7 Weeks

7 Weeks with some exciting events! Sunday was our first Father's Day and a very, very special day for Kalaya and Daddy; they were baptized together! It was a really special day with a lot of family and friends, more than we expected! She wore the dress that her mommy, uncle Colin and grandmother were baptized in! Kalaya was so calm and quiet throughout all of the service. She usually stays quiet, only if she is asleep! If she's awake, Mommy or Daddy usually has to walk around with her at the back of the church. But, on Sunday she was mostly awake and stayed calm the whole service, amazing! Here are some highlights:

Daddy getting baptized

Kalaya getting baptized

Pictures with the Godfathers (well, Joel is more like Nelson's Godbrother....)

Happy family!

Kalaya had an appointment this week at the hospital for an ultrasound. It was scheduled right after she was born, because she was a breech/c-section baby. Apparently being born this way can affect the development of a baby's hips, so they wanted to check to make sure her hips were growing properly. Everything looked great! She just laid their wiggling contentedly, while the technician used the wand on each hip.

We tried the longest car ride so far on Wednesday, all the way to Fort Lewis in Washington, which is over 2 hours! She slept all the way there and was happy in the Bijorn while we shopped and went around with Ma Ma, Pa Pa and Oma. However, the ride home did NOT go as well. She cried pretty much the whole way home! She was tired of the car seat. We tried stopping to nurse, but she wasn't interested. She was just FED UP. Oh well, we survived.

Another change in the Sigrah household, we are moving! Our lease is up and we are moving up to Vancouver. I am not crazy about living up in Washington, but it's still close and it will help out a lot. It's very close to Nelson's work, so I will be able to take him to work easily on days that I need a car. (we only have one!) Nelson will get home sooner, be able to leave later and, most important, won't have to go in traffic to commute!! Hooray! We decided to rent for another year, which was a tough decision, but we don't want to get stuck with a house in Vancouver. We found a house, for about the same price as our current 2 bed/1bath apartment. It's 3 bedrooms, 2 bath with a 2 car garage and a fenced in yard for Pippy. It's in a nice neighborhood and I'm so excited to finally be in a house!! Hooray!

I have pretty much given up on attempting to bottle feed Kalaya, at least for now. We were trying to force her and I don't feel like she was ready. I also don't see the need. We were supposed to go to see RENT this weekend, but decided not to go, since she won't take a bottle. She's also still not ready to be comforted by others, with the exception of Nelson. She still cries and cries for long periods of time if others, such as grandparents, try to hold her. I know it's frustrating for other people, but I am totally happy to comfort and hold her all the time. (though how I'm going to get my house packed up, I'm not sure.....) I am against letting babies "cry it out", especially since she is only 7 weeks old. Maybe if she still won't take a bottle or let anyone else hold her at 7 months, I'll be concerned, but I literally can't think of anything I have to go to that she can't go with me. Things like plays and movies just don't matter any more. : ) That includes the new Harry Potter. (can you believe how much motherhood has changed me??) Anyway, she'll let me know when she's ready and I'm not going to push her! Nursing is so convenient and easy, I'm in no hurry for any other plan!

6 Weeks

6 weeks old! Kalaya is coming more and more into her personality. She is settling much more into a routine, staying more asleep at night and is awake more during the day. She likes to play independently on a blanket, while looking at toys or a book. She likes toys that play soft music, but other than that, just looking.

Kalaya has started smiling! She has actually smiled since the day she was born, but this week she smiled as a reaction, exciting!! She seems to do it the most right after a diaper change, while on the changing table. She's getting bigger and bigger and often coos and gurgles.



Last Friday was our childbirth class reunion. It was fun to see the other 4 babies and sets of parents! It was good to compare stories with other new parents, but not good at the same time. It makes you compare your baby with others, which can be frustrating. There were 2 girl babies and 3 boys. The boys were calm and quiet the whole get-together and the girls were fussy, fussy! Kalaya is often not happy unless she's either rocking or someone is walking around with her and she often needs to stay on a warm body. Lately, the only warm body that can calm her is Mommy's! I am happy to do it, but get frustrated when other people won't just let me have her, because they are determined to calm her down. I am also getting tired of people telling me she is getting spoiled when I insist on being the one to calm her down. The reason is because otherwise she cries and cries, gets frantic and is then much harder to calm down. I am so grateful for people who want to help out, but it's just easier to let me do it! : ) Plus, you can't spoil a 6 week old!

