Category Archives: Mcnugget

I cannot (well I sort of can from everything we have had going on) believe two months have gone by since I have blogged about out sweet little girl. And she has changed so much in those two months, I am not sure I can even remember it all.. it happens too quickly! It seems like she has gone from an infant to a baby in a matter of seconds. From newborn cry to a real baby cry, from a wobbly thing that seemed super breakable to a baby with head control and more durability. I know every mother out there can relate, but man the time just seems to fly by! Next month she will start eating solids, and from what I have heard they start to loose that sweet sweet baby smell… I am trying to savor the smell (Yes, I have even gone in to sniff her while she is sleeping…a little crazy, I know).

Clothes: At 4 months she was still wearing 3 month clothes and pjs. I loved putting her in jackets that matched her outfits while it was still cold enough to do so in the states. She was wearing size 1 diapers. Now, at 5 months, she is wearing 3-6 month and 6 month (with room to grow) clothes and 6 month pjs. It took me a little bit to transistion her to the bigger size (was in a little bit of denial that she was really getting bigger, so I delayed…because she could still wear 3 month stuff), but glad I did because she has so many cute outfits that I want to make sure she gets to wear! In fact I probably put her in 2-3 outfits a day, just so I can make sure she gets to wear them all, yes, she has that many, she was greatly blessed. She is wearing size 2 diapers, they are a little big, but fit better than size 1. 

Sleep: From what I remember, she slept really well at 4 months, sleeping through the night most nights. Which was such a blessing with us traveling so much. The past week she has been waking up anywhere from 1 -4 times in the night! I am wondering if she is teething? She wakes up with her hands in her mouth rubbing her gums. She goes to bed around 9 or 9:30 and wakes up around 7 and then sleeps till 10:30. And then takes one or two more naps during the day for about 30 mins to an hour. We are not a perfect scheduled out schedule yet (as far as consistent nap times), but she is super flexible which is a blessing.

Food: She has been eating every 2 1/2 – 3 hours pretty much everyday for the past two months. And goes anywhere from 5-10 hours at night between feedings. She has about one feeding a day where she gets distracted, doesn’t eat much and/or fusses. Not sure why, but when she is done she is still super happy.

She got her first and only bottle from Chase in January, however, we failed at giving it to her… first, I was in the room watching through tears (it was the first time I hadn’t feed her in 3 1/2 months- big moment) and taking pictures (I know what am I going to be like when she starts kindergarden!), we let my sisters and mom be in the room as well, so she was distracted, she did not like it much at all and cried, but we kept trying (she ate about 1 1/2 oz) and immediately after I nursed her… turns out later I read about how to introduce a bottle and we did all, but having Chase feed it to her wrong! Oops! I am not a fan of pumping (it is just more work for me) and have not stored up much milk, so I am thinking she just won’t ever get a bottle… which I am ok with, I have decided with our life style right now it is just easier for me to feed her (although sometimes it would be nice to be able to be gone for more that 3 hours 😉 ) Better luck with our next kid!

I can’t believe she will start eating solids next month! Any suggestions or favorite foods please share!

Travel: The last two months Liddy bug has been from Dallas to Lamesa to Knott to Lubbock to Albuquerque and back to Dallas (that was month 4), then she flew back to Oman, traveled to Dubai to pick up Aunt Aub & Uncle Nate, to Muscat, to Sohar, to Buramai, and back to Dubai! Wehw! A little traveler she is… We are staying put for a little bit, I want her to learn where home is 🙂

Other: (these are mixed between 4 & 5 months)

*She rolled over from tummy to back at my mom’s house- I was so proud! And now does it every time she is on her tummy, almost without meaning to.

*She giggled at Chase for the first time… I could listen to it all day long. She loves it when Chase rubs her shoulders- she giggles and giggles.

*She puts everything in her mouth, everything.

*She loves TV, every time it is on she is mesmerized… we are in trouble.

*When she is sad in the car, tired/board of traveling I play a photo slideshow from my phone with music and she loves it- its so cute to see how much she loves looking at pics of people that love her so much.

*She loves people… loves to talk, giggle and smile at everyone. Just give her a little attention and you have won her heart.

