1 I love laundry

I never thought the day would come when I would consider waking up at 6:30 a.m. "sleeping in." But here it is, and it feels GREAT! Leighton has been waking up around 4/5 a.m. to eat, but this morning she slept later and for the first time in a while, I actually feel rested! Thanks, baby!

Last night I put Leighton in this sweet little onesie before Chad came home from work so she would look cute for him. Well she had none of that! I fed her, and within 30 minutes, Leighton the tornado took out the following items with her spitup and/or blowout in her diaper:
1 onesie
1 shirt
2 swaddle blankets
2 bibs
4 burp cloths
1 changing pad cover
My sanity

I went from happy "let's get ready for daddy to come home" to slightly weepy and exhausted. Thankfully, Chad took over the second he walked in the door and I took a bubble bath and went to bed. We'll try getting dressed up for him again tonight and hopefully it'll go better.

By the way, I just have to say, Chad is THE BEST DADDY and husband. I wasn't sure what to expect after the baby arrived, but Chad has far surpassed any expectations I had as far as him helping out. He is 100% involved with Leighton and happily takes on 50% of the work with her. Pretty much when he gets home from work, he takes care of Leighton until about 1 or 2 in the morning. I pump breastmilk during the day so he can feed her at night and I get a break. He is awesome and so understanding of my mental state by the end of the day. I'm a lucky dog for marrying him. Sorry suckas, he's all mine!

0 Lovely day

Well today I finally decided to get out of the house and take Leighton on a stroll around the neighborhood. It was fun! Ok, she slept the whole time, but it was nice to get out in this nice weather. Our doctor has told us not to take Leighton out just yet, so I have been feeling pretty trapped at the house. So this was a nice escape.

Here's a picture of her before our walk. I think she's looking bigger!




Yesterday our good friend Amy was in town from Austin and she came by to see Leighton, and then the two of us went to lunch. I had a GREAT time. It was SO fun to hang out with someone who didn't need me to change her diaper:)We went to Shade, this delicious place here in Houston, and I proceeded to stuff my face. I came home very rested, relaxed, and giddy. Thanks for going to lunch with me, Amy. I had so much fun! (Note to reader: please remember that in addition to just having a baby, I was on bed rest for 5 months before that, so I've been locked up in this house for a long, long time. So you might be noticing that I get overly excited anytime I leave the house, using ALL CAPS and exclamation points to show my enthusiasm.)

1 A visit from Uncle Brad!

My brother Brad came to visit Friday and stayed until Saturday night. We had so much fun and Leighton had fun spending time with her uncle. I gave Brad a Baby crash course when he arrived on burping, feeding, and diaper changes. He caught on fast and was ON IT his whole stay. He might have changed more diapers than I did. And I'm proud to report she had no leaks! So he did a great job. We took Leighton for a stroll around the neighborhood Friday. I have two things to report from that: I am EXTREMELY out of shape because the 20-minute walk pretty much did me in for the night, and I'm EXTREMELY pale. Both can be blamed on all that bed rest. But wow! Brad said he'd never seen me so WHITE. Guess I need a lot more fresh air!

Saturday was Brad's 36th birthday and we are so glad he spent it with us. The BIG excitement Saturday was that we had someone come watch the baby while we went out to dinner! Jay and Tonya Foulkrod, who have 4 little girls themselves, came over and stayed with Leighton and the three of us went out to celebrate Brad's birthday. Thank you Jay and Tonya! We owe you big time! It was so much fun to get out of the house. Although getting dressed was a little traumatic--I don't quite fit into my old clothes but maternity clothes look ridiculous on me too. I've been wearing maternity yoga pants pretty much since she was born, so it was a sad sight of me in my closet getting dressed for the evening. However, I still managed to have a great time. We all had sangria at dinner and it was DELICIOUS! I think Leighton liked it as well because after I fed her at 9 last night, she slept until 4 in the morning. We may have to keep the sangria flowing!

Anyway, thank you to the Foulkrods for being SO sweet to come over and watch Leighton. We were so comfortable leaving her with them. And thank you to Brad for coming to visit! She sure loves her uncle! Word on the street is Uncle Matt is next in line to visit. Let's hope!

This picture cracks me up. It looks like Leighton is learning the dance from Thriller!

2 Spitting up

Today has been a day full of spitup. Some days are better than others, and today is one of the not so good days. But it is such a challenge to try to figure out ways to avoid the spitup...none of them really work. But it does make the day go faster (as if it doesn't go by fast already), thinking of ways to mix up feedings so she doesn't spit up afterwards.