Kalaya has finally started taking a pacifier, although she tends to only take it at night or from me. It has been a HUGE relief to me, because it soothes her much better than everything else we have tried. She had been using me as a pacifier, which was fine, but then she'd be too full and spit everything up. Plus, the pacifier helps her SLEEP LONGER!! Hooray! Nighttime has become much, much easier. If she wakes up in the night, it's to suck and then she falls back asleep. If she needs to eat, she lets me know, but she hasn't needed to. I finally feel like I'm getting enough sleep again, yay! Which is good, since Nelson is now back at work full time. She'll go as long as 6-8 hours at night without needing to nurse. Thurs she slept so well, I actually woe her up to feed her for the first time EVER. (I was so engorged, I had to) She ate and went right back to sleep. Hopefully we are starting a routine!

I had my 6 week appointment with our midwife and she said my incision has healed up great! I have been given the go to resume normal activities, so hopefully that will continue to go well! Kalaya's next appointment is coming up, her 2 month appointment. I'm interested to see how much she weighs! We've tried to do it ourselves, and we know she's some where around 10 pounds, big girl! She fits comfortably in 3 month clothes. Tomorrow is her baptism and we are excited for that event!

On a separate note, Colin is back in the states for good and Carrie will follow soon! They are scheduled to stay at Fort Hood until the end of the year. Thank you for all the prayers for their safe return! We're hoping they get up to Oregon in the next few weeks, but we'll see.

Cloth Wipes Recipe

Many people have asked me about how our cloth wipes work and how we make them. They are so simple and are so easy. Plus, they are so much easier with cloth diapers. Rather than using a disposable wipe and throwing it away, you just stick the cloth wipe in the cloth diaper and wash them all together! I started by cutting up some old wash cloths, and old socks and undershirts of Nelson's. The "formula" is made like this:

~Boil 2 cups of water
~Add 1 tbsp of baby oil
~Add 2 tbsp of liquid baby soap/wash
~Add 10 drops of lavender oil or tea tree oil (I get them in the natural food section at Fred Meyer. Kinda spendy, but they last a long time and you have to add this to make the wipes sanitize baby)
~Pour over wipes and let cool

It makes about 12-15 wipes. We store them in a wipe warmer from Target. On the go, we stick some in Tupperware. Once you use cloth wipes, you realize you're doing too much work with disposables, cloth clean so much better!!

5 weeks

5 weeks and going strong! Kalaya has had a fun week, meeting some new people! She went with me to school on Monday to meet my students from last fall, meet the Kindergartners from her Oma's class and to meet the staff I worked with. Everyone loved her!! We got so many comments on how beautiful she is and healthy, especially those big chubby cheeks! We don't have another appointment until she's 2 months, I want to know her exact weight! She is officially out of newborn clothes and is wearing 3 months already. I have to post a picture of her closet and dresser, it is INSANE how many outfits she has at this size. Hopefully, she won't outgrow this size before she gets to wear the outfits at least once!

Another very special thing that happened this week, Kalaya's GREAT grandparents arrived from Alabama, Ma Ma and Pa Pa. Those of you who were at the wedding are likely to remember Pa Pa and the man in the uniform that did the reading in the big southern voice. :) We spent a couple of days at my parent's house to spend some time with everyone. They flew out for the baptism, which is on the 21st. So exciting!!



