2 months old & a new haircut for mama!

So today is Gigi's 2-month birthday (I totally missed her 1-month birthday, but I was still in quite a haze at that time) so I thought I better do a little post about her today and how much we've loved her last 2 months. She went to the doctor yesterday for a check-up and immunizations (sad face). She is now 10 lbs. even and 22.25 inches long! That is the 75th% for length and 50th% for weight. She has official baby acne, the doctor thought it might be eczema but on closer inspection found little blackheads. I was told to get some Eucerin cream or Aquaphor and put it on her face to help but she comes by it naturally, sorry Gigi!
*She is making eye contact all the time, loves to give us big, dimpled grins, and makes the cutest cooing sounds.
*She loves to suck on her pacifier but if that's not around her fists are right up in her mouth immediately, even just after eating.
*She is getting very interested in the things around her. Some of her favorite things to stare at are: the blinds, our shiny silver bedroom ceiling fan, and the little bugs & bears on the mobiles in her crib and bassinet.
*She is NOT a fan of the dogs licking her.
*She sleeps regularly for usually about 5 hours at night and then wakes up to eat every 3 hours throughout the rest of the day.
*She has always taken a bottle easily since we introduced her to it at about 2 weeks.
*She is so strong & loves to move. She squirms and kicks her legs all the time when she's awake
*One of my favorite things is when she's breastfeeding, sometimes Roscoe is laying by my side and she rests her foot on his back and moves it back and forth softly in his fur.
*She cries a LOT less than she did during the first 6 weeks.
*She loves to swing. Thank heavens for automatic swings!
*She is usually really good when we're out running errands too as long as we keep things moving. Occassionally, she's gotten cranky in a check-out line, but who hasn't?
*She's brought so much joy into our lives.

Happy 2-month birthday Gigi!

This is my new haircut I just got today. I love it and hope that I will be able to do it.

Front view of new 'do. The stylist is Chelsey Pugh at Cottage Retreat Day Spa, she's the best, thanks Chelsey!

This morning Gigi fell asleep watching Ghostbusters with Eric. I love her little puckered lips!

She was being so cute and smiley a couple of days ago that I just kept taking pictures and these are my favorites. (The one above and three below)

Dimples!

Excited!

Just cute, even with acne!

Gigi, her cousin Benson and her new friend Ryder at a BBQ at my house last Friday. All three babies were born within 2 weeks of each other.

Gigi's first kiss from a non-related boy! My friend's little boy kept giving Gigi kisses. He's going in for it here and Gigi, like a proper girl knows to close her eyes when receiving a kiss. But I do need to teach her to close her mouth! No open-mouthed kisses!

It's official: Lil' girl looks like papa!

Everyone kept asking me, who's baby pictures does Gwyneth look like? Well, I knew she didn't really look like me because I had the hair of an Indian baby and was so chubby, my brothers and sisters called me "chunk" as a nickname. So I always said, I think she looks like a mixture, she must have her own look. Well, I finally got Eric to dig his baby photos out of his parents basement and it only took one look to prove the she is 100% him! Poor Eric is really saddened by this revelation. He said the sweetest thing to me when he said, "I was trying to make another you in the world. But I guess there can only be one!" I love him so much so I'm happy we made a little girl version of him. I hope she has his sense of humor too! Don't you love Eric's scrapbooking skills? I don't know how long ago he made these pages but I'm pretty sure they'd be the same if he made them today. Some of the pictures I couldn't use because he cut them into cute shapes like hearts but ended up cutting out his face, or at least the majority of it. Yes, I am making fun of you Eric, but I guess I'd be worried if you were a better scrapbooker than I. Its like that one "According to Jim" episode where she beats him at racquetball but then its revealed that she cheated and when all is said and done he says to her, "You could've married a guy who you could beat at racquetball everytime, but would you have married that guy?" To which her reply is, "I guess not." I wouldn't have married the guy who could scrapbook beautifully either!

Gigi's current events

Gigi went to church for the first time on Sunday. I think she had a pretty good time. She ate during Relief Society and was almost perfect through Sunday school, then Eric got to take full privileges of being a daddy to walk her around the halls during Sacrament.

perfect angel... or plotting revenge?

She's starting to actually notice that she has toys.

She's smiling all the time! Especially after she gets her diaper changed and is fed!

Believe it or not, she snapped this one of herself!

Thank heavens for hotslings. I love this little contraption and Gigi does too!

Gwyneth rolls over!

Yeah for baby Gigi! Can you tell we're first timers with this kinda stuff?

Eric's graduation BBQ

Just wanted to post some of the pictures from Eric's BBQ which was a huge success! Perfect weather (good thing we didn't wait until June, eh?) and a great turnout. Thanks to everyone for coming and pitching in with the food and drinks. Most of all, thanks to Eric for graduating! I'm proud of you and all the work you put into getting your degree. Now one more year for the Masters.

He deserves some rest!

Gigi Rockin' out of the Womb

I was looking through my pictures and found this. I was shocked to see it but it has to be true. She was always doing hard kicks in the womb. Who knew she was just playing sweet tunes? Our little Rock N' Roll Goddess.

Fun pics of Gwyneth's first 3 weeks

If Eric could dress her, this is what she'd wear everyday! Actually she had a really cute outfit on, but she pooped her pants!

Eric feeding her.

Post bathtime shock.

She looks a LOT bigger than Benson in this picture but his legs were really scrunched up. She is a bit chubbier though!

Just chillin'!

She only cried during her first bath at home, since then she has enjoyed her bathtime.

One of her favorite things to do... spit out her pacifier and cry!

