A weekend of Uncle Bone, Julia Anna and Tia/ Gigi Lanie Lu

A few weekends ago The Hammett's, (Uncle Bone) and Julia Anna came to visit. Amelia loved spending time with them both. How cute is Julia Anna!

 

Not only did they treat us to Mexican food but Hammett also gave us a wonderful lesson in the proper way, "the only way" to fold a t shirt. Julia Anna (who apparently does not have superior folding skills, she is not allowed to fold Hammett's t-shirts) snapped some photos of our session. I was awarded "most improved" and Kyle got the "Heart and Hustle" award!

The key is to use a magazine as a base to fold around. 

 

We learn the error of our ways...a crease down the front! Kyle reports that all his t-shirts (98% of his wardrobe) are from Northgate Vintage and therefore have no crease because they are so old and worn. 

 

and then came Sunday and with it Tia Lanie Lulu. We got to meet Dave (who I called Nate, he said I could continue to call him Nate. Yes, he is that cool). 

"I hear you have some cute nephews???"

  When Lanie came I was asleep on the couch, I thought she was by herself so naturally I did not bother to clean. Dave was such a great surprise and now we're way past the shower or get out of my pj's stage! Next visit we might side/front hug or let Amelia spit up on you, we'll see what comes naturally. Either way we cant wait to see you guys again!

okay here are a few random pics, that are too cute to keep to myself.

 

I just happen to catch her sockin it to her papa!

  

"This is my 3rd bath today! Later my mom would learn that I am sick with a tummy bug and she will endure one more vomit shower and I will get one more bath. I love bath time, so really that's my motive here."

 

Uncle Breece made sure she would be cool by giving her some great Hurley gear. 

Later Skater

One Month

Happy One Month Amelia

 

Last Thursday (the 18th)

We celebrated One Month. What a month. Kyle and I have loved getting to know our precious little girl. Some of the things we've learned about her and ourselves are as follows:

A little about Amelia: She has a host of nicknames. We mainly call her Amelia but you can also hear us calling her:

Mia

Ama

Monkey

Chunky Monkey

Momma Mia

Punkin

Button

Grandma

Amelia is a pure joy. Kyle and I feel very fortunate to have such an easy baby our first time around. She came to us weighing 9lbs and measuring 21 inches. She has since then grown to be 22 inches long and now tips the scale at 11.4 oz. Having such a healthy girl has made adjusting to a new schedule easier. She eats and sleeps wonderfully. She makes the cutest noises when she sleeps, purring, high pitch squeals and grunts. And she's got so many faces! My favorite is the one we call "Blue Steel" we have yet to be able to capture it on film but we're trying. 

Things Amelia loves: Us obviously, baths (she doesn't cry, we assume this only means she loves them), being swaddled, light, Georgie kisses, her boppy, eating, bright colors that move, the noise "shhhhhhh" and a moving car.

Some things I learned: I've learned how to clean upholstery, to swaddle, to do many many things with 1 hand, make diaper wipes, the fine line of too much bouncing after a feeding, to not lay her down and change her diaper after a feeding, decipher between the "I'm hungry" cry and the "I'm really sleepy cry." Who knew we could love something so much. She has taught us patience and shown us an incomparable joy. The Lord truly gives the best gifts and Amelia is just that. I love our moments in the morning. Sometimes I read to her, introduce her to our favorite music (this sometimes includes making her baby dance with her arms: She loves The Beatles, The Boss and David Crowder) tell her how much we love her and how God loves her even more. We adore every inch (and every chin) of her!

Things Amelia does not like: getting dressed and when we have to put medicine on her face or bum.

Some of you have gotten to meet Amelia and know how laid back and sweet she is. She cant wait to meet the rest of you, hopefully soon. Here are a few of the outakes from our 1 mo. photo shoot (over a few days and outfits).

 

all 22 inches

What do you mean this t-shirt's too tight!

This photo needs a caption...any suggestions?

 

Not in the mood for photos

And one from Georgie

 

We made it!

Kyle left Saturday morning for a retreat and Amelia and I were left to fend for ourselves. I could tell that this situation concerned Amelia a bit so we called for back up! Abby came to our rescue (Nichole was detained by another round of a sinus infection)! Abby put together Ama's activity floor mat and we gave that a whirl. 

