Sleepover

Sydney had her first overnight away from home, so Randall and I could attend a work event in Little Rock. She had a great time with Kenny & Amanda!! They even made up songs just for Sydney and serenaded her with the guitar :) I appreciate the last picture of all the stuff we had to take to their house just for one night. We had our friends over for dinner last night as a "thank you" for babysitting. I'm glad it went well, and I'm sure this will be one of many sleepovers at the Barnes' house!

Rubber Duckie (or Dinosaur)

We figure you can only embarrass your kids until a certain age, so why not have fun with it? Randall says her tub isn't big enough for this many toys. I think he's crazy :)

We first heard our baby laugh March 5, 2010, and have failed to catch it on video until now. It seemed every time we ran for the camera, she stopped finding anything funny! Here she is this afternoon, cracking up at here daddy!

Sunshiny Day on Campus

Sydney's Uncle Evan & Aunt Sylvia got into town yesterday after the LONG drive from Virginia! We spent today walking around campus and I think they are smitten with our little gal. Today was absolutely beautiful and we are worn out from the day. Tomorrow I'm going to give them a few ideas of things they can do, and on Tuesday they are going to keep Sydney for the day. It will give my brother a great taste of parenthood. He did give her a bottle today which was a big step :)

We also found my name on Senior Walk from earning my master's last year. The University of Arkansas is unique in that every graduate's name is on the sidewalk around campus. They are just starting on 2009 grads, and mine was already there. Very exciting for me! I plan to do a rubbing of my name and get it framed.

Sacrifices

When we were pregnant, everyone told us about all the sacrifices you have to make as parents. They were right ... sort of. We certainly do watch our pennies more closely and are more mindful of our spending in general so that Sydney can have the best. We don't go to a movie every weekend anymore, and we eat the majority of our meals at home. But these decisions don't feel like sacrifices at all. In fact, it's so nice knowing we're not being wasteful, our money is going to things we really care about and our baby girl is well taken care of.

Sydney is three months old today, and it's hard to believe it! Right now, Sydney...

• giggles a lot
• has been sleeping through the night for two months already (9 1/2 hours last night!)
• takes in her surroundings
• looks very serious a lot of the time
• is wearing 0-3 mo. clothes (a few 3-6 mo. things)
• does not enjoy "tummy time"
• loves bath time
• doesn't care too much about baby toys
• has great head control
  
• knows her mommy & daddy
• loves her teacher, Jan, and flirts with the boys in her class
  

If all these joys in our life require a few so-called "sacrifices"....sign me up!

Swaddle Loving Lady

Sydney is such a swaddle-lover. She naps in her swaddle blankets and sleeps all night (7-9 hours, woohoo!) swaddled up like a little cuddle bug. Blankets don't hold her, but thankfully, there are fabulous velcro swaddlers that are stronger than she is right now. Just this weekend, she graduated into the next size swaddle. I have no idea what we're going to do when she outgrows those. I assume at some point she won't enjoy restricted sleeping (or at least I hope!). Here's a photo of her just after her nap earlier today. Randall is holding her in a very Simba/Lion King-like way. She is definitely the queen of our little kingdom ;-)
Friday night, we had dinner with friends, and Sydney got to meet our friends' little girl, Karleigh (below). She is two months older than Sydney and does not enjoy being restricted at all. She is so adorable and is constantly moving! We hope to see her again soon.

School Days Begin!

Sydney had a great first day at daycare. She is attending the local Montessori School, and we love so many things about it --- low baby to teacher ratio, good location, lots of focus on enrichment, convenient hours. It's an all-around great choice for our family. Here are a few pictures from her first day. And you get to meet her teacher, Jan. I think they became fast friends, and our report from the day is that she was very happy, ate well, napped well and played a lot. She is "quite the observer," Jan said, which we already knew. Jan is a grandmother, and has worked in Montessori for many years. I feel like I've known her forever.
A few babies are in transition right now to the next classroom (for crawlers) but starting soon, Sydney will be sharing her classroom with Tristan, Reese and Addy...three girls to gang up on one poor little boy!

1st Day of Spring, my foot!

So much for birds chirping and the sun shining on the first day of spring! Here's what the day looks like in northwest Arkansas.
Regardless of the winter weather, we've been having lots of fun indoors! This baby sure has seen a lot of snow during her few weeks of life :) But I think she likes it.

