Our first blog!

Well I've decided to make a blog to keep our family and friends updated on our little family's progress and activities throughout the year! I hope I'll be able to post at least once a week with updates on Jolie! I hope everyone enjoys hearing about how Jolie's growing as much as we love watching her get bigger by the day!



Let's see. Where do I begin? Two days after Christmas, Joe and I took Jolie for her 4 month well check up. We knew she was getting big but we had no idea she'd be 15lbs 1oz and 25 1/2 inches long! Such a long way from her 7.1lb 20inch start she had when she was born! Jolie had to have 4 shots and 1 oral medication that day. After the shock of the first pinch wore off she was in full-on crying mode. Luckily the nurse was super fast and it was all over with and bandaids on within 15seconds. It breaks my heart hearing her cry though. Everyone is right when they say you can tell the difference between the hungry cries and the hurting cries. No parent wants to hear their baby hurting so I was so relieved when Jolie calmed down after a minute or two. After her shots at 2 months I learned a few tricks to help calm her back down and they seemed to work for the most part!
Since that day, Jolie started out on "solid foods". I have been exclusively breastfeeding Jolie so this was a big step! We started out with rice cereal. I think when I have told people she's eating cereal now they get the picture that I'm feeding her cheerios or something but it's really just mush. Anyhow, Jolie really loves her cereal. Her first feeding it seemed like she couldn't get enough! We've since incorporated sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, and bananas (not all at once, of course) into her cereal and so far no problems/allergies! I did get a face-full of carrots when she decided to blow bubbles in the middle of her feeding but other than that she has really been doing great.
Each day it seems like she can do more and more things. I am so glad my parents gave us a DVD camcorder for Christmas so we can record all her "firsts", especially since she seems to be doing something new everyday! Jolie has been able to roll over from her tummy to her back for a while now and in the last month she's mastered rolling from her back to her tummy! I think the first time she did it she shocked herself! She had this look on her face like oh my! what just happened?! You can almost hear the wheels turning in her head as she discovers new things or realizes what she's capable of. I'm positive that she's going to be up and moving sooner than later too! She absolutely hates laying down now. As soon as you lay her down she is lifitng up her head doing what looks like mini crunches to try to sit herself up. A couple of times she has actually managed to sit herself straight up in her bouncer seat, which surprised not only herself but us as well!
I truly thank God everyday that He has blessed us with such a healthy, beautiful little girl. Every morning when I wake up I love looking over at her and seeing her smiling face. It truly melts my heart each and every time. Well the snow is starting to fall & I'm going to get out the camcorder and record Jolie's first snowfall! I'll post some more pictures later as soon as I figure this whole blog thing out!