Finally...the first month!

Warning...this is going to be an EXTREMELY long post. I really should try and post more frequently so as to not have to catch up an entire month in one post. Sadie Beth is five weeks old today, but these pictures go through the first month. It is amazing how much she has grown already. She really is a wonderful baby, and David and I are completely enamored with her. She has TONS of personality and continues to be very good natured most of the time. Don't get me wrong, she still has her moments when she is quite contrary, but when this happens it is usually because her tummy is bothering her or she is overly tired. She is on a pretty good schedule. I certainly don't agree with everything BabyWise promotes, but using the Eat-Wake-Sleep Cycle has really helped her organize her sleep and hunger patterns. Sadie Beth has been sleeping almost through the night for almost 2 weeks now. She sleeps from about 8-10pm, eats at 10, and then sleeps until about 5am, eats, and sleeps again until about 7:45am. Some make fun of my schedule and insistance upon it, but hey, she is sleeping, is predictable, and happy.
And on with the picture show...this first picture makes me laugh...it is of Sadie Beth when she is what we like to call "Milk Drunk." After I nurse her, it takes her a few minutes to snap out of a milk-induced state of inebriation.

Don't you think she should be an Anne Geddes baby?

I've put Sadie Beth on our bed a couple times while I'm getting dressed or putting laundry away. However, I've rethought this habit as she is quite adept at spitting up "projectile" style. Since I'd rather not have to deal with that on our nice duvet cover, she now hangs out in the pack-n-play.

Sadie Beth loves snuggle time with Daddy...and he looks very serious here for some reason. :)
I wonder what she was thinking/dreaming about here. If only we could read her mind.
At first we were wrapping her up like this for nap times and using the swaddle blanket for nighttime, but now we use the swaddle blanket for everything. It velcros into a little baby-straight-jacket, but she seems to really like it. It makes her feel snug. When we were using the receiving blankets she would fight and fight against them. She has gotten so much longer now that we can't lay her diagnolly like this any more.
Sometimes we lay Sadie Beth on the floor with this toy from her exersaucer. Most of the time she doesn't pay much attention to it, but every once in a while she will bat at the toys (my guess is unintentionally) and act surprised when she makes contact. Most of the time, she looks past the toy and "into the light." You see, there is a skylight in the living room that she adores. She stares endlessly at it like she wants so badly just to discover what lies beyond.
Because of her spitting up projectile style, we try to prop her up for a little bit after she eats. Sometimes it helps, sometimes not...like this morning. :)
Doesn't her head look really big in proportion to her body here? I don't think it's really all that big. We had these cute little newborn sized onesies like the ones she is wearing below, and now she is too big for them. She looks so teeny there...especially compared to now.
Mommy loves snuggling with her baby girl! I'm so thankful to not have to work right now. I treasure each moment with Sadie Beth. Every day is so precious, and they go by so fast!
Doesn't Sadie Beth look like her daddy in this picture? I think she definitely has his eyes, though probably have my mouth and chin.

Sadie Beth is checking out her giraffe friend. She likes to look at him, probably because he lots of bright colors and jingles when you shake him.
We had a visit from her Great Uncle Joe and Aunt Jan a few weeks ago. They came from Indianapolis. Soon, their daughter (my cousin) Jennifer, will have a baby boy! (due 11.05)
Yet another Anne Geddes moment. She is all curled up on our rocking chair. She looked so little compared to how big the chair is!
The next set of pictures is trying to catch Sadie Beth's many fun faces. She has the funniest expressions. I wish I could capture each in a picture so I never forget them, but I have a hard time getting the picture at exactly the right moment.
Excited baby!

Very happy baby! This is one of my favorite pics!
Not sure what to say about this one.
Swing pictures...the first few swing pictures were taken when Sadie bug was sick with her first cold. It was so sad. She was so pitiful....she wasn't fussy, but just sort of laid around looking helpless and miserable. I was pretty worried. She wasn't even 3 weeks old yet, and I have no idea where she got it from. We'd been careful about taking her out and having people wash their hands. Since then, we've been super-vigilant about it. We took her to the doctor, who confirmed that it was just a cold. A week or so later she was back to feeling pretty normal, after lots of Vick Vapor Rub, nose-sucking and a humidifier in her room.