My recovery is going well, although we had a bump in the road last weekend. For no apparent reason, my incision started hurting pretty badly and I was having trouble getting around. We stayed home from church and I took it really easy. I also called urgent care, but after talking to the nurse, we decided that I didn't need to rush in. I took it easy for another day and they called to see if I needed an appointment. I was feeling better on Monday, and haven't been in pain since. I'm still not doing too much activity. I'm eager for my 6-week appointment next Wed, and they will hopefully determine that I'm ready to be more active. I'm ready to start exercising again. I've gone on a few walks, but hopefully I can start going daily. I'd like to get the rest of my pregnancy weight taken care of. I have a little less than 10 lbs to go, although I can't decide where I've lost weight, other than belly. My pre-pregnancy pants are still not close to fitting. I've decided to invent a new like of clothing for the time after the baby is born. Pregnancy clothes have been way too big for a while, or they still make me look pregnant, which I don't want and my old clothes are too small. ARG. So, I end up wearing sweats and Nelson's t-shirts. Let me tell you, I'm quite attractive these days!

We had a couple of tough evenings last week. She cried for a couple of hours straight on a few evenings and we couldn't figure out why! She wasn't hungry, wet, cold, hot, hurt, we burped her, rocked her, shushed her, we tried everything! When she would nurse, she would eat a small amount, scream and back off. Then, she'd get so over-the-top tired that she'd scream more and we couldn't calm her down. She won't take a pacifier, so that didn't help either. The only thing we could figure out was that she had gas and couldn't get it out. Our doula, Megan, showed us some massages we can do and positions to put her in to help her push it through. We've been doing them and it seems to be working!! The catch is not to let her get too over stimulated or too tired, which is hard to tell some family members that want to soothe her, but don't know how and she just gets more and more upset. And, for a couple of days there, I was the only one she's let comfort her, she'd even freak out on Nelson. Let's just say I was pretty tired for those days...

Kalaya is awake more of the day now. I feel like she kind of knows the difference between day and night. We are trying to teach her the difference. She still co-sleeps with us and doesn't cry at night really. I usually hear her starting to make sucking noises as she wakes up, nurse her and she usually goes right back to sleep. If she has to be changed, we try to turn on as few lights as possible and keep her on the bed. Otherwise she wakes up much more and has to be calmed down and put back to sleep, often while crying. We're learning! She still sleeps best on warm bodies, but sleeps okay at night. Nap time during the day is another story. I'm trying to figure out what makes her sleep for only 20 min versus an hour or more. Some days she takes great naps and others very short, unless she's on a person. We'll get there! She is focusing on objects so much and stays interested in play time longer. She likes to look at faces, books, mobiles and toys. She likes music and outside sounds, as well and singing and talking. She's SO close to smiling. Actually, she's been "smiling" since she was born, but we're waiting to see her smile on command. Grandpa, of course, SWEARS she smiled at home, but I saw it and it's the same one we see all the time. : )

4 Weeks/1 month!

Oh, how can my baby already be a month old tomorrow? The old cliche is true, time really does fly by when you've got a little one in the house! I can hardly stand it when I think about her already getting out of the "newborn" category. I noticed this week that she hardly ever makes her newborn cry she used to make and it made me sad! Plus, she has switched to screaming occasionally, which is more harsh on the ears.



Kalaya is growing rapidly!! I wish we had a baby scale at home so that we could check her weight more regularly. We haven't weighed her since her 2 week check-up, but I know she's over 9 pounds and Nelson swears she must be close to 10!! Her newborn clothes are getting smaller and smaller, especially with those bulky cloth diapers! The onesies aren't going to fit much longer and she's already outgrowing some of the jammies! She comfortably fits in the 0-3 month clothes and I've started washing and getting 3 month clothes ready to go, eek! Hopefully she stays in that size through the summer....she has a ridiculous amount of clothes for 3-6 months!!



Let's see, the most common questions we get about Kalaya: "How is she sleeping?" Truth be told, I haven't had more than a 3 hour stretch since she was born and even that is rare. Usually it's between 45 minutes to 2 hours. I really don't mind though. Even when I'm exhausted, I love holding her, nursing her, cuddling with her. I've wanted to be a mom for so long, it's all worth it to me! I know these days/times are precious and are going to be over too fast! Another question: "How much does she weigh?" See above for that answer. Next: "Is she sleeping through the night?" Ha! No. "Are you getting enough sleep?" For Nelson, yes. I enjoy when he wakes up from a 6 hour stretch of sleep to change a diaper and says, "Wow! She slept for a long time!" and finds out that she was up to nurse at least 2 times while he was sleeping. : ) I cannot express how much I really don't mind!


