Some of my favorite pics so far...

See how she grows....

I took this first picture when Tabitha was three days old.

Now, here's Tabitha exactly 11 weeks later in the same outfit.

It's fun to see that she's grown. I do have to admit that this is only a newborn size outfit though. She is a tiny little thing, but full of muscle and spunk. She never stops moving!

A Fred the Cat post

Poor Fred...he keeps asking me when I am going to put a post again about him. He keeps telling me that it's all about Tabitha. Sorry buddy--here's a post for you! Fred is doing good with Tabitha and while he doesn't love her yet, he does put up with her. We do know that it's getting colder out as he has now migrated to our bed at night and has become accustomed to sleeping on my head again, which means that I sleep without a pillow now for the next six months. Oh well! What we don't do for both our human and our furry children!

Trip to Indiana

Two weeks ago we made a trip to Indiana to see James' parents. Tabitha ended up doing a great job traveling the 600 miles to get there. She also did fabulous with meeting her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins from that side of the family. We all had a great time and look forward to our next trip back!

Time flies. It's amazing how quickly nearly 12 weeks have gone. It's back to work on the 27th, and I have a mixture of emotions about it.

I am happy and excited. I love my job, despite some of the challenges that come along with it. My boss and co-workers are fabulous and I am looking forward to the adult interaction again. I love being home with Tabitha, but at the same time, I love my job.

I am nervous. Why? I don't know why to tell you exactly. I have been working in this job for 8 years and yet as I think about going back I am nearly as nervous about it as I was on Day 1. I don't think the nerves have to do with the job, but rather about how life will again be different as I settle back into work again.

I am also sad. I have spent the past 12 weeks bonding with Tabitha. She knows me and I know her. I can walk into a room or just talk to her and she knows me and gives me the biggest smile. She's hit several developmental milestones. I will miss all of this bonding time.

So, with all of this spinning around in my head, it's no wonder that I don't sleep much at night (Miss Tabitha sleeps fine though). I know it will all work out and going back to work is going to be the best for both of us!

Photos by daddy

Milestones

It's hard to believe that Miss Tabitha is 11 weeks old already. Where does the time go? She is learning so many new things all of the time, that if you don't see her for a week, I am sure that it seems like she has changed so much.



This past week we hit a new milestone. Tabitha's head control has been getting better by the day. So, during daily "tummy time" we tried to have her use her arms to lift her head and chest off the floor. In the past we have failed miserably as she opted to move her arms out to her side and go for the beached whale look. However, on Monday, she decided that she was ready to use her arms. It was so fun to see her do this new "trick". The only downside is that she was trying to use her legs as well, which can only mean one thing...crawling. Once that happens, life will no longer be quite as simple--at least it is probably a little ways off before that starts (or so mommy is hoping!).

A bit blurry, but she's working hard with her arms (and of course her tongue).

The Tongue

We have decided that one trait that Tabitha takes after her mommy with is her tongue. Mommy has a long skinny tongue that can touch her nose (yes, such talent), and Tabitha's tongue is currently on the same course to be just as long and skinny. She's good at sticking it out for now too. Here is a cute one we captured recently!

War wounds

I think every parent dreads the two month doctor's visit. Tabitha's was two weeks ago. James and I were nervous about everything...is she growing enough, is she healthy, how will she do with her shots. We manage to come out a little less stressed knowing that our baby is doing just fine.


Tabitha is average for length (this definitely comes from daddy's side of the family and NOT from mommy); and she weighs in at 9 pounds, 1 ounce. No wonder we are only growing out of newborn clothes and diapers now and not several weeks ago. I won't complain though. She's healthy, happy, and the doctor thinks she is doing great!



The dreaded shots also happened that day. We are definitely advocates for getting her vaccinations. There are too many weird things out there for her to get. Tabitha got three shots in her legs. She did cry (we would have been more worried if she hadn't cried), but quickly calmed down after eating. In fact...she gave the receptionist a big smile on her way out.

Right after we got home. The shots didn't seem to bother her.

Later on in the day. I don't think she was unhappy about her shots, but rather the diaper change.

Pretty, Pretty Princess

Tabitha is daddy's princess. He loves going around and calling her "Pretty, Pretty Princess". It's cute, and even cuter when she dresses in her pretty, pretty princess nightgown. My mom and I found this and had to get a couple them for Miss Tabitha. As we have learned, unless you are a master at putting clothes on a baby, it can be torturous to get them on, but once on they are cute!

Class

In August, Tabitha and I began a 6-week "New Mama's" class. Myself and seven other wonderful ladies participated. We learned about sleeping, going back to work, and many other pertinent subjects. It gave us time to get out of the house, get to know other new moms and learn about what our baby is doing. As I told the instructor at on the last day of class, it was the best money I've ever spent. All of us plan on keeping in touch and getting together periodically. It's going to be a great support group!

Here's a picture of the babies from the last day of class.

Tabitha's in the middle with the stripped dress on.

State Park #3

On Saturday, despite being a bit cool, we took a trip to Tabitha's 3rd state park...William T. O'Brien state park. She loved being put in the Baby Bjorn (well, not at first, but eventually she came to like it), and we hiked several miles. The leaves were changing colors and it made for a great morning.

Photography by Daddy! He's getting really good at pictures!

Flailing

Tabitha has a thing with flailing (although I know that it's true in all babies). It's rather amusing and most of the time she scares herself with it. When she was just a little tyke, when you would slowly put her down in her crib she would wave her arms outright like she was falling. It was her natural instinct kicking in that we were going to drop her (no...we didn't either).

Now, as she gotten older her flailing has become more under control, but now she once in awhile flails when she has scared herself.

We shouldn't laugh, but it is rather amusing to watch.

Not a picture of the flail, but too cute to resist!