Happy Halloween!!

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!!

New Pics

Here's a series of photos with Sara wearing her Sleepyhead onesie... it shows how much she likes to sleep :-)

And here's a few other ones...

Sleepy Head...

Or not! If any moms or dads out there have any good sleep tips for a newborn...let us know!!! Who says that newborns sleep all day? Surely not our child...she came out screaming and hasn't stopped yet. I put her in a onesie today that says Sleepy Head, hoping it would rub off on her. Although, I can't complain today because she's actually taken two 30 minute naps and is now going on an hour nap. This is like heaven. Yesterday she slept a TOTAL of 30 minutes!! You heard it right...30 minutes TOTAL! Babies are supposed to sleep 16-18 hours a day...not our child!

On another note, I took her in for her one month well check yesterday and the doctor gave her a clean bill of health (except for her heat rash all over her cheeks and necks...poor girl). She weighed in at 9 pounds 8 ounces which is the 50th percentile, her head was 13.5 inches (I think) 50th percentile, and she came in at a whopping 21 inches in height which is the 10-25th percentile. She definitely got taller (18.5 inches at birth) but it doesn't look like she'll be a basketball star yet...but you never know :-)

This girl is a hungry girl...she must take after her mom and dad! I think she'd eat all day long if she could but I'm getting a little exhausted to say the least. Hopefully as she gets bigger she'll be able to eat more at each sitting and last a little longer between feedings. I'd have to say that she's lasting a little longer in the past few days and makes it for 3-4 hours between feedings at night...which keeps me sane.

Here are few new pics for you to enjoy!

Sara's Likes and Dislikes

Things I like:

- The sound of running water (it helps me calm down when I'm screaming)

- The sound of Dad's Ipod (it has the sounds of rain falling, the ocean, and the jungle...thank goodness for technology!)

- My changing table and being changed...Mommy and Daddy are happy about that

- Being bounced a certain way...Mom and Dad have to bounce with their arms AND legs in order for me to like it...it gives them a good workout when I'm fussy at night

- Dad's huge orange stand up surfboard

- The car seat only if I'm being swung around...not when I'm in the car...I hate it then

- Getting bathes!!

This is the position that Dad has to carry me in if I'm really fussy!

Things I don't like so much:

- Being in one place too long...I get bored of the same view

- Lying on my back flat...I much prefer lying on Mom's tummy or Dad bouncing me in his arms

- My carseat when I'm in the car...I scream and scream until Mommy and Daddy let me out!

- Getting changed...when they put those stupid onesies over my head I kind of freak out.

- Having to go to sleep, especially between the hours of 5 and 10 pm
- I'm not a huge fan of hats either...

New Sara Pics

Here are some new pics of Sara...

It fell off...

Her umbilical cord that is... It actually fell off earlier this week but my baby brain forgot to post it :-) Progress! Sara gave Ryan and I a break last night, her witching hours only lasted from 5-7 last night and she slept for 3 hours three times! Wow, was that needed. The downside is that she doesn't feel like she needs to sleep today so no rest or a chance to get anything done for mom. I'm feeding while I write this with one hand because it's my only down time.

Here's a few pics...she found her thumb the other day...look out orthodontics bills!

The cute onesie she is wearing is one of the many very creative onesies her auntie and uncle Jen and Jeff made for her!

Your Gonna Miss This!

As you can all bet Kelley and my lives have changed dramatically in the past few weeks. What use to be a life filled with we, me, we...is now filled with what can we do to calm little Sara.

It turns out, in talking with both Kelley's and my parents, we were both little angel babies; never making a peep (notice I said babies not teenagers. That is a completely different story). So I am not sure why god has sent us an angel looking baby who grunts, groans, cries, poops, farts, twitches, drools, and howls like a little demon.

Don't get me wrong, Kelley and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE our little girl and consider her a blessing and a miracle but there are times when we have both questioned our decision to have kids. We have read other blogs where the mothers tout about having the perfect baby, "my baby never cries, my baby sleeps all the way through the night, I am not sure why everyone says this parenting thing is hard, etc".

All of our friends and family have been very supportive and there have been a lot of ideas and suggestions as to how to best comfort her. All of which work for 5-20 minutes then it is on to the next thing.

One of the most commonly stated suggestions is, "it will get better after 6 weeks, it will get better after 6 months, there's a light at the end of the tunnel". For the most part Kelley and I hope that this is true as we are both running on empty and being tested to the limits of our own personal wits...BUT as soon I start to wish away the time to a day when she is calm, I realize that there are the little moments when she is finally sleeping on my chest after 2+ hours of consoling and shushing. The moments when she looks into my eyes and I feel a connection that runs deep into my soul. These are the moments that are happening as we speak that I would never wish away.

