wonderful weekend

We enjoyed a very nice three-day weekend as Brett took yesterday off work. Saturday we went to Ridgedale, stopped by to visit my parents, and Saturday evening we attended our annual small group Christmas party. Now that every couple in the group has children, we all agreed we would rather eat out and have someone else do the cooking and cleaning rather than bring food/make a big meal ourselves this year. Afterward, we went to one of the couple's homes and exchanged white elephant gifts and ate cookies. No one took pictures, unfortunately, so you will just have to take my word for it. Haha!

Sunday we lounged around and went to church in the evening. My mom, sister, and brother-in-law were working in the nursery last night, so it was nice to have extra peace of mind that family were taking care of her. She was one of 5 little girls (and no boys at all). My mom said Stella enjoyed watching the older girls walking around and playing. She just loves kids and other babies.

Yesterday was Stella's 6-month checkup. She was a little ham during the appointment and talking and saying "Mama" and "Ba". For the first time, she repeated "Mama" after I said it to her. We have been saying "Mama", "Dada" and "Baba" a lot to her in the hopes she will repeat. When the nurse took her to weigh her, she put her hand on her face. It was so cute. Stella now weighs 15 pounds and 15 ounces and she measures 26 and three-fourths inches long. She is in the 50% for weight and 75-90% for length. She had four shots, including the flu shot. She cried pretty hard, but not as long as last time. When we got home, she slept for nearly 3 hours and was ready to go to bed by 6:15. I can hear her just now waking up and it's 7:20.

Per the nurse's recommendation, we gave her a warm bath to soothe her leg muscles because of the shots. She was having a great time kicking and splashing in the water.

We talked about solid foods with the pediatrician. He said to keep trying to feed her the rice cereal and to mix some applesauce with it since she hates the taste. He said one of the reasons they need some kind of cereal is because their iron stores are starting to run out (babies begin to run out of iron that they get from their mothers during the time spent in vitro). When discussing sleep, I told him that she sleeps 12 hours a night, and he said, "Well, you have it made!" We feel so blessed that Stella has been sleeping through the night since two and a half months old (with a few hiccups along the way). We hope that any other children we may have would follow suit!

The mild weather has been nice because we don't have to bundle up Stella as much, but I must admit it's hard to get into the Christmas spirit with no snow on the ground. Maybe once I accomplish some more Christmas gift shopping and bake cookies with my sister, mom, and sister-in-law this weekend, I will feel less bah humbug. A little snow would help, too. Emphasis on little. Last winter was CRAZY with the record-breaking snowfalls. 

I hope everyone is staying healthy during this season and feeling more Christmasy than I am.