Abby and Amelia

What are these things?

Stimulated

A little over stimulated

I also introduced her swing to her a bit ago and she loves it. I'm introducing her to an old favorite band Eisley...and she's out. 

Abby thanks for the company and help!  

Life is good with Gramma

Fans of Amelia so sorry for the delay in pictures! It has been a crazy week and we can barely keep our eyes open! Here are a few pictures from a few weeks ago. Pam came in town and got to spend a week with us. There are so many more to post but that'll be another day.

(I need to upload her 1 month pictures!) 

 

Quick Update:  This last week kicked my butt! We celebrated our first sick trip to the pediatrician.  Girlfriend proved that she is truly our child by acquiring her first respiratory infection and tummy bug, she's a Bender. So much for staying healthy inside the compound, "darned if you do...darned if you don't." We are recovering. Mia had more baths on Wednesday than she has had in the previous month. I have washed every towel in the house at least twice... you can never have too many towels I realize. Spit up can double as effective hair gel as well. 

But no worries she is not losing any weight, girlfriend tipped the scales at 11 lbs and 4 oz. So all that to say my sweet, laid back, good sleeping baby has been an angry raisin whose sleep is anything but predictable. We feel very fortunate that this is a phase and not a way of life.

 

 Now to Gramma.  This is one of my favorite photos of Gramma and Amelia because she has a perfect lil grin. You can tell she loved having Gramma visit and cant wait for her to come back. I know Kyle and I sure miss having her around. We dont seem to be averaging near the same hours of sleep and the house isn't quite carrying that freshly clean smell. 

We aren't eating as well either - mama's meatloaf, chicken vicent, peanut butter blossoms, so good.  Kyle and I also go on our first post-baby date.  It was sooo nice to get out of the house and my pajama pants.

The week went by way to fast with Kyle going back to work and us getting a night out, Gramma's visit flew by.  That just means she is going to have to come back and spend another week with the three of us.  Pam having you around for the week was a dream, thank-you so much for spoiling us with wonderful meals and extra hours of sleep we miss you tons. 

Sweet Amelia on Gramma's shoulder. 

 3 generations!

Amelia and August

Ryan and Krystal came over for the Super Bowl and Amelia finally was able to meet August! He is 5 months her senior and being the older wiser one of the two he had lots to teach her. Here are some of my favorite picks from the night.

We took about 50 photos but this was as good as it got. I love this picture because you can see the red in her hair. Yep folks her hair is getting lighter and a little redder, its sooo cute! We were Skyping with my grandparents the other day and the first thing my grandmother said was "what color is her hair?" I said well its a little darker on top, lighter on the sides..." and she said well it looks red. I need to find some old photos of Breece when he was born, his hair was red for the first year and half of his life before turning blonde. So who knows she could be a strawberry blonde :)

"Hey girl, check out my sweet abs!" He is clearly rooting for the Saints, channeling the culture.

Date Night, Valentine's Day: the movie

Kyle and I went to see Valentine's Day. There were so many story lines I feel dizzy. Overall I give it a C+. There were some really great parts but because there were so many moving parts there was a lot of "blah, blah, blah" in between the really cute ones. They could have cut Topher and Anne H. storyline and the "Taylors." But some really cute, well written funny parts, nothing too memorable to mention (only b/c I cant remember). Okay I know you dont come to this blog to hear my Siskel and Ebert. Giving you what you want..... Amelia new to this world has lots of questions.

Where am I going dressed like this??

You said my hair is what color???

You call this a hat?

 

 mom, your comments aren't that funny...stop, you're embarrassing me

A little spotlight for Georgie

This post is for Ryan Ewing who was a little nervous about Georgie's lot in the family since Ama has arrived.  Ranger, anytime you and Megan would like to come and give her some extra attention feel free :) Amelia would love to meet you all too. 
So Georgie girl is a wonderful big sis but like all siblings gets a little jealous at times of the new kid on the block. She has tried to wiggle between the baby and I a few times, which has been proven hard to do because this is usually when I'm feeding (or she's feeding, not sure which is correct). Not sure if she's jealous or hungry herself and a little put off thinking that I've been hiding food under my shirt all this time! So I'm attaching some of the more recent pictures of Georgie and a video of her "getting the mail." For those of you who have not met Georgie, she's full of personality. Julie Anna Hammett said it best once when she said of Georgie "it's like she's human, if she began to talking right now it would not seem weird."