It's like the country song by Trace Adkins, I have come to a realization that someday, I am going to miss these moments. The good the bad and the in between. I have made a promise to both myself and to Sara that I WILL NOT wish away one moment of her life to get to a point where things are easier. I will roll with the punches, wear a smile, and remember these days as some of the most precious days of her little life.

As such one of these moments was taken in this morning when I awoke to Kelley sitting on the couch with Sara in her arms after being up with her most of the night. I could see that Kelley needed some sleep. I grabbed Sara out of her arms as she collapsed into a sleepy state and headed off the the beach for a sunrise walk with my little angel. Our walk was unreal and was one of those moments that someday I will definitely miss.

Free Moment...

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted...it's crazy how much time such a little girl can take! We're still hanging in there...how come no one warned us about all the crying :-) Dad has been amazing, letting me get some much needed rest this weekend. We introduced a breast milk bottle which allowed me to get over 4 hours of straight sleep...woo hoo! He has today off from work so I got to go for a long walk by myself and get to go for a massage later today. The surf's up so Dad got go for much needed surf sessions last night and this morning...I think it helped revitalize him as well. Here's a resent picture of her in our favorite device!

And here she is in her hat that didn't go over very well the first time :-)

Our New Best Friend

Let's just say that after 36 hours of constant crying (unless she's eating) we finally got smart and pulled out the bouncy seat. It was our last resort and she seems to love it...for now! She's been quite the little fussy pants for the last few days and we were all at our wits end (at least I was...thanks to lack of sleep!)...until I pulled out the infamous bouncy seat. Let's hope she continues to like it so I have some reprieve when Jane leaves tomorrow. :-( It's very nice to have 3 sets of hands with Jane being here. It allows Ryan and I to have some moments of sanity when she's screaming bloody murder, and we've been eating like kings and queens and our house is clean!

I think Sara inherited her lungs from the Gavin side because we're all pretty boisterous :-) We took her to the doctor yesterday because she's started this crazy grunting (all day and through the night) and me being the paranoid first time parent I wanted to make sure she was okay. The doctor didn't seem to be worried which makes me not worry...thank you doctor! She is definitely a hefty eater...she gained a whopping whole pound in one week. I must have some nutritious milk! We're looking forward to the golden 6 week mark when the fussiness is "supposed" to subside (notice supposed to). She's actually a really good baby..she just has her moments :-) as I'm sure all babies do.

Here's a picture of her looking at the doll Meme (Gavin) gave her...she actually pushed it away from Ryan (and who says the don't have control of their hands yet!)

Our Future Athlete...

We've been working on our tummy time lately and Sara is already excelling :-) You think we're proud parents??



Everything is going pretty well at the Hatfield Hale. We're starting to get a little routine going (although I'm sure it will change on a daily basis). She managed to sleep for 4 hours in a row last night but unfortunately Mom didn't. She makes so many grunting noises when she sleeps that I can't seem to sleep through all of them...although I'm getting much better...the pillow over the head trick works pretty well. She is still having her "witching hours" from about 7 to 10 at night and lucky Dad (and Memere) have been having to deal with it while Mom gets a few hours of shut-eye between feedings.

Daddy's Little Girl and Memere

Here are a few more pics. I came home from a walk and found Dad and Sara chilling on the couch.

Like father, Like daughter...


Memere (Hatfield) is here for a visit. She has been very helpful...letting me/us nap, cooking and cleaning. Thank you Jane!

Witching Hour(s)....

I've heard about this so called "witching hour" from various people with kids but didn't really know what it was until the night before last. Our precious little Sara decided that at 8:00pm she wanted to be up the entire night (I thought it was only supposed to last a few hours)...and wanted to feed every hour! Let's just say Mom and Dad were a little exhausted by the end of the night.

We had our doctor's appointment yesterday and it appears that she is getting enough to eat and growing like a weed. She gained all of her birth weight back plus 8 oz...she's weighing in at 7 pounds 8 ounces! I was worried we were feeding her too much (every hour through the night...some nights) but apparently that's normal and we should feed her whenever she appears to be hungry. She must take after her parent's because we should love our food too!

She must have been pretty tired after her all nighter because she slept most of yesterday and only fed every two hours last night...progress!!

Here's a few more pics.

Sara loves her blanket that Gr-Grandma Hatfield made for her!!