Friday, April 30, 2010

Dear Skye

Posted by Stephanie & Tyler at 10:19 AM 0 comments


Dear Skye,
There are so many things that you do so frequently that i really want to remember. I love how when i give you a bottle you lay in my lap and cross one foot over the other like your so laid back and relaxed. I love how when i feed you you stick your hands in your mouth and then rub your eyes and your head right behind your ear. You get cereal/carrots/peas all over the place. The picture is actually cereal and bananas. I love how i always know when your really tired because you bury your head into me like im the coziest blanket/pillow you have ever had. You love being outside, when you're especially cranky you always calm down the second you get outside. Your very ticklish under your arms and ill lift up your arms and blow raspberries under your arm and you just die laughing. You love love love your bath. You never crawl so fast as you do when you get your clothes off and hear that water running. I love you more than anything in the world and I will always be here for you.
Love,
Your Mother

Monday, April 19, 2010

Adrienne's Two!!

Posted by Stephanie & Tyler at 1:54 AM 0 comments
My beautiful niece Adrienne turned two on Sat April 17. I remember the day she was born like it was yesterday! I got the call that Mandy was in labor while i was finishing up my clinical at Parkland Hospital. When i heard that it was time i started crying. I'm not really sure why...She was several hours from actual delivery but i felt like i had to be there for my little sister! I loved Adrienne from the second i heard that Mandy was pregnant and i loved everything about her from the second she arrived in this world. I loved the heart shaped birthmark on her foot and all that hair...I would take videos of her just sleeping because she was so beautiful. And now she is two years old, I cant believe how fast time flies. When i first heard that her birthday party was going to be in Tyler i thought that would be too big of an undertaking with Skye to travel for the party and just knew we were gonna have to miss it. Over the next few days it was weighing heavy on my heart and i couldn't just miss my little Adrienne's birthday party! She was my niece and i love her as much as an aunt can love a niece, we HAD to go. It was a two hour drive each way but it really wasn't that bad. Skye slept the whole way so this was a nice time for me and Tyler to have bonding time...to chit chat about adult things like what we have been reading and philosophy. The girls all LOVED playing together. Adrienne was so interested in Skye and just wanted to tough and hug her. Skye just turned 7 months and is full blown crawling and pulling up. Jordyn (Adrienne's sister) is 3 weeks older and doing the same so it was chaos and we only had those three kids. I cant imagine what craziness it would have been with any more people or kids around. We ate hamburgers that Chris (Mandy's fiance) made on the grill and queso with chips. The food was super yummy, Mandy knew what she was doing by picking a man who can cook :) After lunch we had Adrienne open presents. We gave her a Barbie doll, sidewalk chalk, and I made her a homemade tutu that was turquoise, brown and white and had a matching bow. She loved the tutu and wore it the rest of the day! Then we ate the cake that Chris baked. I thought it was so sweet the effort he put into the cake for Adrienne...he even decorated it himself! She didn't understand that she was supposed to blow out the candle..she just tried to grab it...eventually we had to help a little. Next year i know she will get it and can help Jordyn and Skye with their candles!! After cake Skye started getting cranky and it was time for her nap which meant we had to get her in the car so she could sleep on the way home. And that was our trip to Tyler :) Happy Birthday Adrienne!! I am so lucky that i have gotten to be your aunt for the past two years and Tyler and I love you very much!!

Friday, April 9, 2010

Gosh i wish i could be a SAHM!

Posted by Stephanie & Tyler at 10:36 AM 0 comments
So for those of you who don't know a SAHM is an acronym for Stay At Home Mom. I work as a RN and I work the night shift. Due to this i am gone 3 nights a week and have to sleep all day 3 days a week. Although it was REALLY hard to go back to work after having Skye I feel like it is equally hard for me every week. You might think that the hardest part is leaving every week but for me you would be wrong. The hardest part is my first day off after working my three in a row. Today is that first day for me this week and I just sit here looking at Skye. She grows so much so quickly that I get sad to see how much i have missed over the week. She was for real crawling today... not just her scoot-face plant crawl but a for real crawl moving all four limbs! I don't know if this is the first time she started doing this or just the first time I'm seeing it. She looks bigger and older every week. At first it seemed like she didn't even know me but thankfully i think that was a phase and now she is VERY aware of her momma and VERY happy that I'm back. These pictures are some that were taken this week while i was at work. Its a strange dichotomy because at the end of the week when I'm about to go back to work i feel like i cant wait...that i need a break from the teething and crying and nap times and cartoons. On the other hand by the end of my work week I feel like i never want to see Methodist Hospital EVER AGAIN and that i just want to smother my love bug with kisses. I guess i should feel lucky though cuz if i was a mom who has to work Mo-Fri, yes i would be home for dinner and bedtime every day but that's about it and i wouldn't have 4 full days every week to enjoy Skye. Also i
should feel really lucky cuz during the days when i have to sleep for work the next night Brenda my MIL watches Skye. I couldn't ask for anything better! She lives and would die for Skye. She is respectful of Tyler and my wishes for Skye and adds all those fun grandparent things that are so great for both of them. I really am so lucky when i think of it!! I mean look at her <-------- She is a beautiful, healthy, sweet, loving little angel. Tyler and I are HAPPILY married and have wonderful loving supportive families. We're both employed and Tyler will start grad school this summer and we have all our needs and more met. Ooooo I miss her! She's napping and I just want to hug my little love bunny!! It's wakey wakey time Skye!!

