Little Big Girl

Yesterday I took some photos of our little Cora. I realized that I hadn't taken official 1 month old pictures, so these are what I am using. She was actually 1 month and 6 days old. Doesn't she look so much older? We had so much fun playing yesterday. She was in the best mood (for at least most of the day). Yesterday goes down in my books as my favorite day so far with my little girl. She was just an angel and the pictures prove it.

Last night was also a huge accomplishment for the Little Big Girl. She moved up a size in diapers. I put a size 1 on her for the night to see how it went. She has been in Newborn size for 5 1/2 weeks. The size 1 looked huge on her. She fell asleep around 7:30 and Lee put her to bed at 8:00. She woke me up at 4:00am!!! Talk about a snoozer. Her diaper was very wet, but it wasn't full like her tiny Newborns. I wondered if she was more comfortable in the size 1, so I decided to put a Newborn back on her for the rest of the night. She woke up around 6:30 (only 1 1/2 hours of sleep) and her diaper was full and had leaked a little onto her belly. I made the decision at that moment that she will be wearing her size 1 in the evening and during the night until her Newborn diapers are gone. There are only about 12 Newborns left and then my Little Big Girl will be in size 1 all the time. I am not sure if I am happy or sad. 

Cora has her 6 week checkup on Wednesday. She was supposed to be gaining 1 oz a day for the last 4 weeks. That means she should weigh 8 lbs 12 oz at this doctor appointment. I am excited to see how big she has grown in the last month. I will update on Wednesday or Thursday the progress report.

We're off today to get Cora's passport photos and apply for her Canadian passport. The photos should be fun. 

Cora's  passport photo. I can't stop laughing! She looks like such a cute little monkey.

Announcements!!

Today has been such an exciting day for Cora and me. Cora is patiently waiting for the arrival of her new cousin in June. Well, maybe Lee and I are the anxious ones. We just love our little niece, Mya, and were sooooo excited to find out we were getting another niece or nephew. The results are in.

It's a BOY!!!!!  We're getting a NEPHEW! Michelle and Santo had names already picked out. His name will be MAXON "MAX" TROY. I absolutely adore the name. I helped a wee bit in picking it out. Max will be the first male on the Rogers' side since my Dad and Uncle Mike. I smell a spoiled kid in the future via Grandpa Bill, Daddy Santo, and Uncle Lee.

There will also be the arrival of Baby Buchheit sometime in the near future. My forever friends Lindsey and Dave are expecting their little bundle of joy any day now. 

So many babies for my baby to play with. If only we were all a bit closer. We're here in Edmonton with Mya and Max in Arizona, Baby Buchheit in Iowa, Cousin Amelia in Cali, and Cousins Kaden and Lakelan in Texas. Makes for good vacations I guess. Here are pictures of all the babies!

Mya being a goof ball with her plate. I couldn't resist this picture! I just love it!! (1.5 years old)

Cute-as-a-button Cousin Amelia decked out in Raiders gear. (2.5 years old)

Cousin Kaden pretending he is T-rex at the dinosaur park thing. Too funny! (Almost 3 years old)

Cousin Lakelan being 110% cute. (1 year old)

Tahiti Sweetie

Here is a video  that I am sure the Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunts and Uncles will enjoy. 

Warning!! Cora has a couple bobble head moments in the video. The look worse than they are, but I wanted to clarify no babies were harmed in the making of these videos. :)

This last week, Cora has been spending time getting to know Grandma Jo. I'll be the first to say, Cora has learned more songs and heard more noises than most children do during their entire childhood. Grandma Jo has an endless number of noises that little babies just love. We may have to explain to Cora later that Grandma is not a cartoon character but a real person. :)

I couldn't help but notice how light skinned my little baby Cora and I are in this video. It made me think back to a year ago when I was visiting my niece, sister, and parents. Take a look at my skin color then.

This was right after Antarctica and Lee's and my trip to New Zealand. Isn't it amazing what a year will do? I'll close with a few pictures of our Tahiti Sweetie, Cora Bora.

Cora's Lamb/Bear suit that she wears as her winter coat. Isn't she cute??

Playing with Mommy!

P.S. Can you all believe this little stinker is already 5 weeks old? She is still a pipsqueak. I tried to put real clothes on her today and she still swims in them. We are sticking to the footed sleepers and gowns for a little while longer. She is getting some pudges. I now have a fat role on her thigh to clean when I change her diaper. Say it with me...Awwwww. :)

Porkchop or Lambchop?

Cora is 4 weeks old today. I can't believe how the time has flown by. She has definitely grown quite a bit, but I don't notice it until I look at photos from the past weeks. She is starting to smile. I have to say, she has the biggest, brightest smile. She doesn't smile often in response to me, but when she does it melts my heart. I have to admit, the first time I saw her big smile I cried my

 eyes out. She is just so sweet. 

She is quite the eater. You may be wondering what the heck the title of this post is about. Well, Cora has earned herself a new nickname courtesy of her Daddy. He calls her Porkchop because all she does when she is awake is eat and play, eat and play, eat and play. When this little girl falls asleep though, she doesn't mess around. I, however, this she is too small to be called Porkchop. I vote for Lambchop because she is so small and precious.