Uncle Brad just called and he may be coming to Houston tomorrow or Sunday for a quick visit. And by quick, I mean 24 hours. Leighton is so excited! He hasn't seen her since the night she was born, so I'm excited for him to come back. I think Leighton looks like Brad when he was a baby, and he and my mom agree. There's even a baby picture of him that's the spitting image of Leighton. So I feel like they already have a special bond. I'll definitely post pics if he comes to visit.

Here's a cute pic I took the other morning...I ran to the grocery store early and Chad watched Leighton while I was gone. I came back to find them snuggling in bed! So sweet!

0 1 month, 1 pound

So Leighton is now a month old and she went to the doctor today for her 1-month checkup. She now weighs 6 pounds, 8 ounces! 1 whole pound more than she did the day she was born. Her doctor is very pleased with her weight gain. So at least we know she is getting enough to eat. The doctor said she was beautiful, which we already knew:) She got a shot today. The picture below looks like it was terribly painful, but she only cried right when it went in her leg and then she stopped. The nurse said lots of NICU babies do well with shots because they are so used to being poked and prodded. So another silver lining to the NICU!

She doesn't have to go back for another month. So...things are just rolling along. Oh--the past three nights Leighton has slept in 5-6 hour stretches. Let's hope she keeps that up and it's not just a freak accident! Maybe Chad and I have FINALLY caught a break in this whole baby business. Not easy getting pregnant, not an easy pregnancy, but an easy BABY! We'll take it!

2 First real bath!

We gave Leighton her first real bath in her baby tub tonight and she was SO good. No crying at all. We've given her sponge baths till now, even though her umbilical cord stump fell off while she was still in the hospital. She smells LOVELY, not that she didn't smell lovely before. Here's some pics of the big event!

All clean!

0 Thank you, inventor of this swing!

This is one of Leighton's favorite places to be (I assume). She hasn't directly expressed this to me just yet, but I get the feeling she enjoys herself here. When she's crying, I do the following: swaddle, pacifier, swing. And it works like a charm. Here she is, happy in her swing:


Nonny (Chad's mom) has been here this weekend and it's been so great to have a third set of arms very ready and willing to hold Leighton while we sleep and run errands. Chad and I even went to breakfast this morning with Gordon and Leslie while Nonny stayed with Leighton. Thank you, Nonny!!

Also, a very special HAPPY BIRTHDAY goes out to Mary Louisa Donoghue, who turns 3 today! It's been so much fun watching her grow the past 3 years and I love being her Godmother. We love you, Mary Louisa!

2 What's in a name

So some of you might wonder where Leighton's name came from. Leighton is my dad's first name and my mom's middle name; it was also her father's name, although he spelled it Layton. (Her middle name is spelled Leighton.) So it seemed like the perfect way to honor both my parents. Beth is my middle name, and Elizabeth is my grandmother's middle name, so that's where Leighton's middle name came from.

Why the history lesson? Because I got an adorable Valentine's day card from my dad to Leighton today...and he had addressed it to "Leighton Wier." Himself! Instead of Leighton Ferguson. I had to laugh. I am sure for his entire life the only time he's written Leighton it's been followed by HIS last name. So I've made it a bit more challenging. In any case, I know he won't believe me, so I saved the envelope as proof.

Happy Valentine's day to everyone! I hoped to take a cute pic of the baby and post it, but she's spent the day being miss cranky pants so no pic!


Ok - I stand corrected. Miss cranky pants finally fell asleep and I just took the cutest picture of her and Chad!

0 Cat tested, mother approved

Leighton hasn't really gotten too excited over her playmat yet, but Ferdie sure enjoys it. He loves all the crinkly noises it makes and it's fun watching him set off the music and scare himself. Many times Leighton will be in her swing and he's on her playmat and I'm happy both are occupied!

Here he is helping assist with burping Leighton. What a helpful cat!

We took Leighton yesterday to Texas Children's Hospital for an EKG. (No need to be alarmed; our pediatrician is just being thorough with her sleep apnea and doesn't actually think there is something wrong with her heart. Of course, being a hypochondriac, I'm totally jealous because I would also like an EKG!) She pretty much slept through the whole thing, except at the very end when she decided to make a poopie diaper before we left!

She is so tired of the papparazzi tracking her every move!

0 Elvis has left the building

So I thought I should note that my mom left Friday to go back to San Antonio after being here since the baby was born. Thank you mommy! She was a HUGE help and helped keep us together the past couple of weeks. Needless to say, I cried all day Friday. Last night I even dreamed that she knocked on our door and had come back to stay for a while. Sweet dreams! But I know I have got to do this by myself at some point. Ahem, sorry, WE have to do this by OURSELVES at some point. Chad is a HUGE help and has probably changed just as many diapers as I have.

