Wednesday July 25, 2012 - 22 Weeks Old

Today I took Tatum to The Little Gym of Gilbert for a trial class. The class started out like the class at Gymboree and Musicology with the same types of songs but then we got to do all kinds of activities with the Gym equipment. She walked on a balance beam and then I took her through it again on her hand. It's amazing how fast she catches on! I also got to put her hands on a bar while I held her torso and we sort of flipped her up. We didn't go all the way over yet but in the next few month's or so they will. She did some tummy time and played with balls and even rolled over on the mat while we were there! She had a lot of fun and so did I!

Later this afternoon I had to take her to Dr. DaSilva's office to get caught up on her vaccination's. She didn't get all that she was supposed to at her 2 month mark because I didn't want to load her up with all those shots when she was so little. She was supposed to catch up when she was 3 month's but then she got that UTI so the doctor didn't want to give the shots to her then. So, we had to go today to get caught up. I always hate taking her in for vaccination's because it hurts her and I always feel sick to my stomach after. Today she was a lot better then she has been in the past, thankfully. Every time we go she gets better and better. It still makes me so sad to see her get the needles put in because she cries instantly. It hurts my heart for her. I guess it's a Mom thing.

Tatum is laughing more and more all the time. She did the funniest thing tonight. She was fussy when I was feeding her the last bottle of the night and all of a sudden in the middle of feeding her, she stops eating, looks at me and started cracking up! She just kept laughing at me. It was the cutest thing ever! I have no clue why she was laughing but I absolutely loved it! I just love hearing her cute little laugh. It just makes me laugh. God, I love being a Mom and especially I love being her Mom. She is THE BEST!!!

Soooo cute in her jammies and socks that we call her "MJ's"…Mary Jane's!! :)

Rolling on the mat at The Little gym

 Tatum had so much fun and so did I!

Just playing with the balls!

Us being silly :)

Monday July 23, 2012 - 5 Month's Old Today!!

Tatum is 5 month's old today! I cannot believe it. Time is sure flying by. It really is bittersweet. On one hand I get so excited at every milestone she hits because she is growing bigger, stronger and maturing. On the other hand I want her to stay small and remain my little baby that needs me. She is making such great progress that it's hard to believe that she was a premature baby. We still haven't had to "adjust" for her age. She is doing so well and we could not be more proud of her! This past week she has really started laughing. I mean the super cute baby laugh. I absolutely love it and could not wait for that to happen and here it finally is! She has started rolling over more and more and has also started to push up on her knees a little when she is on her tummy. She desperately wants to start moving around and I just know she will be crawling soon! When she's on her tummy she starts thrusting herself forward and rotates around. It's so cute. Today in her Musicology class, she was really great at reaching for the ball and grabbing it. It was a huge deal for her to do that!

Yesterday we gave Tatum her first taste of cereal! This is another huge milestone. The look on her face was so cute! She wasn't sure of it at first but after awhile she got the hang of it. Today when we fed her, she was opening her mouth for the spoon really well. She really loved it today! I am so proud of all her accomplishments. I just cannot believe how well she is doing and how fast she is growing! Speaking of growing, her hair is finally growing too! It is definitely brown and it's starting to stick up a little on the left side. It is too cute. Her eyes are also starting to really soften into a really beautiful blue color. We knew she was going to have blue eyes because we both do but it's so fun to see what shade they will end up.

Sunday July 15, 2012

Today marks one year since we found out that we were expecting Tatum Elizabeth!! I can still remember that day so clear. I wasn't going to test because it was supposed to be too early to tell if I was pregnant after my IUI but I was just too excited that morning. I think something in me just knew that I was and I couldn't wait any more. I remember taking the test and setting it on the counter in the bathroom and walking away for the 3 minutes it would take to process. I kept busy for those 3 minutes but I just glanced at it and could not believe my eyes when I saw 2 RED LINES!!! This meant I was pregnant!!!!!! I thought perhaps I was seeing it wrong because I just could not believe it!!! I just remember saying over and over, "oh my God, there's 2 lines" and then screaming it over and over and crying my eyes out. I was soooo excited and just was in complete shock. I called Rich immediately to tell him and all I could say was "there's 2 lines!!!!" while I was crying. He, of course had no clue what I was talking about. I told him through tears that I was pregnant and he didn't believe me! He thought that maybe I was mis-interpreting the test or something. I think he was just in disbelief like I was and didn't want to believe it unless we were 100% certain. I met him for lunch at Habit Burger and brought the test. He still wouldn't believe it yet but I knew….I WAS PREGNANT!!!!!! After all we went through, it was actually happening. It was so amazing and IT IS AMAZING!! We love this little baby girl so much and we still can't believe she is here and that she is ours. We are so lucky and so blessed. We love her so very much!!!

Friday July 13, 2012 - 20 Weeks Old

Today we took Tatum to her first Gymboree class. It was a blast! They do some similar things that we do in Musicology class but they also incorporate some play items in too. They had big rolls to balance on, teeter-totter's, etc. for the babies to play on. Tatum had a lot of fun and so did Rich and I! :)

This week Tatum has really been responding when I kiss her mouth. She is sooooo cute!! She has been grabbing my face and really trying to kiss me back! I just love it. She is developing the most adorable personality. She constantly amazes me with the funny things she does. She's always changing and growing. She laughs now and is starting to really recognize Rich and I when we speak. I see her turning her head toward us when we come into the room now. It is so awesome!!

Saturday July 7, 2012 - 19 Weeks Old

It's been a really fun week with Tatum. On Tuesday I took her to her first movie. AMC Theatre has a "Bring Your Baby" to the movies day once a month and this month the movie is Rock of Ages. It was a great movie and she did really well. She didn't cry at all and part of the time she sat in my lap and watched the screen. It was too cute!

Wednesday was the 4th of July and we had some family and friends over for a barbeque. It was the first time that we have had a group of people over for a party since Tatum was born. We had burgers and hotdogs and I had a super cute outfit for Tatum, of course. We didn't see any fireworks this year but maybe next year Tatum will be old enough to see them and have fun with them? I hope so!

On Thursday Rich came with us to swimming class and took some pictures of Tatum and I. The instructor took her under the water 3 times! It was the first time she had ever done that and she did so well! She wasn't bothered by it at all. I'm so proud of her. We also went to lunch with a new Mom's group for babies of first time Mom's in the East Valley that have been born this year. The ladies were all really nice and it's so great to meet other new mom's with babies around the same age as Tatum. Hopefully we will become good friend's.

Today we went to her first birthday party for my friend Kristen's baby, Jake. He turned one year old. It was a fun day and Tatum did really well there too.

It was a super busy but fun-filled week. Here are some pictures from the festivities!