*The days where we are just the 3 of us at home (without leaving the house or seeing people) she is more fussy…. I think we have a social butterfly on our hands.

*She loves to move… her arms, her legs, her eyes- she blinks really fast when you get close to her face… too cute!

*She has started “talking” a lot more, and loudly.

*She has been grabbing her gums and rubbing them a lot more.

*She went to the beach for the first time in February with Aunt Aub & Uncle Nate- she did great!

*When she is over tired when we put her down at night she stiffens her body and cries and a minute or two and then finally gives in and falls asleep… it’s like she is fighting it, but realizes that maybe she really does what to go to sleep

*She has discovered her pacci- pulls it out of her mouth and puts it back in. She has even made herself cry because she didn’t have her pacci, but it was because she pulled it out!

*She loves her Sophie Giraffe, crinkly clothe blocks, piano play mat, momma’s chew bead necklace, and daddy’s finger (well, anyone’s finger really, but esp. dad’s)

 4 month Stats: (on January 31)- am curious as to what she weighs now…

Weight: 12 lbs 14 oz

Height: 24 inches

Percentile: 40%- weight, 45%- height

Sweet Lydia, 

We love you so much! We have thoroughly enjoyed life with you these past 5 months. We often talk about how you have stolen our hearts, we tear up when we think about you and how much we love you- never knew if was possible to love someone as much as we love you. You light up whenever you see anyone and your eyes sparkle. We pray that your heart would shine for Jesus in the same way. 

love, momma & daddy

Now that Lydia is 3 1/2 months I am finally getting around to posting about her! It has been a wild month full of adventure, new things, people & places. She has been a trouper through it all!

Sleep: She is sleeping an average of 7 hours a night! Once and a while she will wake up once in the night to eat, but goes straight back down. She loves little “cat naps” during the day- 15- 20 min. If we are “home” and have some what of a schedule she will normally sleep for 2 hours in the morning (9-11 isn) and then another hour in the after noon (1 isn) and then sometimes another 2 hours in the late afternoon (3 ish). However, we have hardly had “normal” or been home in the past month, so we don’t always get these long naps in. She sleeps really well in the car while traveling- which is a huge blessing. When she is ready for her nap all we have to do is swaddle her (if we are home), put her pacci in, cradle her, and pat her bottom- then she is out- it is the sweetest thing.

Clothes: She can wear 0-3 month onesies and 3 month bottoms. Her arms & legs are a little long for 3 month one-piece outfits… which is crazy that she would have long anything with us as her parents! She is in size 1 diapers still. PJ’s she is wearing 0-3 month. I am loving putting her in fleece pants and matching hooded jackets! She has yet to wear shoes, I thought I would be a shoe mom cuz they are so darn cute, but they just don’t stay on- so it’s not worth it to me! She started to wear bibs as soon as we got to the states! Classic new mom move, when I was packing for America I didn’t pack any of her bibs because she wasn’t needing them when we left- ha- but of course as soon as we landed she started drooling a ton- like soaking through her clothes & a bib now! They constantly change, its crazy!

Food: She is eating about 6 times a day- 3 hours apart on average. She continues to do really well with nursing. I haven’t given her a bottle yet, mostly because I have not had any extra time to pump. I keep wanting to, but whenever I think about it we are off to the next event. I hope to let Chase give her, her first bottle and then have one ready for my mom so we can go on a date while in Albuquerque… we’ll see.

Travels: We have been all over the place this past month… we landed in Dallas, spent a week there, flew to Lubbock/Lamesa, spent a few days there, drove to Albuquerque, spent a week there, drove back to Lubbock & then flew to Dallas for Christmas, drove back to Lamesa for New Year’s, spent a week there, drove to Lubbock, spent a week there, and then drove to Albuquerque and are here now… WOW! Thats a lot of traveling for a little 3 month old! She has done great, but I think she (and I) is done for now. I am hoping that the 2 weeks we have in Albuquerque will give us some rest to gear back up for the looong flight back to the desert.

Milestones: I have decided to record new things she is doing on the calendar on my phone… I started it at the end of the month, but I hope to keep up with it so I remember the little stuff!