Kalaya went to Daddy's work this week and to Grandpa's! Everyone, of course, loved her and said how beautiful she is, which of course we knew! Nelson's office is almost all women, so they were of course gushing over her. Her grandpa (my dad) works out at the airport and everyone that walked by stopped to look at her and comment! This is where I have to say a pet peeve I have. Actually, two. #1 Who decided it's okay for people to just take a baby? They kind of ask, but as they ask, they're reaching for the baby and taking her. What is that about?? I don't even pet someone's dog without asking!!! This is not a paranoid first-time mama thing. That would be if I didn't let anyone hold her. I do. I just don't like when people, usually friends of family members I don't know, just expect to take her! Maybe other mothers know what I'm talking about. #2 The comment, "You look tired!" Gee, thanks. That is a nice way of saying, "You look like crap!" Obviously I am tired people and I know I don't look my best. There is no need to remind me, I'm well aware!! People have even gone so far as to comment about the dark circles under my eyes. Sigh....not bitter, just surprised that people think I want to hear that!

Kalaya is getting more alert every day! She's staying awake longer to look at toys, listen to songs, music and stories, has started holding toys (with guidance), and sit in her bouncer or swing. She loves being in the Bijorn and walking around. She seems to enjoy bath time too, as long as the water is plenty warm and doesn't cool off! She likes her massage after bath too. She stretches and makes some cooing noises and moves her body all around! Her personality is coming out more and more. We love it! We continue trying to introduce a bottle and pacifiers, but she still isn't interested, which is fine. We'll keep trying. We have tickets to see Rent at the end of this month, so that's the goal!

I continue to heal well. I'm still achy at the incision site and am not up for going for long walks at all. I miss walking my dog, especially with all this beautiful spring weather! I still have 2 weeks more until that magic 6 week mark and then we'll see what my midwife says. The incision looks fine, it just hurts, especially if something bumps up against it. I'd like to be able to take walks, do pilates and yoga. I've lost about 25 pounds already, of the 35 I gained (thank you breastfeeding!), but I'd like to lose an additional 15-20. (optomistic, I know) I've really been eating nothing but healthy and would like to add excercise back into my life!

One last thing, this is the best song ever to describe how Nelson and I feel right now! I can't listen to it without crying!!!

Darius Rucker, It Won't Be Like This For Long

He didn't have to wake up
He'd been up all night
Layin’ there in bed listenin’
To his new born baby cry
He makes a pot of coffee
He splashes water on his face
His wife gives him a kiss and says
It gonna be OK

It won’t be like this for long
One day soon we'll look back laughin’
At the week we brought her home
This phase is gonna fly by
So baby just hold on
‘Cause it won't be like this for long

Four years later ‘bout 4:30
She's crawling in their bed
And when he drops her off at preschool
She's clinging to his leg
The teacher peels her off of him
He says what can I do
She says now don't you worry
This’ll only last a week or two

It won’t be like this for long
One day soon you'll drop her off
And she won’t even know you're gone
This phase is gonna fly by
If you can just hold on
It won’t be like this for long

Some day soon she'll be a teenager
And at times he'll think she hates him
Then he'll walk her down the aisle
And he'll raise her veil
But right now she's up and cryin’
And the truth is that he don't mind
As he kisses her good night
And she says her prayers

He lays down there beside her
‘Til her eyes are finally closed
And just watchin’ her it breaks his heart
Cause he already knows

It won’t be like this for long
One day soon that little girl is gonna be
All grown up and gone
Yeah, this phase is gonna fly by
So, he's tryin’ to hold on

‘Cause it won’t be like this for long

It won’t be like this for long