When we explained a baby was coming!

her sight concern that a baby was coming.

She too is a Harry Potter fan. She thought the series wrapped up nicely and cant wait for the movies!

Oddly one of her favorite toys are the rubber sleeves over mechanical pencils. She could play with them all day. Once Nichole was dog sitting and kept taking them away from her (for fear that she would choke, obviously, makes sense) and she kept whining at her. We forgot to explain.
I have saved the best for last!!!

Georgie Gets the Mail from Morgan Bender on Vimeo.

Pictures I've been meaning to post

Georgie is wonderful with Amelia. When Amelia takes a nap Georgie will usually find a spot near by to do the same. She is the first to come and get me when Amelia begins to stir and fuss. She often then rears on her hind legs and tries to peak over. 

This picture and the next are from Amelia's first bath.

  

  

One of her favorite spots to take a nap.

 

My mom spent all of last week with us helping out with Amelia and around the house. This is Amelia sleeping through the vacuum! Thanks mom for everything! Today was my first day all by myself with Amelia. Whew... anytime you would like to come back I'm ready :) It went really smoothly. I just keep imagining Amelia looking at me and questioning my credentials.... "who said you were ready to fly solo?"

 

Nana and Amelia celebrating my mom's birthday. Amelia's not much for cake...yet.

 

Amelia finally was able to meet her Aunt Sydney. Who knew this meeting would involve so many costume changes. I will have to post pictures later of the photos shoot Amelia persevered through. Syd did not feel that her wardrobe was "cool" enough. She plans to remedy that.

 

This is one of those unscheduled baths because I just upchucked all over my mom, picture. Thank you Nana for cleaning me up. 

 

This is my favorite pictures. Sydney earning her stripes. Sydney is the same age I was, when she was born. It all comes full circle. "Front to back, Munchkin, front to back." :)

 

Nana admiring Amelia

 

This is right before they had to leave and began fighting over who got to hold her last. It was a struggle. I dont remember who won, just happy the baby wasn't dropped :)

 

Amelia, are part of a crazy crew. Notice the wreath my mom put together to go over Amelia's crib. We think it is beautiful! 

 

Since it was a given that my mom or Syd would not wake until noon, my dad enjoyed the mornings with Amelia. 

 

  

"Grandpa" had his work cut out for him balancing his two little girls (Amelia and Little Bit). Making sure neither got jealous.

About to head to the pediatrician. This is when Kyle refers to Ama as an "angry raisin." 

Little Miss Pukes A Lot

So there are so many things that I could update you guys on. The past two weeks have been full of so many unique experiences and emotions. I am learning so much, for instance there are what I call "sneaky stretchmarks." These can be defined as the stretch marks one acquires underneath the belly (hidden from the normal eye). They are misleading, they can make one believe they have escaped this feared part of pregnancy due to superior genes. So now that my tummy is disappearing I discovered a beautiful set of matching strechmarks! I feel like a victim :)

But the the title story is of Amelia's talent to unload everything I put in her belly back onto me with style and grace. Three times now after feeding she has looked up at me with the most endearing eyes and projectile vomited (with impressive range) ALL over me and anything within a surrounding area. The first time she was sitting in her boppy in front of me. I was just talking to her, admiring this precious gift from God and then...BLAW, BLAW, BLAW, BLAW. All over herself, the freshly changed sheets, and me (take note I was at least two feet from her mouth) The second time (my personal favorite), I'm holding her and 5 times she launched her assault all over, again me and a new victim Georgie. Georgie was COVERED and quickly jumped into action to help the situation by cleaning up the mess on the floor. The third time came later that evening and by the second launching I had made it to the shower. Now people, I'm not talking spit up, we're talking pints here.

Now no need to pity her, she does all this calmly without a hence of pain or discomfort. Even covered in her own vomit she looks peaceful and perfect. After much research we learned this is due to her "overeating" in a single sitting. Which only further proves two things, she is truly an American and my child. I'm sorry I have no photos to document the occasion, I'm just now that together yet.