• December 23: Started pulling herself up while holding our hands using her neck & abs
• December 25: Started reaching for her toys & holding on to them
• December 27: Seems like she has started teething! Chase got his first tooth at 2 months… who knows when she will, but she has started to drool a ton, bite on everything, esp her fingers/hands… we’ll see
• December 31: Holds hands above head & arches back when laying down
• January 1: Pushes her body back with her legs when laying on her back
• January 3: Grabbing stuff & putting it directly in her mouth!

Other:

*Lydia got to meet all her grandparents, her aunts & uncles, some great aunts & uncles, all her cousins, & lots of new friends this month! So fun to get to share our precious baby girl with all our family & friends.

*Lydia loves to smile at everyone she sees and loves people.

*Her new nickname is “bubbles” because she loves to make & blow bubbles.

*She is a great travel buddy.

*She is really easy to read and a super happy baby.

*She is getting better about the “princess & pee” diaper situation, but still doesn’t love a dirty diaper.

*She looks like a little “who” girl from Dr. Seuss with her pretty big eyes & long hair that curls up at the top.. love her!

*She recognizes Chase & I when we come in the room & talk to her… best thing in the world.

*She loves her cousin Landon, even though every time they “play” together she hits him in the face!

*She loves to dance and hit herself with her hands against her chest. (sometimes I wonder if she is going to give herself bruises!)

Lydia,

Thank you so much for being such a trouper with your crazy parents traveling all over the place, for meeting new people, sleeping in different beds/places, for sleeping through the night & for be such a JOY! We love you to the moon and back and can’t remember a day we didn’t have you in our lives. 

love, momma & daddy

We weighed her on our home scale this week (1/19) and she was about 12.5 lbs! We have her next Dr. appointment on the 31st right before we head back to the desert, will be interested to get her true stats then.

does time fly or what?! I will probably say it every month, but I can’t believe our little peanut is over 2 months now! I just fall in love with her more each day.

This month has been a big one for our Liddy bug- she had her first sick day (just a stuffy/runny nose, but still hard for a mommas heart), got her official passport in, and went on her first plane ride across the ocean to meet her family & friends that have impatiently patiently waiting to meet her. Oh and she got her 2 month shots.

Clothes: She has graduated from her newborns clothes and fits really well in 0-3, but can also wear 3 month with extra room. One of my favorite things she wears these days is “skinny” jeans and her leg warms (not at the same time of course). She is still in size 1 diapers.

Lydia has met so many new people in her two months of life– I love this pic, I feel like it shows so much of her personality right now

Sleep: We have a baby that is sleeping through the night! At the beginning of the month she was sleeping anywhere from 5-8 hours at a time at night… usually waking up around 4:30 to eat, but before we came to America she was sleeping more consistently for about 7 hours at a time! Of course when we got to America her sleep schedule was a little off- the first night she woke up 4 times! And then each night woke up one less time each night until the last two nights she has slept 8 hours! We might be back on schedule, although, I feel like every time I record what she is doing on here the next night she does something completely different! Thats babies for you I guess 🙂

Food: She is eating between 2 and a half – 3 hours during the day still and doing really good with that. We have been starting our day around 7:30 or 8 am lately, which I feel like is a good time to start the day. I am thankful for a little bit of a schedule even in the middle of traveling and being in a different city each week.

I know I already shared her passport picture, but I love this one with her smile

Travel: This month we made a trip to Dubai for some shopping/errands and one border hop in Al Ain where we got to have dinner with our friends that we spent Lydia’s first week of life with. And the biggest travel of all this month was driving to Muscat (3 hours) to get on a plane to fly back to America! 36 hours after we left our house we were greeting Nanny & Papa in Dallas. She did great and continues to do great in our travels around America.

Other:

*Lydia LOVES to smile. She is such a sweetheart and gives the sweetest smiles that just melt your heart.

*She loves to lay on her back and giggle while kicking her legs and waving her arms all around.

*She still loves to lay over our shoulders like a sack of potatoes while twisting her neck all around to take in the world around her.

*She prefers to be facing out when you hold her (like her momma- doesn’t want to miss out on anything)

*We call her “Princess n Pee” because she still hates even a dribble of pee in her diaper… everyone says she will be easy to potty train! We’ll see!

