Sleeping through the night...

Two nights ago we started "ferberizing" Amelia, which basically means we let her cry herself to sleep with hopes that she eventually stops doing it and falls asleep! The first night, we put her down at 9:30 pm, and she woke up at 11:30, cried her eyes out for about a half hour, then fell asleep until 8:30 am. WOW! However, the half hour of crying was pretty tough on Mom...not su much Dad, because I think he slept though most it! Last night we had company, so Mia didn't get to sleep until 11 pm. Thinking that she was going to wake up two hours later and cry, we were pleasantly surprised when she slept until 7:30 am! Hopefully the 3rd night goes just as smoothly! Right now, she's even taking a nap and it's been about and hour and half. Lately, she's only been taking 30 minute naps, so I'm thankful for this long nap. Today, we're also going to start vegetables! Joe wants to start with squash, so we'll see how that goes!

Our surprise company was my cousin Doug and his family (Renee, Jessica & Spencer). They are from Hudsonville, Michigan and stopped by on their way to St. Louis. We had Los Ranchitos for dinner, and then they spent the night. It was great to have family visit, and we were happy to house them. We all had fun catching up, and that might be the reason that Amelia is so sleepy today. That and maybe her 3 shots yesterday...SO much excitement!

6 Month Check-Up

Can you believe that Amelia is 6 months already?! Today she had her 6 month check-up and was a whopping 17.1 pounds, 27.5 inches long, and her head had grown 2 inches!! So, for that one person who voted for 17 pounds, you were the closest (haha, that might have been me!). The doctor gave the okay to start other foods, so we are going to start vegetables tomorrow, and then add fruits. She's also doing great with all of her motor skills, and he had no concerns about her development. She was such a brave girl too and didn't take long to calm down after her 3 shots (notice the band-aids...). Now she's fallen asleep in her bouncy seat after a tiring hour at the doctor! Poor girl!

Loving Summer

SO much has happened in the last few weeks! I apologize for not updating sooner! Amelia turned 6 months on June 30, so we started rice cereal. She is doing so good, and we are going to start vegetables & fruits next week or the following week. She is rolling over all the time, from belly to back and from back to belly. She's super strong, and trying to scoot too. She is also really good at entertaining herself, whether it be in her bouncy seat or activity mat. She's been enjoying having daddy home in the mornings, and soon he'll be done with summer school and we'll be able to do lots of family activities. We're hoping to take some trips this summer to Ohio, Minnesota, and St. Louis. It's going to be a busy end of the summer, but we're excited! Yesterday, we spent the 4th of July at Twin Maple Campgrounds for an Auliff Family Picnic. Mia even got to go swimming just like Mommy used to. It was lots of fun to see family, and all of her little cousins. When we got home, we another cookout with friends in Monmouth, along with fireworks!

Busy June

It's been a very exciting couple of weeks! Daddy ended school, and has been enjoying spending more time with Amelia. He is the outreach worker for summer school, so he works from noon to 5 pm. Our trip to Michigan over Father's Day weekend was great. My brother, wife and daughter, along with my sister, her boyfriend and his son were up, so we were able to get together with my parents and have a good time. I was especially excited to meet my new neice Violet who is just 22 days younger than Amelia. They were so cute together! This past Friday, it was my 25th birthday, and Joe surprised me with a party with all of my friends. We had a great time! This was a birthday I was somewhat dreading; 25 seemed so old to me...that's half way to 50!! But, I do have a lot to show for for my birthday. A college degree, a husband, a house, a van of my own, and most importantly a new baby! Amelia was a little sick this week with what seemed like diarhea and her first diaper rash. Boy, that was not fun changing her diaper! She's still been pooping almost every diaper, but it eventually cleared up, and it doesn't hurt her anymore

Guess what?! I found my feet!

Amelia has found her feet, and now she likes to play with them and put them in her mouth. Good thing she's not walking all over; I would imagine her feet are cleaner than her hands! I think it all began when we started wearing outfits with no footies or socks. This is only the beginning of the many things she's discovering! She now has a great bouncy seat that has lots of toys and can rotate all around. She tried it for the first time today and seemed to like it! We set her high chair up at our table. She also borrowed a Bumbo chair from her friend Parker, and is enjoying that too, although it makes me nervous because she acted like she was trying stand up in it or tip out of it! She's getting to be a big girl with big girl toys too! Today we bought her some rubber blocks, and Daddy insisted on getting his little girl a stuffed frog. It's been fun having Daddy home too, but we're sort of out of our routine. It should start back up next week though when he starts summer school. We are certainly glad its summer, and can't wait to see all that Amelia does! It's bittersweet, as I'm sad my baby is getting bigger, but excited to see all of the fun things she will start doing.

Swimming!

Last night Daddy had to work late, so Amelia and I decided to cool off by going to swim at the YMCA. At first, I wasn't sure if she was going to like it. She started to cry a bit, but after she got used to the water (it was little cold), she calmed down. I started by just holding her, bouncing up and down, then I gradually lowered her in more and then held her by the arm pits with her belly in the water. She got wet all over except for her head, and she even started to kick a little bit while I pulled her around. She floated on her back, and sat on the side of the pool. I think we defintely have a little water baby on our hands!

Visit to MI

This past weekend, we have a great visit in Michigan. My sister and her boyfriend were planning a visit to my parents, so we decided to do so too. Amelia enjoyed visiting with Grandma & Grandma, and Aunt Becky, and she did surprisingly well sleeping there too! The weather was fantastic too. Last time we visited Big Rapids, it was rainy and cold most of the weekend, but this time we were able to enjoy being outside, and Joe even got to go golfing. On our way back we stopped and visited my Grandma in Grand Rapids. She was so excited to see Amelia and she was a perfect angel, not crying once during our visit. My Grandma is almost 95, and when I was pregnant I wasn't even sure if she would get to meet my baby. Now she's seen her twice, and I feel so happy that she's been able to meet her and we'll be able to show Amelia pictures of them together when she's older.