How do you fly with a new baby?

Rosalie and I are going to Rochester, New York on the 8th and I have no idea what to do to fly with a baby. What sort of identification do I need for her? What should I bring with me for the airport/flight? Should I check the carseat at the luggage check or should I bring it with me and check it at the gate when I board? Anyone have any suggestions about what I should do/bring and things I should do to prepare, please please let me know. Help me out. The only thing I do know is to have her either eating or sucking on her pacifier at take off and landing. I'm so nervous about this. Flying always makes me nervous and now I'm taking my baby with me and it scares me even more. Advice please!!!!

Pictures of Rosalie and nothing more

Me and the monster, I have to bundle her like that when I'm putting her down for a nap.

Tummy time in the tub, the only place she actually enjoys tummy time. She will stay like that forever in the tub.

She loves her bath, she is always smiling in there.

Attempting to catch a smile on my good camera, it is hard to get her to laugh while looking through the eyepeice to take a picture.

Her cute church outfit. It says 3-6 months which is supposed to fit 12-17lbs, but she is only 11 lbs and it is fitting her perfectly now, I think Gymboree's sizes are a little off.

Shots

Today Rosalie got her shots, it was sad. She was so happy the whole time at the Dr's office until they pushed the medicine through the shot. When they first stuck her with the needle all she did was kind or kick her leg like a reflex. But when the nurse pressed the syringe to push the medicine in she didn't scream or cry, she turned all red and had one of those really sad "I'm in pain and I can't make noise it hurts so bad" kind of cries. I gave her the pacifier and she calmed down pretty fast, then we quickly dressed her and fed her and she fell asleep. I think she is not feeling good though because she has randomly started to cry or whimper in her sleep and screams every time I put her down. I finally got a break because I put her in the bouncer and started bouncing it right away before she realized where she was and woke up. I feel really bad, I gave her some tylenol and hope she will feel better and get lots of rest tonight. They also gaver her the oral shot, which she pretty much threw up on the nurse, so they had to give it to her twice, it was funny. She was a little trooper though, we are lucky to have such a good baby. She is definitely healthy too.
Her growth percentages are:
11.66 lbs - 61%tile
21.5 inches tall - 25%tile
her head was 50%tile but I don't remember the measurements at the moment.

We are so happy to have her, she is the sweetest. We are going to snuggle her all the rest of the day and hope she feels better.

I'm Grateful

Father's day nap, Sean opened his eyes just as I took this picture, the flash woke him up. Don't they look cute together?

Today I am grateful for many things.
1. I'm grateful for Sean and all the hard work he does for our little family.
2. I'm grateful for Rosalie and all the joy she brings to our lives.
3. I'm grateful for the chance I have to be a stay at home mom.
4. I'm grateful for our friends and family that helped us get everything we needed for Rosalie.
5. I'm grateful for the beautiful weather we have had for the past couple of days.
6. I'm grateful for visitors that keep me sane after hours of baby talk with Rosalie.
7. I'm grateful for my family and for how much they love my Rosalie.
8. I'm grateful for visits with Aubrey almost every morning.
9. I'm grateful for the the gym, even though it makes me really sore.
10. I'm grateful for how close the gym is so that I don't have to drive, it makes it much easier to get there.
11. I'm grateful for our little house/apartment, it is the best.
12. I'm grateful for the washer/dryer in our house so that when Rosalie has explosions I can wash them right away.
13. I'm grateful for disposable diapers, I have no idea how people do the cloth ones.
14. I'm grateful for modern medicine and how much easier it has made it to bring beautiful babies into the world.
15. I'm grateful for Sean's job offer and the peace of mind it brings in these economic times
16. I'm grateful for the Gospel and that I am a member of Heavenly Father's church.
17. I'm grateful for the temple and the blessings that it brings my family.
18. I'm grateful for the Plan of Salvation and for eternal families.
19. I'm grateful for my computer and the internet and blogs.
20. I'm grateful for cheap dates, and hanging out with Sean.
21. I'm grateful for frozen waffles and peanut butter for breakfast in a hurry.
22. I'm grateful for friends that don't mind when I disappear for a while because I'm terrible at keeping in contact.
23. I'm grateful for old tv shows that keep me entertained.
24. I'm grateful for naps.
25. I'm grateful to be alive.
26. I'm grateful for my dad (sorry I didn't post on Father's day), and I'm grateful for Sean as a dad to our little Rosalie, he is amazing!
I'm grateful for many more things, but I just can't keep listing them forever. Anyways, I just woke up this morning really happy despite the fact that Rosalie woke me up at 5:45 with an exploded diaper for the second day in a row, causing me to have to strip her down, throw everything in the wash and give her a bath before 6 a.m. She just gave me a big old smile and it made me laugh and realize how lucky I am to have all the things that I have. I really am one lucky girl!

Rosalie is 2 months

I can't believe it has only been two months, it seems like we have had her around here forever. We seem to have adjusted instantly. I think I'm starting to understand her now. I can tell if she is hungry, tired, or just wants to be held. It is a little harder for Sean to discern her signals, but we are learning. It is so much fun having her around. Sometimes I like to dress her up like a little doll and take pictures of her, poor baby. Here are some photos from our session this morning. I got her to smile a little, but it is tough to get her to smile and take the picture at the same time. She is a good napper most of the time, she sleeps really well through the night, and she is now starting to mimick things that we do to her. I stick my tounge out and make funny noises, and she tries to do the same thing. She still loves her baths, and she really loves her mobile and the toys that hang above her bouncy chair, she is warming up to her play mat, but if I put her on her tummy she gets angry. Her Dr. appointment is next week, so I will give you her stats then. Enjoy the pictures!