*I love when she wakes up and she arches her back and stretches her arms out to wake up.

*She is pretty easy to read and figure out what she needs.

2 month Stats: (on December 10)

Weight: 10 lbs. 7 oz

Height: 22 in.

Percentile: 35% for both height & weight

We decided to do her 2 month appointment in the states since we were traveling on her two month birthday. It was really special because the doctor we took her to in Dallas has seen Chase’s whole family (his siblings & 7 nieces & nephews!) and now Lydia too! She is from India so we felt right at home with a foreign doctor. Lydia did great! She is growing on schedule and hitting all the normal milestones. She performed well for the doctor with great tummy time and “talking” time. It was so cute. At the end of the appointment she had to get her 2 month shots 🙁 It was so hard to see, but the nurse was great & super quick. I am super thankful for Tylenol… it did wonders with her pain from after the shots. She had about 2 hours of pain… it was so sad to see her hurt cry and there was nothing I could do for her but hold her, but once the Tylenol kicked in she was better!

Liddy bug,

We love you so much. You are so much fun these days… just cooing, talking, and smiling for anyone… it is so sweet to see! You are such a wonderful traveler. We just love you to pieces. Thank you for bringing such joy to our lives. Excited to see what changes this month brings! 

love you angel,

momma & daddy

I can’t believe our Liddy bug is over a month old! In fact she will be 6 weeks on Wednesday. Time is flying. I keep telling her she needs to stop getting older, but she is not listening… I can see why people have more babies, this little bitty stage goes by so fast (as I am sure all the rest of the stages do too)

What a joy it has been to be her momma. It feels like she has always been apart of our lives. We are enjoying every minute with her. I can’t snuggle her enough, give her enough kisses, or praise God enough for her.

Clothes: She is still wearing newborn onesies, but her newborn pants have gotten too short and some a little tight.. who would have thought that a daughter of ours would ever have too short of pants! ha She is wearing 0-3 months pants now (rolled over). Still in size 1 diaper, but we don’t have to fold them over anymore. Some of her newborn pjs are getting short in the arms. She is growing! I would say we might have one more week till we can’t wear the newborn stuff anymore.

Sleep: We are getting more into a routine (ish). She has been sleeping anywhere from 5-7 1/2 hours straight at night… mostly the 7 1/2 lately! We are spoiled- I know. In the mornings she will usually wake up about 5:30, eat, go back down at 6 and then wake up again at 8:30, eat, and sleep till 11. Then she has about 3-4 hours of good awake time. Will take an hour nap or so, then is awake again for a few hours and we are trying to get her to nap again in the evening before “bedtime”, but it doesn’t always happen, which makes for a fussier night. She is in bed anywhere from about 9:30 – 11, depending on what we have going on. We leave for America in 3 weeks, so I am curious how her whole schedule will change… I am trying to be flexible, because I know that we won’t have much of a routine once we get home. Any suggestions on traveling and keeping on some sort of schedule?

Food: She is eating anywhere from 2-3 hours during the day still. I have been able to tell more now when she is fussy because she is hungry. It is nice to start to learn what your baby needs/wants. We are still learning, but getting better. She has a dirty diaper after almost every feeding and HATES having a wet diaper. I am still trying to remember to always check and see if her diaper is wet and 9 times out of 10 if she is fussy and she is not hungry or tired its because she is wet (even just a dribble can bother her!)

“how big’s the baby?!”… “Soooo BIG!”– she loves this

Other:

*Lydia loves to be held over our shoulders with both arms hanging over like a monkey and she works on holding her head up in this position by looking around.

*She has started to notice her toys hanging above her or beside her and smiles at them. It’s so sweet.

*When she is sad she puts her bottom lip out and pouts and looks at you with the saddest little eyes… breaks my heart.

*She is starting to escape from her swaddle and wiggle around at night.

*She is starting to follow us with her eyes when we talk to her.

*She loves to dance with me and lay against my legs and “play” with me.

*She has started to want me more than dad the past few weeks… I assure Chase that she will still always be a “daddy’s girl”.

*She is starting to “talk” and make noises… we just love her voice- it is so sweet.