More swing pictures...I just thought these were too cute not to post.

Awww............... Sadie Beth has great hair...it's out of control! And it looks a lot like her daddy's...before too long she'll have more hair than he does.
We have a belly button!!! Her umbilical cord fell off a few days before she turned 3 weeks old. It's kindof gross but I figured we should commemorate with a picture.
Bath-time snuggles with Mommy...Sadie Beth usually likes to take a bath. She especially seems to like getting her hair washed.

This was her first tub bath. Until then, we had been giving her sponge baths on top of a beach towel placed on the counter top. I think she actually liked that better.
More snuggle time with Mommy in the big rocking chair. We spend a lot of time here. This is where I nurse and we have our pre-bedtime routine.
Grammy loves to come over and play with Sadie Beth.
She is so much fun when she is waking up. Sometimes she has lots of smiles. Other times it is lots of grunts and squeaks. This was one evening when we were waking her up for her 7pm feeding. She is in the swaddles blanket, aka baby-straight-jacket, I mentioned earlier.
More sleepy shots. We've enjoyed going for lots of walks in our neighborhood. This day was a bit cooler so we had to get more bundled up before we could go out.
I think Sadie Beth really likes being outside in the fresh air. I know that I will miss our daily walks during the winter. It was a nice time to get out for a bit.
Usually she ends up falling asleep by the time we get home from our walks, which is great because when we get back, it's naptime!
Here is David giving Sadie Beth her first bottle, which she took like champ...a little too well, actually. I think she guzzled it down so fast she ended up with a tummy ache and fussed for quite a while. I think we might hold off on any more bottles for awhile. I think she might be getting confused between the bottle and the real-deal...me. :)
A very contented smile up at Daddy. She loves hearing him sing, and he is great at rocking her to sleep. We try to make sure they get to spend some time together every morning before David heads off to work.

Family time!!! Just over a week ago, Sadie Beth got to meet her Grandpa and Grandma Balzer and her Aunt Darla. They flew to Louisville for several days and we had a great time hanging out...but poor little Sadie Beth didn't get any attention at all....hehehehehe...right!

Aunt Darla and Sadie Beth getting to be life-long friends.

Big yawn for Grandma Balzer!

Grandpa and Sadie Beth getting to know each other. Grandpa was good at getting a fussy baby to settle down.
Gazing into the light...she could do this for hours...seriously...not exaggerating.

Here is David's famous specialty breakfast quiche! We had a delicious brunch with cinnamon roles, scones, fruit, and quiche.
More hanging out with the family!

We introduced to the church and dedicated on Sunday, October 14th. Everyone thought she was adorable, which she is. She was very well behaved during her first church service
Family picture time!

Here are the September babies at Grace! Introducing Elijah Blaise Grissom (9.09 -left), Sadie Beth Balzer (9.18), and Luke Aaron Wojnicki (9.14 - right). Sadie Beth will have her pick of the boys, I suppose. :)
The proud new Balzer family, but not too great of pictures.

We had a delicious meal after church at my mom's. She surprised David with one of his favorite dishes... KY Hot Brown Casserole.
I had a hard time deciding what Sadie Beth would wear to her dedication at church. She has several very cute outfits, mostly hand-me-downs, that were meant for warmer weather and I knew she probably wouldn't have a chance to wear them again. So, we decided on the cute little dress below for church (partially because it is the only outfit I have actually bought her). Then I changed her into another cute dress to wear over to Mom's. However, we projectile-styled it (spit up) onto that outfit in the 10 minutes she had it on, so it was time to change yet AGAIN, into option #3.

Isn't she a doll?

Check out the little thrush tongue! We have finished 2 rounds of medication and are getting ready to start round 3, a different med. It is only on her tongue and doesn't seem to bother her, but I would like to take her to get some pictures taken, but want to wait for it to go away.
Outfit #2, until she puked on it. The hat was size 0-3 mos, but HUGE on her, big head and all.
Cuddles with Daddy...and outfit #3, what you can see of it.

And we're done. If you've stuck with me...wow...you should get a prize. We hope you enjoyed our pictures. We sure love our little girl. :)