Exercise, Cookies, and Rosalie

I have jumped back in to working out this week, I went to the gym yesterday and today. I ran for twenty minutes, and it was harder than I expected, but I did it. I never knew how hard it would be on my baby feeders. I am very busty, and have always worn two sports bras to run, but I think I need more support than that. They totally weigh me down, I just have no idea what to do. I even fed Rosalie, and pumped for extra measure and they still felt like they weighed a million pounds. I think they are the reason that sometimes my shoulders hurt, because when I run the spot on my shoulders that bugs me, really bugs me. Anyone have any advice on how to tie them down better, or should I just give up running? Sean thinks I should just ride the bike, but I hate the bike, I love running.

On to cookies. I'm obsessed, they are all I want. Of course I don't have any in the house, but they are all I can think about. Different recipes that I want to make, and all the different types. And then if I have the TV on it seems that they all talk about cookies on the shows that I'm watching, which intensifies my desire for cookies. I am just to lazy to get out to the store to buy the ingredients to make the cookies. I'm going crazy.

Lastly, Rosalie is so cute, but the last couple of days she is being crazy. She does not want to take her afternoon naps in her crib. She will fall asleep for a little while and then wake up completely upset and crying, so I pick her up and she falls back asleep in my arms so I try to put her in her crib and then she wakes up after like ten minutes. I can't just hold her for her naps, that would create bad habits, but I can't be running to and from her crib all afternoon either. Oh well, I'm sure it is just a phase. She is so cute sometimes I just want to hold her while she sleeps because she snuggles up to me and I absolutely love it. She is the best baby in the whole world, I love her more than words can describe, and she is just so much fun to have around. I love that she is becoming more aware and interactive.

Big Weekend

Rosalie had a big weekend this past couple of days. First she got to meet her uncles Stephen and Grey. My family came in on Saturday night after driving 24ish hours straight from Texas to make it here in time for Rosalie's blessing. They were so excited to meet her, and Grey did not want to put her down, he wanted to hold her the entire time.
Then on Sunday it was Rosalie's blessing, we got up early and got her all dressed. Of course she spit up all over the dress the second I put it on her before I even had the chance to put a bib on. Oh well, what can you do when your baby spits up constantly. It was a crazy morning, and unfortunately it was raining really hard, and it was a little cold for June. However, Sean gave her the most beautiful blessing, I cried, and then he bore his testimony and again I cried. I think it was one of the best fast Sundays ever. I was just so happy to have everyone I love most in the world there. Rosalie looked beautiful as usual, and she was calm and sleepy through the whole thing. We are so lucky to have such a sweet little angel baby. After we had some fun with the family over a yummy lunch at the Hartley house, thanks to everyone who organized it, I am so grateful.

Here are some pictures of our tiny family that we took when it stopped raining for a minute. That is why I am not dressed up and neither is Sean. Can you tell how tired I am? I think I had the longest night ever(I didn't go to bed when she did though, I had lots of things to do and I had to take her to see my family who were staying in Provo for the night and we were already in Layton), Rosalie did not want to sleep for very long, she woke up twice and so I think I only slept for like 4 hours or something crazy like that. She has suddenly decided she only likes her crib or someone's arms and cannot sleep long in the pack n' play. Oh well. Overall though, it was great and I love every minute of being a mom, even if I don't get any sleep. Sean thinks he is so funny, and I look stoned.

Bedtime Routine

I read lots and lots about routines, what to do during the day, how to go about getting your baby to sleep through the night, and the bedtime routine. I was told to start it at around six weeks, and since Rosalie turned six weeks last friday we decided to start. It is lots of fun to give her a bath, she loves the bath, and then get her dressed and snuggle her and then read her a book, even though she doesn't understand yet, then I sing (my voice is terrible, I really feel bad for her) and then we say family prayer and I put her in her crib if she is drowsy. It seems to be working well, the last couple of nights she has fallen asleep on her own in the crib. She really is a little sweetie. Even though at times all she wants is for us to hold her, she does not make life miserable or hard. I am tired, but she is so cute that it doesn't even bother me. The last few nights she has extended her sleep by an hour consistantly waking up at 3 to eat instead of 2, so it has been nice to get the extra hour of sleep, or at least the idea of the extra hour. For some reason I still wake up, I think I'm crazy, I wake up almost every hour sometimes to make sure she is ok, I don't get up, I just listen to the monitor to hear her breath. She sleeps in her room in the crib now, I just couldn't keep her in our room anymore because I couldn't get any sleep with all of the noises she makes. One milestone I am just dying for her to get to is the smiley stage, she smiles now very randomly and rarely, I have no idea what makes her smile because she doesn't seem to be looking at me or at anything in particular when she does smile. But I think she is happy.

This is not really a smile, it almost looks like one though.

She still hates tummy time and cries after only a few minutes on her belly, but she is so strong so I'm not too worried. She can hold her head very steady for a long time, she loves standing on my lap or my belly and looking around the room.

She is so much fun, and I can't imagine life without her. She is getting so chubby, it is really cute. Sean thinks she is the cutest and loves to hold her all through church, he says that is when she is the happiest, in the morning, and he doesn't get too many mornings with her.

I have her room almost finished, I just have to figure out how to hang the curtains, we have cement outer walls, so I'm thinking I'm going to have to rig something up from the ceiling. When I have that done I will post pictures, it is turning out really really cute.