November 20: my first photo shoot with this adorable girl & her family
November 21: crafting for thanksgiving
November 22: Happy Thanksgiving!
November 23: yummy drinks at my dear friend’s baby shower
November 24: first sick day… got a hang of using the bugger sucker
November 25: a day for Christmas decorating
November 26: things are starting to bloom in the desert this time of year
November 27: cinnamon rolls & coffee with my sweet neighbor
every year for as long as I can remember my mom has gotten us girls matching pjs for Christmas and so of course this year Landon & Lydia needed matching pjs from Gramzi!
Here are a few pics from our photo shoot today…
Merry Christmas Eve from us in Albuquerque! Today and tomorrow we are celebrating our Christmas together… it is such a blessing for us all to be together in the same place at the same time!
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
Oh my goodness I am feeling super overwhelmed with catching up with my 365! I had a brief moment in thinking I would quit… not for lack of taking pictures, but for lack of going though them, deleting them, editing them, and then finally posting them! Oh how I wish I didn’t get so far behind…
Attempting to catch up…
November 4: staring contest with the balloons
November 5: weather is finally nice enough for a morning walk
November 6: this girl loves reptiles, animals, & bugs of all sorts
November 7: Happy Birthday to one of my local friends
November 8: Lydia’s first tea party
November 9: orange spice tea- new favorite
November 10: visiting some local friends- she is always a huge hit
November 11: Lydia’s 40th day of life
November 12: bubbles
November 13: mini dessert bar for Traci’s birthday
November 14: first play date
November 15: getting some work done with dad
November 16: Chase has perfected his omelet making skills
November 17: out for a walk with mom in our yard
November 18: its beginning to look a lot like Christmas in our local grocery store (first time I have seen Christmas decor in our town…)
November 19: loving the weather- perfect for sipping tea to in the afternoons
We are home for the holidays!!
And Lydia is officially a world traveler!
She did GREAT on our 36 hour and 42 minute (yes we timed it) travels back to the states. I wasn’t really sure what to think about traveling with a two month old across the ocean… I guess I didn’t give it a ton of thought because we didn’t have a choice. Since we have chosen to live overseas that equals traveling long hours with babies to see family and friends… it is a package deal. I talked to a lot of friends that have traveled with infants and they encouraged me by saying most likely she will sleep the whole time and to make sure she is either nursing or sucking her pacci during take-offs and landings. So we did our best to make sure these things happened… the first take-off was the only one that bothered her (I had her nurse too soon… she was done by the time we actually took off- rookie mistake), but the rest of the time she did great! She even slept through one of the take-offs. Our first flight to London Lydia and I slept the majority of the flight – we had a bassinet and an open seat next to us for all the flights- such a blessing! I think that I had the best airplane sleep I have ever had- I think it has something to do with having an infant and sleeping hard whenever I get the chance to… whatever it is I will take it. Lydia did have a tough time when we had to switch planes in London because of a leak in the engine (which caused a 3 hour delay for us)… she was not excited about having to get in my pack again and leave the plane, but other than that she was super sweet and easy. Thanks for your prayers for safe and smooth travel. Chase and I actually enjoyed traveling with her…
Here are some pics from our travels… (not all pics are the greatest quality- sorry)
How many hours will we be on this thing?
Liddy’s bed
my travel buddy
lattes- makes traveling around the world possible…
hanging out in the London airpot
Nanny & Papa greeted us in TEXAS! Worth the 36 hour travels…
40 days after a baby is born is a significant day for several reasons in this culture:
On November 11, was Lydia’s 40th day of life! So we decided to open our home to our friends (locals & westerners) to celebrate our baby’s life, to praise the Lord for her, to bless her, and to commit to the community that we want to raise her to love and serve Jesus. We decided to combine some of our traditions as well as the traditions out here. We gathered the women inside and the men were outside (yes I had to make two of everything!). Chase had a great time showing off his baby girl (it is a lot easier for me to show Lydia off to my local friends because she comes with me on my visits, but Chase usually meets up with his friends at coffee shops, so this was a great chance for his friends to meet her) and was able to share about the blessing that Lydia is to us and thank God for her life.
