Daycaring

Today, Sydney and I visited the daycare she will begin attending March 22 (after Randall's mom leaves). By then, I will have been back at work three weeks and, hopefully, taking things one transition at a time will be helpful. The teacher/student ratio at her school is lower than the state limit, and we fell in love with it after visiting last May when we got on the waiting list.

I loved it just as much today.

The ladies in the infant rooms are fabulous; they have been there 15+ years and they are about my mom's age, if not a little older. They LOVE their babies, and it is obvious. I was there 2+ hours, and they know so much about the kids....it made me feel good that they will know everything about Sydney that I was/am so worried about them NOT knowing. I have no doubt that after a couple of days, she will be like one of the family. The love they have for the kids combined with the focus on academics and independence makes this the right choice for us.

Does this help me feel better about leaving her? Not really. Sure, I am thrilled that we're able to provide a daycare experience for our daughter that we feel very good about...even if it does mean cutting back in less important areas. However, I have loved being home with her each day. I always said I could never be a stay-at-home mom. I'm still certain that is not the path meant for me, but I am 100% sure I will miss my baby girl all day long.

Randall said he thinks about Sydney 45 minutes out of every hour that he is at work.

It's amazing how a little person can forever change you and your priorities. It is the best gift, and my hope for every person who wishes to be a parent is that their dream comes true.

Here is a picture of our first kiss. Here's to a lifetime of kisses!

Splish Splash

We have figured out the key to happy baths: lots of splashing the water around her! She loves it. Here she is in her bathtub last night. Now, we have to figure out how to avoid screaming when we take her out! One step at a time I guess :)

Shopping Day

Today, we all ventured out to run a few errands. Sydney was pretty in purple for the outing!
Our first stop was at Hobby Lobby (a craft store for anyone not familiar) because I wanted to make a bow holder for Sydney's room. She got so many adorable bows as gifts, and they were taking up too much room in her dresser. The holders online seemed overpriced, and with the sales at Hobby Lobby, I created this one for the low, low price of $8.
On the way to the register, we saw this adorable piggy bank. It was also a great deal at only $5, and it goes perfectly with her polka dot valance and crib sheet. The little lady has already saved a whopping $12.
We then went to Target and finally to Walmart for groceries. Sydney was such a good girl for all the running around! Now she's napping peacefully with a full belly.

Our little Valentine

Sydney is lucky to have many honorary aunts and uncles that live nearby. This shirt - her first personalized top - was a gift from her Uncle Kenny and Aunt Amanda. It's perfect for Valentine's Day, and she'll be able to wear it a lot in the coming months! Her jeans also have hearts on the back pockets and her socks have hearts on the cuffs. She's all full of love today.

Nap time = Productivity

During Sydney's long afternoon nap, I tackled a project I've been wanting to get started on for awhile: cleaning out all of my clothes. My boss did this recently and she sounded so happy talking about it, I decided it was worth doing. My criteria for putting things in the donate/throw out piles were:

#1 It's out of style. Plain and simple, I don't like it anymore. Or, I can recall the year I bought it, and it starts with a "19.."
#2 It's too small, and even if it fits again someday, I don't like it. And by the way, it will fit again because I've set a weight loss goal to reach in time for our August cruise vacation. :)
#3 It's too big ... because I will NOT be moving in that direction! Besides, if you're trying to lose weight, the worst thing you can do is swallow yourself in big clothes.

So, it was that simple. Tons of clothes fell into these categories and here is the result. The next step is to bag it all up and drive it away! Maybe I'll tackle shoes tomorrow ;-)

Say Cheese!

Sydney is six weeks old today, and I captured a few of her smiles on video this morning. I say on the footage that today is the 11th, but I'm obviously rushing the week! I apologize for the high-pitched voice...it just happens around sweet little babies.

Super Sunday

We've been enjoying Laura's visit this weekend, who escaped Washington, DC, just before the huge snow hit Friday. Sydney is quite smitten with her! She will leave Tuesday if the weather allows, and it sounds like she'll be going home to even more snow. Laura is due with her little boy in late April, and we're so excited to meet him.
We got Sydney all dressed up for her first Super Bowl party. The bow is big, I know, but it's just too fun putting them on her oh-so-bald head right now! We were able to get a family photo before heading out.
The icing on the cake was the Saints' victory! We were with some friends who are from New Orleans, so the win was extra exciting. We originally thought we'd only make it to half-time, but Sydney was sound asleep at that point, so we stayed until the end. A good time was had by all!