The video above was taken yesterday. It is a fairly long, but I had a few requests that a longer video was needed. :) I decided to record her exercises for everyone to see. The first thing on the video is what Lee and I call 'Big Girl'. She is supposed to start putting weight on her legs to build muscle strength. She is really good at it and is already responding to "1-2-3 Big Girl" by stiffening her body. The second part of the video is Tummy Time. She is doing really good at lifting her head up while she is lying on her belly. She is also starting to take interest in her toys. Every once in a while she'll reach out to them. She nearly always responds to the noise of them whether it be looking for where the noise is coming from or just quieting down.

We've been trying out carriers so we can start getting out of the house for short walks when the weather is nice (like today). Hopefully in a couple weeks, I'll be able to start walking without getting sore. It is definitely 100 times better every day. We have a sling that she likes, but I don't like it. It is too small and doesn't cradle her the way it should. I bought it on Craigslist, and I am guessing the lady screwed up making it since she wasn't selling it in a boutique (she normally does). It is also made of a satin like fabric and we were both really hot while we wore it. I took care of the problem by ordering a light weight cotton one on Etsy today. It should be here in a couple weeks! We need to start practicing in our sling as soon as possible so we are ready for the plane ride back to Nebraska in a month.

Speaking of plane rides, we decided Cora's first passport will be a Canadian one. It was too much of a pain in the bum to drive the 3.5 hours to Calgary and sit at the Embassy while we tried to register her birth abroad, get a social security number, and then apply for a passport. We might try to get some of the stuff done when we go to Calgary to catch our plane for the trip home. 

Tomorrow Grandma Jo comes for a week long visit. Cora is very excited to be able to meet her. What a lucky little girl to meet both of her Grandmas in a time span of 3 weeks!

Cora loves her swing. She doesn't sleep in it, but it is great to use to keep her happy while we eat dinner.

Mommy and Cora cuddle time. I can't get enough of her. 

Cora napping after a bath and some yummy food. What a sweetie pie!

That would be our update for now. She has a checkup scheduled in a couple of weeks. I can't wait to see how much she has grown. Over and out (and to bed I go). 

Videos

I thought I'd try out some of my computer skills with these videos. They were taken using our new webcam. The first one is Cora with a good case of the hiccups. She gets them all the time. The second video is Cora with her pacifier. She loves to suck on it when she isn't hungry.

Ooooh, barracuda!

Cora (aka Barracuda) is 2 weeks old today. I can't believe she is soooo old. :) What has happened these last 2 weeks? Well, lets start with Cora. She is one hungry hungry hippo. Lee and I liked to refer to her as Our Hungry Monkey at first, but lately she has become Our Little Barracuda. As soon as she sees the milk factory she becomes a voracious little fish who can't get milk running down her throat quick enough. Why is she so hungry? Am I not feeding her enough? Well, my questions were answered yesterday at the doctor's office. This little booger has went from a starting weight of 6 lbs 15 oz to 7 lbs 4 oz!! She was supposed to be back to her birth weight by 10 days (they lose a bit of weight right at first). She was 13 days old at the doctor's visit and had gained 5 oz. Oink Oink!! Dr. Galante was impressed. He said he is happy with a weight increase of 2-3 oz. She is in the 25th percentile for weight and 50th percentile for length. She is one long, skinny baby. No more need for me to worry that she isn't eating enough. Turns out she loves eating and loves her Mommy's milk!

Mommy and Cora. I just love her.

Our little balled up baby taking a snooze.

Is it just me, or is that one unhappy baby? I think she is done being the stocking sausage.

Rogers' family tradition. Newborn baby pics in the stocking. She is sooo sweet.

Lee has said if we could sell cute by the ounce, we'd be millionaires!

As for Lee and me, we are doing pretty good. I finally started being able to move around better on day 10. Day 14 today and I am feeling way better, but not great. I did too much yesterday and ended up getting a 100 degree temperature. Yuck! Lee is back to work, but taking it easy. He really loves his Cora time. We ventured out with Cora for the first time on last Friday. Yep, we left our warm abode. We had newborn pictures with our little bundle of joy. The plan was to get her sleeping and take bunch of cute pictures. Well, I guess all does not go according to plan. The little booger would not fall asleep. We were there for 4 hours, and she refused to take a nap. Ugh! Needless to say, we are going back tomorrow for a second try. Something tells me we will have a repeat of Friday. She has refused to take a nap during the middle of the day for since last week. She likes to be cuddled and will take cat naps, but as soon as you put her down she cries. Lee and I were looking forward to Grandma Brandis getting here to help put her to sleep for the pictures. But, low and behold, Cora loves sleeping in her arms.

Lee all dressed for work and holding his sweet baby girl.

Lee having cuddle time. His favorite moments are when she sleeps on his chest.

We saw Rosie off on New Years Eve day (Thanks, Cuz. You're the best!) And, speaking of Grandma Brandis... Mom has finally gotten here! I never in my life wanted my mom more than I have the last couple of weeks. Well, she is here (as of Saturday) and life is good. I only need to eat, drink, and feed my little girl. Since Cora likes to eat, we have plenty of Mommy/Daughter cuddle time. Lee cuddles Cora when he wants, but the rest of the time is Grandma/Cora time. Mom even has Cora sleeping in her crib! Lee and I were co-sleeping before Grandma Baby Wrangler got here. Now WE are sleeping like babies. Mom has her down to one big feeding a night and then another big feeding early in the morning (and umpteen zillion feedings during the day). Everyone in the Jeffers' household is doin' good.

Grandma Brandis bonding with little Cora for the first time. It was love at first sight.

Lee converted his shirt to a sling for cuddle time.

Cora's first night in her crib. She did incredibly well!