As you might remember November 11th was also Blair’s, my niece, first birthday in heaven. So on this day we got to celebrate her first year of Glory with Jesus while also praising Jesus for Lydia and the blessing she is to our family. It made me tear up when I calculated the days and realized it was the same day- the Lord is so good… He turns ashes into beauty time and time again.
Some friends of mine helped me make goodie bags with chocolate to send home with the guests. We attached a blessing prayer and Psalm 139: 13-18 in Arabic on them.
Our Lord,
You are the creator of all things created. We know that children are a blessing from You and that every good gift comes from You. Bless Lydia with every spiritual blessing. We praise Your name in all the earth. Thank you.
In the name of Jesus Our Redeemer, Amen.
…to you from our little family!
We have so much to be thankful for this year. To name a few.. our sweet little turkey! We are so in love and could not be more thankful for her, my sweet little nephew Landon, wonderful family whom we can’t wait to see in a few short weeks, great friends, the ability to communicate (depends on the day how much, but at least much better than we were this time last year) in Arabic, and each other. I am so thankful to be on this journey with Chase- thankful for the husband he is and the dad he is becoming.
We were blessed to get to spend thanksgiving this year with some of our dearest friends out here plus some Brazilians and Costa Ricans! We had all the traditional foods- turkey (we found one in Dubai), green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, homemade rolls, pecan pie (pecans came America) and even cranberry sauce (yes it was found at an import store). And in my family Thanksgiving and Christmas is not complete without 7-layer dip! The only things that were missing (and were greatly missed) were the beauty of fall outside and our family & friends back home.
Thank you Jesus for all your blessings, your salvation, grace, and mercy you extend to us each day.
October 26: hanging out with my sweet baby girl
October 27: Lydia’s first Eid in her new Eid dress!
October 28: Date night with daddy- Lasagna and a movie
October 29: helping dad prepare dinner
October 30: yup he’s in love
October 31: Happy Halloween!
November 1: a new discovery… fireplace app! AMAZING… it even has a fireplace sound- makes my heart happy
November 2: a little photo shoot with my girl 🙂
November 3: ONE month! how can this be?!
I am so excited to finally share with you everything that my mom has spent the past few months making for Lydia’s nursery! I absolutely LOVE how it all turned out. It is so special to have hand-made bedding and accessories made by her Gramzi… she will defiantly know how loved she is!
Also, Chase and I think that my should open up an Etsy shop and sell this stuff- she is good and I think people would pay her to do it… Chase is wanting to set up all the business stuff for her and just have her sew… I will let you know if he convinces her and what happens with it 🙂 She also made all of Landon’s (my sister’s baby boy) nursery stuff too!
Lydia will eventually sleep in this beautiful crib. Right now she is in our room for two reasons, 1) we are not sure we want her to leave us yet! I never thought I would want my baby to stay in our room, but I/we kind of like her in there with us 2)her crib is currently slanted… as in the floor in her room is uneven! We are working on getting risers for it to make it even so she doesn’t roll to one side & live her life a little crooked- ha! Oh the joys of living in an old house in the Middle East…
The changing table. Our friends gave us this furniture and we love it! What a blessing. She had it made over 5 years ago for her first son based on Poettry Barn furniture.
Mom made the diaper box and Jord made the “bebe” hanging above the changing station.
The rocking chair & closet. Gramzi made the gorgeous quilt & the box on the floor. Jord painted the bird picture and Chase is working on a painting for Christmas to go where the yarn “L” is that I made.
I LOVE the way her nursery turned out! It makes my heart happy every time I go in there. I picked out the fabrics from Hawthorne Threads online. It is from designer Joel Dewberry and the Heirloom Sapphire Palette Fabric Collection. And then my mom went to town! Thank you so much for all your hard work you put into it mom. We love it!
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)
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
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