The Last One

Going into motherhood, one of my biggest fears was always that I would never have that feeling of being done. I had so many friends tell me that they just knew at a certain time that they were not meant to have any more kids. Ben was always pretty set on 3 kids; I had always said I wanted 4 kids. I was pretty certain that he would win that battle & I was so worried that I would never share that same feeling of when our family was complete.

 

But God is funny. He has a way of changing your heart even when you are not asking for change. Pretty soon after we found out we were pregnant for the 3rd time, I just knew that it would be the last time we added a baby to our family.  I finally had that feeling that baby #3, whether it be a boy or girl, would be the one to complete our family. And I had a complete sense of peace about it.

 

The stage of life we have been in has been looping. We go two years & then we start over in the baby phase. It's a weird place to be knowing that we are now in a stage where that won't happen again. We will keep moving forward and our babies will {gasp} grow up! There will be no more talk of trying for a baby or how far apart we want the next one to be. It's bittersweet. I love the baby stage. LOVE it. I will miss having a sweet, snuggly newborn in our house. I will miss all those firsts that are so exciting. But on the other hand, I am pretty excited to just sit back (ha! please know that I don't mean that literally because when do parents ever get to just sit back?!) and watch these 3 tiny humans grow up together. I'm ready for this new phase of life and am welcoming it with open arms.

 

So for now, I am soaking up my little baby because I know she's my last. I do get sad thinking about it sometimes, but it's a nice feeling knowing that this is our family. Our party of 5.

 

Cheney: 3 months old

Cheney girl, you are THREE months old today! I can't even believe it!

 

The Stats:

Weight: my guess would be 10.5lbs..you are a tiny girl!

Height: Between 22-22.5 inches

Clothes: all 3 month & even some 3-6 month (only because you are long!)

Diaper: size 1

Eating:

You are still a great eater! You nurse every 3 hours during the day. We have been supplementing with 1 bottle of formula at night for your last feeding so that we can really fill your tummy up. You didn't seem to notice at all & it has helped you sleep some. You take a bottle with no problem at all & will max out at 5 ounces before bed. Your tummy is just so little!

Sleeping:

We seem to have taken a small step backwards. You are back to waking up twice at night, which is why we started supplementing before bed.  We have changed your schedule a bit & that is what initially threw you off. We started putting you to bed around 7:30 each night because you were just so tired. You are waking up between 1:00-2:00am, nursing, & then again around 5:00. Thankfully you will go back down after your 5:00 feeding and I wake you up at 7:30 for the day! It's not awful, but I am hoping to get you sleeping through the night soon! You are getting better about consistent naps in your room. I generally start you off in the crib (which you aren't a huge fan of), you wake up about 30-40 minutes later, I rock you, & then put you in the Rock n Play. You will usually sleep for about an hour after that! You love the RnP and I am dreading the official transition to your crib! You are still swaddled although you don't want your legs to be too tight anymore.

Happenings this month:

-you have really started to notice the people around you & are making a lot more eye contact!

-you have discovered your hands and you refuse to take them out of your mouth! If you lose the paci in the carseat, you tend to start sucking on your fingers.

-you have great head control and are so strong considering you are so petite. Everyone always comments on how big you look since you can hold that head up so well!

-you are super smiley & have started laughing. It's pretty much the cutest sound ever!

-you love movement while being held: bouncing, swaying, rocking.

-you still love to be worn! You sleep so well on the go if you are in the K'tan or Ergo. I love it, too!-Since you are going to bed earlier, you now take a bath with Griffin. He thinks it's a pretty big deal & gets mad when I let you "hold" the dump track.

-you really enjoy your play mat & are starting to grasp at the toys and hold on to them!

-you still despise the infant carseat. Every time we are going anywhere, you are screaming. I just ordered Griffin a new Diono and you will be getting his Britax Roundabout within the week! Hopefully that will help!
-you move ALL THE TIME. You are busy, busy, busy. You love to kick and swing your arms all the time...just like in the womb:)

Cheney, you are the sweetest little girl with the best smile & brightest eyes. You bring so much joy to this family! Your brothers adore you & think you are just the greatest thing. You are such an easy & content baby. I don't know what we did without you! We love you so much, sweet girl!

...and just for fun, here is a comparison of all 3 May babies at their 3 month photoshoots. I love a good comparison!

 

 

 

 



the Super Mays

We've been talking about Halloween for months now at our house. Both boys have been talking about superheroes but we finally got our costumes nailed down about a month ago. Grayson wanted to be Batman, Griffin wanted to be Spiderman, & I decided that Cheney needed to be Super Woman. Basically, we were the Super Mays. 

This year was also special because Halloween was the day before our awesome neighbors were moving to a different neighborhood. Gray and Grayson went trick or treating for the first time together as 1 year olds! We have since then added Griffin, Eli, & now Cheney to our little neighborhood crew. Our boys are so sad that their best buddies won't be right next door so they were excited that we could go trick or treating one last time together! It was freezing on Halloween, but we managed to make it around our section before calling it a night. Cheney got to hang out with my friend, Mary, in the warm house instead. Lucky girl! 

Look at these cute superheroes! Those boys sure are proud of their costumes....you should see them "tackle" each other in them. I am pretty sure they morphed into Spiderman and Batman as soon as they were dressed. 

Did you know that Spiderman wears navy Keds? Because he totally does. :) 

 Our crew (minus one baby girl who was not about to go out in those temps!)

 

The Garlington crew

Our Superheroes! I can't believe how much all 4 of these kids have grown over the last year!

...and after all the trick or treating & we were frozen solid! Griffin was SO mad that he couldn't eat his entire bucket of candy that night. Oh, Griff. 

We had such a fun night! I'll leave you with our flying Super Cheney!