Faces

One of the best things about babies is the entertainment provided by their many facial expressions. These pictures were taken in about 30 seconds, and you can see she goes from silly to serious to mischievous to very happy! We realize this is much more interesting to her parents, but still worth sharing :)

Snow Day

Sydney knows exactly what snow days are for: sleeping a lot and staying cozy. She looks so happy because we haven't lost power! This little smile is something we've seen a lot lately, but can't say it's a "real" smile just yet. It's hard to believe she is a month old!

We had ice and sleet overnight (not happy Randall had to drive to work in it this morning), and the snow has been falling all day. We have all the blinds open and it is so pretty! I can relax a little more once Randall gets home safe and sound this evening.

Grandpa Meets Sydney

Grandpa (Danielle's dad) arrived in Arkansas to meet his granddaughter Tuesday afternoon, and will be leaving tomorrow, Saturday, to head to Florida to visit his folks. The days we've spent together have been great, and he has told several people that Sydney is the easiest baby he's ever seen. This makes mom and dad very happy ;-) We are up to 5-hour stretches of sleep at night, followed by a second stretch of 2-3 hours. We are NOT taking this for granted as we realize most new parents are not this lucky.
Today, we spent a couple of hours walking around Gulley Park; it was a beautiful 60 degrees and sunny today - not typical for January, that's for sure! We took this picture to share with Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Povar as they bought us the stroller and carseat as a baby gift. Here's your gift in action!
Tonight, we ventured out as a family for dinner at a sushi restaurant. Sydney was fast asleep the entire meal and you wouldn't have even known she was there. This was the week of new outings for our little girl! This photo was taken at home after dinner. We're now settling in to watch a movie, and will be taking Grandpa to the airport in the a.m. The next visitor, Laura, is not scheduled to arrive for two weeks, so I think we'll take the company-free time to make some visits to mommy's co-workers on campus and to visit daddy and meet his co-workers, too.

Love letters

Over the next couple of weeks, Randall and I will be asking our family members to write a letter to Sydney. It can be whatever each person wants to write - deep & meaningful life advice, fun stories about themselves and our family, words of wisdom...whatever. The end result will be a bound book of "love letters" from all of Sydney's relatives that we hope will serve as a compass to guide her through life. Randall and I will each write one as well, which will be at the beginning of the book. I think mine will focus on my wishes for her life...happiness I hope she finds and dreams I hope she chases. This idea came to me recently, and I think this exercise could be quite fun for our relatives, and will certainly be meaningful to Sydney for many, many years.

Welcome Grandma!

Grandma Nelson (Danielle's mom) arrived yesterday afternoon to meet her first grandchild. We all rode to the airport for the pick-up, and she sat in the back with Sydney for her first meeting. Randall surprised Mom and me with tickets to Little House on the Prairie the Musical last night, which was a great outing, and a nice little break for mom :)

Grandma was a little nervous at first, not having held an infant in many years, but she quickly fell back into the groove, and was a huge help overnight, giving late night feedings and allowing mom and dad to get a little sleep!

Lotsa Firsts!

Sydney's first nap in the big crib in her nursery - Mama and Daddy only checked on her a thousand times!

First swing time - She's not as wild about the swing as she is the bouncer

First visit to the doctor's office - doc says she is perfect!

First bath - Sydney doesn't love being naked, but we were able to bathe her quickly, and she smelled oh-so-good after

Bright eyes

Sydney slept a good part of the day today (and very little of last night!), but for about an hour she was wide awake in her bouncy seat. She was also wide awake during one of our Skype sessions with family and friends...something that I imagine will be a very regular part of our days.

Welcome home, Sydney

It is January 2, and we are finally home from the hospital with Sydney...settled in watching the Hogs play. Well, not everyone is awake:

We dressed her up in an outfit we selected weeks ago for the big day. Randall specifically requested black patent leather shoes, and wouldn't you know we found them in newborn size! They were too big, but they fulfilled a need for today.

Sydney is such a good eater and she's a sleepy girl too. When she's awake, she is very alert...and she just steals our hearts! Our dog Macy is checking her out, but doesn't seem too concerned with our new family member. Sydney also seemed quite accepting of the barking as she slept in her bouncy seat earlier!