So today was my first full day at the house by myself with no help. And it went VERY well. I have showered and dressed myself. The baby has been fed and is clean. I've done laundry and dishes. Now that I write it down is seems like a pretty pathetic list of accomplishments, but you moms out there know this is a pretty eventful day! No nap though...I'm having a hard time napping. I have never been a napper and so it's really hard for me to try to become one -- even if I am exhausted. But I'm not too worried about it. At some point, if I'm tired enough, I will cave in and sleep during the day.

Anyway, here's a picture of an ADORABLE rocking chair our good friend Ashley Miles gave us. Leighton's dolls are getting the chair all warmed up for her. It looks SO cute in her nursery. Thank you Ashley!

Time for Leighton's dinner...I will post some more pictures of her tomorrow!

0 Lazy Saturday

Well, not really a lazy Saturday. It feels like I'm constantly doing SOMETHING. I started off the day feeding Leighton and Ferdie jumped up on my lap and just sat down as if he was challenging me to make him move. Which, I didn't. He still rules the world here. I'm happy to report he is adjusting fine to the new baby. He really doesn't pay much attention to her. So we hope he keeps that up!

We decided it was such a pretty day that we should take Leighton on a walk around the neighborhood. So we strapped her in and off we went. We even passed by a lemonade stand while we were out and we bought some lemonade. I felt very all American! Chad and I argued the whole time about who got to push the stroller, so we took turns.

1 Some favorite hospital pics

Here's a couple of my favorite hospital pictures I got from my dad's camera last weekend. This first one cracks me up. Men! Does it look like I want my picture taken here? This was right as we were getting ready to start pushing. I was praying to be knocked out unconscious and gasping for oxygen, and my dad decided to get the moment on film. Chad has the nerve to try to pose with me! Smiling, no less. Nice!

Both my brothers made it to Houston the night Leighton was born. Surprisingly, this is a pretty good picture of the Wier siblings, all things considered. I LOVE this picture of Leighton looking up at me in the NICU!

2 Getting bigger!

We had another good appointment at the doctor yesterday! Leighton now weighs 5 pounds, 15 ounces and is 19 inches long! So we must be doing something right! Once again, Leighton was a good girl for the doctor and didn't cry until they took blood from her foot. It was terribly sad to see her in pain, but it didn't last long and she happily sucked on her pacifier the whole way home! I'm sure she's already forgotten about the whole incident!

This was just a funny picture I took while my mom was changing Leighton's diaper. She seems to be very put out by the whole diaper changing process!

0 Big Leighton visits

Daddy came to visit Leighton this weekend. It's possible he thinks Chad, mom, and I have all lost our minds. We were all running on little sleep when he arrived Friday night and things were a little tense. But we all rebounded Saturday morning and had a fun weekend. And, for the record, I did not find it confusing to have two Leightons in the house. It's pretty clear which Leighton is pooping her diaper, although my dad jokes that someday it may be hard to distinguish that based on that description! Ha!

These pictures of Big Leighton and Little Leighton remind me of that Saturday Night Live skit with Martin Short and the synchonized swimmers..."Hey, you! I know you, I know you!"

Sunday night we went over to Gordon and Leslie's to watch the Super Bowl. Lara and Randy were there with Skylar, and we joked that it was like a daycare. The three kids are all 6 months apart: Gordon is 1, Skylar is 6 months, and Leighton is, of course, newborn. They were all getting bottles and having meltdowns at different intervals. It was a lot of fun, thanks to Gordon's excellent margaritas!

Chad loves to brush Gordon's hair to give him what Leslie calls "the businessman."

Skylar was having fun flirting with all the boys:

Leslie sure loves those newborn babies...

0 You've got mail

Leighton got her very first piece of mail today! Her Social Security Card. It was shocking and fun to see something with her name on it in the mailbox!

Josie, Taylor, and Eleanor Brown came to visit tonight. Taylor, our resident orthopedic surgeon and the guy I call when my hypochondria acts up, checked out what I like to call Leighton's "funky foot." It apparently was a little smushed in my uterus and is bent up a bit. The doctors, including Taylor, say it will work itself out (and already has gotten better since she was born). So that's good news!

Here's Leighton doing yoga's "child's pose" before going to bed. Namaste!

0 Baby Boom

I just wanted to congratulate 3 other very special friends who welcomed babies in the past 2 weeks as well. All 4 of us lived together in college, and 3 of us were all due in February within days of each other. Erin was due January 15, but we ALL ended up having our babies in January! Wild!

So welcome to the world:

David Stafford Donoghue, January 14
Son of Erin and Richard Donoghue and brother to Mary Louisa

Grant William Bomersbach, January 25
Son of Barb and Nick Bomersbach and brother to Ryan

John Keller Fulghum, January 29
Son of Carrie and Bob Fulghum and brother to Rob

It will be fun watching these four kids grow up together! Congratulations you guys!