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

All the questions...and sometimes unpopular answers.

Posted by Stephanie & Tyler at 2:46 AM 0 comments
There have been many changes in Skye's world recently. As parents, the decisions that Tyler and I make are not necessarialy the most popular or even good ones. We try to choose the best things for Skye and if in the course of our journey find that those choices are not working out we reserve the right to change course. Im gonna go through some of the MOST asked questions about Skye cuz it seems like that is what everyone wants to know and also so that i can remember some of the key points in Skye's life at the time. In revealing the answers to some of these questions please remember the old addage that your mother told you... "If you don't have anything nice to say, say nothing at all." Tyler and I have stressed about many of the small and large choices we have made for Skye and truly feel that we are doing what is BEST for our family.

Are you still breastfeeding?
No. We are officially done breastfeeding. Skye was exclusively breastfed for 5 1/2 months and is still getting breastmilk in her bottles until we run out of frozen milk. Dont let anyone tell you that breastfeeding is easy. At first it hurts and pumping sucks!! literally!! Skye was always good at it but after going back to work things only got harder. I was finding that i was in a perpetual state of hormone craziness and just got so tired of it i couldn't do it one more minute. When Skye was born we set a breastfeeding goal of 6 mo and i feel like i met my goal and even though i grieved over giving up breastfeeding it helped our whole family to function better.

What is Skye eating?
Skye gets bottles of mostly formula with some breastmilk -- We use Earth's Best Organic formula (Its a little expensive but we feel it's way worth it.) She eats only organic rice cereal and baby food and eats 3 solid meals a day. So far she is up to eating bananas (her fav!!), pears, apples, carrots, sweet potatoes, and peas.

How big is she?
At her 6 month appointment she weighed 16 lbs which is 50th percentile and was >97 percentile in height..i think she is gonna be tall like her Nana. She is wearing anything from 6 mo to 12 mo in clothing and a sz 3 diaper.

How is she sleeping?
Currently Skye is going through sleep training. We are using the Sleep Sense program -- http://sleepsense.net/ . Basically we create a rigid routine for before naps and at bedtime which signals her that it's time for sleep. We put her down awake! At this point in the program there are two options 1.) stay in the room with baby to comfort her or 2.) leave the room for a predetermined amt of time before returning to comfort her. We chose #2 -- we were finding that Skye got more worked up for us to be in the room. During this time she is learning how to fall asleep on her own so that the multiple times that she wakes in the middle of the night she can seamlessly go back to sleep like you or i do. How is it going, you ask? Well Skye is sleeping through the night EVERY NIGHT! She is taking two 2 hr naps at basically the same times every day and is only whimpering or fussing for a few min and often not at all. My little angel just lays her head down and puts herself to sleep! This program was 50$ and i say that it's worth every cent!!!

That's pretty much everything i can think of. This may have been very boring for some of you, upsetting for some who disagree with our choices and interesting to some. If you have any encouraging words i would love to hear them :) This kinda gives you a glimpse into the daily life of Skye Ansley.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Look What Love Made...

Posted by Stephanie & Tyler at 9:59 AM 0 comments


Welcome to our new blog. Tyler and I were sitting around on Easter and reflecting over all the nuances of having a new baby. There are so many joys and trials associated with our new lives and i feel like they are just whizzing by. I added the picture to the right to kick off this new blog. This is one of the earliest pictures of Tyler and I. This picture was taken in April of 2003 - 7 years ago! I still have the bruise on my face just above my lip on the right side of my face - thanks Kirsten! I had to fight for our love from day 1 and though our relationship hasn't always been easy it has been more good than bad. I look at old pictures like this one and sit amazed at the beautiful life that has come from this love. A beautiful marriage and a beautiful daughter named Skye Ansley McAnally! Skye is 6 1/2 months old and turns 7 months on Apr 16. I feel like i have already missed out on logging about her life the past 6 months but there is nothing i can do about that now other than to start. I will try to keep up with this blog and I'm sure from time to time that Tyler will chime in to add his perspective too. Thank you so much for checkin in on us. To all our friends and family, we truly love and appreciate you more than you know! The picture at the top of the post is one of the most recent pictures we have of our angel Skye. We went to the Arboretum with Nana and my grandad Pop. We had a great time bopping around the flowers. Look at how amazing she is...Look What Love Made!!!






 

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