10, so I get a couple of hours to eat breakfast and do some work. The rest of her day is not usually so predictable, so I try to make the most of this time.

Tomorrow we leave for Cincinnati to visit my family. Mom's birthday is tomorrow and Joshua's is Sunday. I'm very much looking forward to celebrating with them! It will be interesting to see if Lydia maintains her good sleep habits away from home. She's never spent a whole night in the Pack N Play (at least not since her first week home from the hospital). Here's hoping she'll still sleep through the night as long as I keep the rest of the bedtime routine the same!
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