There is such a thing as Free!!

So once again, my sweetie and I have "cheated" the system of free things.
 
Today at Merle Hey Mall, Panda Express opened and was giving away free meals and drinks. So of course we went for supper. We met Joy, Gary and the Meltoid and waited in line for over an hour.  I had Pheebs in a sling, and when we finally got up to the counter I asked, "so the kid's meal comes with one entree?" "no, it's just normal for today" "oh okay" then I proceeded to get Phoebe a full order of food as well as myself!! Orange Chicken, Beef and Broccoli, Mongolian Chicken, 2 Spring Rolls, 2 orders of Low Mein, and 2 sodas. oh yeah baby! Apparently having a 3 month old eat as much as a grown man isn't strange at all!!
My sweetie and I ended up splitting "Phoebe's portion". So glad we got a third entree! Have I mentioned that I've been STARVING lately? I never feel super full anymore, I can ALWAYS eat more and usually end up finishing up my sweetie's leftovers.  I know I'm eating for myself and Pheebs but seriously! I eat way more than I ever did when I was pregnant, that's for sure!
    Also, my sweetie got another coupon in his email for Free Tropicana Juice at Kum and Go. One per person, per visit....so my sweetie and I being the frugalistas that we are, stop at as many Kum and Go's as we can each day.  The sale started Tuesday and ends Sunday. We have 11 in the fridge and each drank one so far. Yesterday, my sweetie walked in the door carrying 5.....it was hilarious!  We're saving them up for our trip next weekend to Kentucky. Each 12 oz bottle is 1.89 retail. that means that so far we've received 24.57 worth of juice (not including tax).  It's so much fun to find these deals once in a while! They are nice little treats!!

0-3 Months in a FLASH!

So it's been over three months since we brought our baby girl home.
From This:

To This:

What a chunkers! It's crazy how fast time goes by. A part of me feels like I've always been a mom and another part of me wonder's when I'll feel totally confident in my new position. I doubt that will ever happen. Every day it seems like a new challenge arises- I'm so glad that I can pray to my heavenly Father for strength and patience.  For the first couple of weeks of her life I was almost scared to love her too much. Throughout my pregnancy I sinned by worrying constantly.  Every night I'd lay awake praying, sometimes crying, begging God to allow us to take care of the little bundle growing inside me. Proverbs 3:24 was my constant sleeping companion, " When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet".  I just wanted her to be born safely. I just wanted her alive.  I just "knew" something bad would happen to her and didn't want to put my heart out there again just to have it broken. But I prayed that God would give me the strength and courage to love her even more, and He has answered my prayer!
I know that my priorities are first to my God, my sweetie, then my baby.  In that order. God has also blessed me with a wonderful, caring husband who is a fantastic daddy to Pheebs. It's so cute to see them interact together- when he changes her and she's laughing, or when I hear him singing to her- it just melts my heart.  I truly married my best friend!

There have also been so many firsts:

First Bath:

First Play Date:

 First time Playing Dress up (Thanks Grampy D.):

 

 First Swim:

First Mother's Day:

First Father's Day:

First time touching an alligator/at the zoo:

First movie, First over-night trip, First time sleeping through the night.... the list could go on and on. Pretty much her whole life is firsts right now!
 
      She's such a joy to be around.  I love cuddling her or "chuckling" her as Josh Palma says.  I love making her smile and belly laugh.  I love squeezing and kissing every inch of her little body. I love watching her eyes when she sees someone or something new. She loves music and she loves noise. She loves people and I feel like she'll be a talkative little girl! She babbles away when I'm changing her or when she's laying contentedly in her crib. She loves to stand up!! Her little legs are super strong- it makes me wonder if she'll be an early walker. (that's going to be a challenge all it's own =) God has truly blessed us with a happy, easy-going baby!  I can't wait to see what the future holds! I'm glad God only gives us what we can handle- because she is such a hand full! But I wouldn't trade her for the world!!

You know you're a mom when...

 
You turn on your car and kids songs are playing continuely.

The kid sung kid songs don't bother you like they used to- in fact...you almost like them!!

You find pacifers in all your pockets, and even once in her's.

You can change a diaper in 20 seconds flat.


You can do ANYTHING with one hand.

Running into the grocery store for 1 item becomes a chore.

You get dressed according to what spit up will look good on.

Your husband comes home and let's you know that the shirt you've been wearing all day has spit up ALL down the back of it...lovely!

You can rock your baby, talk on the phone, check your e-mail, and watch a tv show all at the same time.

It takes you three times as long to get ready in the morning.

"Dressing up" is putting on a clean t-shirt.

Bottles are covering your counters and taking over your dishwasher.

You think your baby is the cutest thing you've ever seen, and everything she does is entertaining.

Walking through stores you find yourself looking like an idiot because you're making crazy faces and noises at your baby.

You can play with your baby's thighs WAY longer than you ever thought possible.

You lay awake at night thinking about what she'll wear the next day.

You can be having a crummy day and one smile from your baby will make it all better.

Part 6: Going Home!

The next day after a shower, my sweetie grabbed me a large Starbucks. CAFFEINE!!!! It was delicious! We still weren't sure when Phoebe was going to be able to go home. There was talk of her staying through Friday or Saturday (this was on Thursday) or even into the next week! So when the doctor came in and all non-chalantly said "So when she goes home today...."Wait....what?? She can go home today?? AHHHH. I looked from the doctor to my sweetie and back and forth again...tears welled up in my eyes and I don't think he could have said anything that would have made me happier at that moment! So we dressed Pheebs and packed up all of our stuff and signed out as soon as we could. We were so excited to get home with our little girl!!!

 

 Our nurse was great- she helped us get all of our stuff together and  load our van. I prayed for a baby that would like the carseat and God answered my prayers with a little girl who doesn't mind the car rides AT ALL! Such a blessing (especially for an avid garage saler like me!)

Our neighbor Jeff came home right when we did, and he was willing to take some pictures of us entering our house for the first time!

We had a few visitors over the next few days. Gramsy, Joy and Mely,Gwendy,Mindi, Dad Brandt, Gary, Tammy, Robin and Andy, Amanda, and Jess came to visit. There were probably more, but it seems everything was blurrish for the first 3 months week.

The next day I took Pheebs to her pediatrician to make sure everything was still good. It was.  Snuggle time with Daddy is always wonderful!