*Everyone says she looks like Chase, but some say she has my chin and my ears and maybe my nose, but overall they say she looks like Chase.

Travel:

We have been mostly at home this month with one trip to Al Ain for her one month check up! We went to the mall after and spent most of the time in the BabyShop nursing room 🙂 Going to the mall looks much differently these days, but I wouldn’t trade it for nothing!

Lydia’s first time to a wadi! She loves the baby carrier- falls asleep as soon as she gets in it. 

Stats: (at one month appointment on November 1)

• Weight: 8 lbs 2 oz… she is liking her momma’s milk
• Height: 20.8 inches
• Percentile: 5-10% for weight & 10-25% for height… we have a little peanut on our hands!

Liddy bug,

Mom & Dad love you sooo much and are so thankful for the joy that you bring to our lives. We can’t believe you are already over one month old! How can that be?! Thank you for being a sweetheart and for showing us a love we never knew before. You are a gift from God. 

lots of love & sugar, 

momma & dad 

Can’t believe my baby turned 3 weeks on Wednesday, October 24th! We have survived our first week with out Gramzi… we missed her, but we survived even with changing more diapers than I had for her first 2 weeks of life!

Clothes: Size 1 diapers (we are flying through these!) and newborn clothes still. She seems to be filling out some of the newborn clothes more, but some of her pjs are still big on her. She is a petite little thing. I am glad we are getting good use out of her cute newborn clothes!

Sleep: This girl loves to sleep! What a blessing. She is still only waking up 1 maybe 2 times at night. Except for one night this week she woke up like 4 times! I told Chase that Lydia was finally deciding to be a newborn and wake up a bunch through out the night! ha She has good awake time in the mornings and then again in the afternoons. We are not totally on a schedule yet, except for waking up at either 9 or 10 after our 3:30 or 6:30 feeding. Not sure when we need to get on a “schedule” per say. I am getting better at knowing when she needs to nap and be swaddled during the day. Sometimes she will just sleep the way she is, but on occasion (like right now) she wants to be swaddled for her nap). She definitely doesn’t take after me when it comes to sleep at least for now… I would rather be awake and not miss anything… we will see what the future holds.

Food: This week she has been pushing the feedings to 2 1/2 – 3 hours apart! I try to feed her every 2 and she refuses. I think it is because she is eating more at each feeding now… she is nursing like 10-15 on one side and then 6-10 on the other for most feedings. I am ok with pushing the feedings further apart- it was feeling like all I did was pull down my shirt! Ha But I wouldn’t trade it for anything. It is such a special bonding time for us. I think she is getting some chubbier cheeks and filling out in her belly! Which makes me happy because with breast feeding I think it is hard to know if they are getting enough. We go to the doctor on the 29th so I will share her stats for the 1 month update.

Other:

*We have been doing some tummy time and she loves it. She like to stick her butt and back legs up in the air while laying on her belly and then her neck and arms as well- like a seahorse! (we used to do this in ballet when I was little- it’s so cute)

*Her favorite position to be held in is on my shoulder- its so sweet. She will lift her neck up and look around and then lay it down on me.

*She also loves when you hold her head with your hand and point her feet toward your belly away from your body… I think she likes to see our face.

*When she is upset she stretches her body out straight and stiff and just cries… is it sad that I love her cry? It is so sweet.

*She laughs in her sleep… I wish I knew what she was dreaming about.

Travel: This week we are at home!! What a wonderful feeling. We might go to Sohar tomorrow, but I kind of like just being home. I think Lydia does too. We have been enjoying visits from our friends here, we are blessed. However, I have cried several times (and I know there will be more tears about it) about the fact that I just want Lydia to meet her family & friends back home… it is so so tough being this far away. Thankful we get to go home in December…

I ended my labor story last time with…

When we returned to our cubicle to be monitored again they had taken away my monitor for someone else, so they decided to go ahead and move me to the L&D room! Yey, we had been upgraded!! This was around 11 pm. This room was much better. I was still not concerned to be in “active labor” as I was still only 1-2 cm! Ahhh… so we decided to just relax and wait for my body to do its thing…