But then she eventually does this... so peaceful!

Newborn photography

I just had Gwyneth's newborn pictures taken by my friend Wendy Anderson and there's a sneak preview on her blog wendyandersonphotography.blogspot.com. There's also pictures of Benson on her blog too! Here's the link to Benson's pictures. She is a great photographer, I'm so excited with the way they are turning out. If you are looking for a photographer that isn't crazy expensive and she gives you the digital copies on a CD, check out her blog, she does other stuff besides newborns too! Thanks Wendy!!

Announcing Benson J? Billingsley!

Congratulations to the Billingsley family for their newest addition! Gwynnie would like to welcome her newest cousin to the world! He is just 8 days younger than her, and measured almost exactly the same as she did at 7 lbs. 10 oz and 20.5 in long. (I put a question mark by the name because I don't know if that's what it ended up as for sure.)

Announcing Gwyneth Breann

Our baby girl Gwyneth arrived Monday, April 27 at 11:47 PM. Weighing 7 lbs. 9.5 oz. and measuring 20.5 inches long. The whole family is healthy and doing well.

This was taken the day before Gwynnie was born. Its hard to believe she was crammed in there!

After 2 very short, but very intense hours of labor here is the new addition to our family!

Sweet little angel! This outfit is already a little tighter than it was when she wore it here at 1 day old! This is because she eats like a champ!


Eric's first diaper change resulted in her carrier being soaked with pee & a little poop too! He's come a long way since then!
The welcoming committee! I'm not sure why everyone is laughing but I'm sure its got to be either because Gwynnie passed gas or over something Eric said.

After Gwynnie's first bath at home her hair stuck straight out like a little baby chick. She's our whole world now in every way. Life does revolve around her and I've never been so tired in all my life. This is definitely the hardest thing I've ever done but I can't imagine life without her. Thank you for blessing our family little baby Gigi!

Nesting

I can't exactly say that the time has flown by since my last post. In fact, I'm not sure time has gone so slowly since I was a kid waiting for Christmas but now I am finally nearing the end of this pregnancy and am very excited, one might say its like Christmas Eve around here! I've definitely noticed the whole "nesting" thing happening. I think I really started getting the urge around the 36th week but still didn't feel like I had enough energy while I was working full-time. This week has been my first week of part-time work until the baby comes so I worked Monday & Wednesday then Tuesday, I nested like a mad woman! I really wish I had taken before photos of everything I did but, I not only got the nursery nearly-done, I also organized about every closet in the house. Oh and on Saturday, I mopped the floors! Now, not to sound like a disgusting pig or anything because I vacuum the floors often and "spot mop" often, but for me to get out the mop & bucket, move the furniture and thoroughly mop, takes a LOT of motivation and probably happened last about 6 months ago! This nesting thing is pretty awesome because I have been getting a lot of things that I normally just brush aside done! I just need to finish decorating the nursery and I can officially say that it is done!

As for Gwyneth, or baby Gigi, she is still moving around apparently just getting fat and growing hair. She is head down and getting ready to be born but hasn't quite made the final decision to, in fact, be born. Eric has been trying everything from driving over bumps in the car to reverse psychology in telling Gigi, "You don't really want to be born because it is so boring out here" but so far she has seemed oblivious! We've been eating spicy foods, going for walks and you know, the whole "hugs before drugs" intimacy thing. If I haven't had her by next week I really think I am going to make an appointment with an acupressurist and try some reflexology but I'm not that desperate... yet! I am only 38 weeks after all so I can wait a little bit longer. May as well take advantage of my nesting time while I have it, right?

Oh, I am also still reading my Hypnobirthing book, gotta get those techniques/philosophies down and a book my neighbor loaned me called "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child". So far, I've been pretty impressed with this book, I think I'd recommend it to anyone with young children. It's not so much a strict regimen of "this is how you need to put your child to sleep and when you need to do it", as an educational guide on the importance of adequate sleep, especially in children, helping you recognize signs of children not getting enough sleep, teaching you about the connection between sleep, hormones, and the mind and setting forth simple suggestions to remedy problems and establish a healthy sleep pattern. It discourages several popular beliefs that I've heard like always waking baby up after feedings so I don't put her down sleeping and some other things I'd heard too, but then teaches you why this isn't important and backs it up with scientific research.

Here's some pictures of our efforts over the last few weeks.

This is just after we'd painted the nursery. "Sage sweater" green with white accents. You'd think painting and caulking the molding and such would've been enough to put me into labor!Eric got this closet organizer with shelves at Home Depot and installed it, you can only see less than half of it but it is great!

Here's the crib and bedding!
Another point of view of the crib and bedding!
The nursery, yeah, its almost done and at least done enough for Gwyn to arrive!
The hall closet that I bought these containers to organize everything in. It seriously made a HUGE difference but I was thoughtless and didn't take any before photos.
Oh and Eric made this Entertainment center a couple of months ago and I've been meaning to blog about it for awhile now but he is an exceptional wood worker! Its not quite finished yet, there will be handles added to the drawers at the bottom and glass doors to the TV stand part but I love having bookshelves. This is my next thing to get to reorganizing though! I'm so not happy with the way it looks but Eric just threw everything onto the shelves, with the exception of a few that I actually did organize!
Eme loves to visit, especially after one of my baby showers when I had this big box for her to play in. She is so adorable! I don't know if I am the exception or what but I love that she will almost always come sit on my lap and snuggle with me, especially at church. She is such a little sweetie.

This was about a month ago after my last baby shower and we were trying to get everything put away... hey, its finally done!