March Madness

This month has been a busy one already! On St. Patrick's Day, Sydney wore a little outfit Grandma sent her from Virginia ... we were glad we got one photo of her before she spit up all over it and we had to move on to another green outfit :) Amanda and Kenny spent the evening with us, and none of us needed to be pinched.
Last Sunday, Randall's father spent the day with us. Here are a few pictures from that day:Sydney was pretty in pink all day (with one outfit change mid-day) ... and the excitement wore her out!Last weekend, we also went to our friend Erin's 30th birthday party. It had an 80s theme, and we had fun getting ready!! Amanda and Kenny were Sue Ellen and JR from Dallas, and the birthday girl and her hubby, Aaron, looked totally awesome! It was fun spending the evening with lots of great friends.

Baby Mullet

The only time you can get away with a mullet is when you have zero control over your hair growth! Here's our baby girl and her baby mullet. Business in the front, party in the back!
Today was Sydney's two month doctor's appointment and she weighs 11 lbs. 1 oz. and is 23 inches long. She's right at the 50th percentile for weight and 60th for height. We got a big laugh over her 80th percentile head measurement!! Randall said she had no hope for a small noggin :) Here she is relaxing on her daddy after the appointment. She still looks a little confused about those needles the nurses stuck in her leg!

Oscar Night

If you're my child, you will likely be forced to watch Miss America every year, and you will probably have to watch most awards shows (at least the Grammys and Oscars)! Last night was the Oscars, and although Sydney slept through part of it, I think she learned to appreciate the glamor and why her mommy gets so excited. The fact that her daddy likes these shows too is a bonus.

Here are my two best-dressed choices. Sandra Bullock was the picture of class and very old Hollywood. Gabourey Sidibe looked very appropriate given the challenges I'm sure she finds with her size. The blue was a great color on her.
And for my worst dressed ... Miley Cyrus' dress was OK from the waist down. I didn't like the top, and I mostly hated her posture. Stand up straight! I also didn't care for Zoe Saldana from Avatar. She's beautiful, but there was too much going on for my more classic taste.
If Sydney ever winds up walking down a red carpet, I hope she will invite me to go as her guest and help her choose her dress!

Spring Fun

Finally, the pretty weather has made its way to Fayetteville!
Sydney enjoyed watching a little bit of golf on TV with Daddy Saturday. They cheered for Camilo Villegas in Tiger's absence.
Next, Mommy took Sydney for a long walk around the neighborhood. She was fast asleep 20 seconds into the journey. We snapped a photo before we left.
Saturday was Meme's birthday, and Randall took her out to Outback for dinner. We enjoyed cheesecake later that evening ... the birthday girl's cake of choice. Here they are before dinner.
We all hope this beautiful weather continues! It's so much fun to enjoy the sunshine with our little girl. She's been cooped up long enough. :)

Consignment Finds

This weekend, Randall's mom and I did some shopping at Rhea Lana's, a HUGE children's consignment sale that takes place in Northwest Arkansas every spring and fall. This sale can be really nutty, but you have to be patient and take your time going through everything to find the best deals. We love shopping for Sydney at regular stores, and this sale is a great opportunity to fill in the gaps. I try to buy items that are high-quality brands.

Pictured here are our finds from the sale. All of the clothes and shoes totaled $29, which breaks down to an average of $2.23/item! I did pay full-price for the headband/bow from a vendor at the sale ... it was too cute not to get. And Meme bought Sydney a few more baby headbands in colors she was needing from the same vendor (I use "need" loosely, of course!). Most of the items will be perfect for summertime. At the next sale in September, I'll be on the lookout for fall/winter items.

Babysitting $$$

I love reading the articles on babycenter.com. I typically walk away with at least one or two new ideas, and I can always find answers to my silly little questions. Today, I was interested to see an article discussing babysitting fees. Before we hired our first babysitter a couple of weeks ago, we asked around for the average charge per hour, and found that in this area it was $10/hour for one child. Randall and I agreed that was fine, and if we ever needed to leave Sydney with someone for an entire day or large block of time, we would agree on a flat rate rather than the hourly rate.

I was very surprised to see that according to a poll on the Web site, the majority of moms said they pay $4-6/hour for one child, and the second most popular range was $7-9/hour. Our range, $10-12/hour, came in third. If I recall correctly, my mom was paying $4-6/hour when I was little, 20+ years ago. Maybe those families' babysitters need to find new business!

What's the lesson here? We are lucky to have many great friends in the area who have offered to babysit free of charge! Ha!

Newborn No Longer

It is hard to believe our little baby girl is nine weeks old! Tonight is the fourth night she will sleep in her crib in her own room, and that is going very well. She's sleeping 6 or 6.5 hours overnight. How fortunate are we?!

Her next doctor's appointment is March 10, and I'm excited to find out her length and weight. Our estimates at home are probably way off.

Her smiles are so big, and we've heard a few giggle-like sounds, although we are still waiting for a full-on laugh. There's always something new happening in our house, thanks to Sydney!