So around 11:30- midnightish I starting having more painful contractions that progressively started getting closer together. I started to not be able to talk through my contractions, but was still able to have conversation in between them… strangest thing ever. After a while my “team” (mom, Chase, & Vic) was put to work by holding my hand, putting pressure on my back, and helping me breathe through the pain. I was mostly doing this on the birthing ball while leaning over the bed on some pillows. Finally around 3 am my water broke! Yey! Progress! It felt so great and Chase and I were so excited because we thought we could be meeting out little girl anytime… little did we know from our “newbeness” that we still had hours and hours to go…

After the water broke the contractions got WAY more intense and I was pretty much just working through the contractions without any extra conversations going on. They offered me a local shot that was supposed to take the edge off the contractions and help you “rest” in between, so I decided to accept. It lasted in my system for about two hours and helped me rest in between, but during the contractions (which were happening very often- felt like I never had a break!) it seemed like the same intenseness, but maybe not? We went on with the routine of working through the contractions in different positions till about 7:00 am when they checked to see my progress again… I was so excited to see how far along I was with all the work I had been doing… much to my disappointment and surprise I was only about 3-3.5 cm at this point!!! Agh, what a bummer that was to hear…. I was so overwhelmed with pain and frustration thinking there is NO way I can keep on like this for 7 more cm. So alas, I asked for the epidural. They got right on it- I had the epidural in me around 7:30 am.

I have a love/hate relationship with the epidural… I loved it because it allowed me to sleep, rest and not worry about Lydia’s heartbeat (for some reason at that point I was really worried about how she was doing during contractions) for the next 10 ish hours before I got to meet our baby girl, I also believe it allowed me the strength (besides the Lord of course) to push her out in the end, and I was able to enjoy the rest of my labor process with Chase, my mom, Vic & Jord (yes Jord showed up around 9 am in order to capture the birth of Lydia for us!) and enjoy the entrance of Lydia with less pain. I hated (maybe hate is a strong word- didn’t like) it because of the way it made me feel… I got the chills, then felt ichy, had a “hot spot” that extremely hurt during contractions still, I had to keep the monitors on the entire time, I couldn’t get up, I couldn’t pee, so they had to put in a catheter, and in the end I had to sometimes feel my stomach to see when I was having contractions in order to know when to push.

So all this to say, I am undecided, but leaning toward not wanting to do the epidural for baby number 2… we will see. I guess it would depend if I have to be induced again and how long the process was taking. I actually enjoyed and am thankful for the part that I was able to “labor though”… I had such a great support team and I feel like Chase and I have become even closer through this whole process.

So anyway, about 5:00 pm they checked me to see how far I had gotten and I was about 9.5 cm! Music to my ears! This was really happening, we were going to really meet this little girl that had been moving around and growing inside of me for 9 + months… could it really be time?! At this point the contractions were getting more intense again (I could feel them more as the epidural was waring off) so Chase prayed for the entrance and life of Lydia as we prepared to finish strong. Vic had encouraged me to try and “labor down” before I started pushing right away because this would help the pushing process be shorter. So thankfully the midwife that was with me allowed this and allowed Vic to coach me through the pushing- what a blessing. This normally doesn’t happen and I got to have 4 of my people in the room when everywhere it says only 2 people are allowed!

After 20 minutes of pushing… Lydia May McGough made her entrance into the world at 5:56 pm on October 3, 2012. She weighed 6 lbs 12 oz and was just under 19 in long.

What an amazing feeling and high it was to hold and see our daughter for the first time! There is nothing like it. A love I never knew before. She was perfect in every way. Chase and I were head over heels and knew from that moment on our lives would never be the same… it would be better! Praise be to our God from whom all blessings flow!

A few funny things that I said/did during labor: (some of them I was told later by my team- ha)

• At one point I hit my mom during contractions and then immediately said, “Oh, I am sorry.”
• I tried to bite my moms hand at one point- she just pulled it away and tired not to laugh
• Chase & my mom said that they had to keep from laughing a few times because I guess I was saying funny things & reacting funny to the pain. I guess I had no problem hitting Chase!
• I kept saying, “I hate this… this pain.”
• During the pushing process: they told me she had hair and I said, “I knew she would!” and they allowed me to touch her head and I said, “Oh I just love her!”

if you want to read the beginning of the story go here.