Gabby’s personality has started to surface recently. Gone are the days of her sleeping all day, and starting at me blankly in the brief moments when she was awake. Now, she’s awake most of the day, full of smiles, kicks, squeels and jibber jabber.
She has the most beautiful smile. Last night I was trying to capture that smile on film. Of course, once I brought the camera out, she stopped giggling and became very interested in the camera. She was starting at it, studying intently, when all of a sudden… SHE WENT CROSS EYED. Luckily, as you can see above, I was able to capture the moment. I think it’s one of my favorite pictures of her. Hilarious.
Have I mentioned how much I LOVE THAT SWEET GIRL??!
Category Archives: Raising a Daughter
And it starts with a "B"
I really wish I knew what she was dreaming about when she smiles like that in her sleep, although, I think I have a pretty good idea…
I WANT TO BITE HER ALL OVER!!!!!
I can’t believe how much my girl has changed in just 7 weeks. Everyday, she looks more beautiful than she looked the day before. As much as I love watching her grow, I need to ask time to please SLOW DOWN. Please?
When I look at my boys I am reminded just how quickly the time passes by and how fast they grow. One day, you’re holding this sweet little baby in your arms, the next, you’re driving him to junior high school. While the experience of watching my children grow has been one of inexplicable joy, the reality of how quickly it all happens can be depressing. It truly is bittersweet.
Ok, enough of the mushy mommy talk. Let’s talk about how beautiful that girl is…
And you can’t have her!
We finally recieved Gabby’s first portraits last night. They were taken when she was 11 days old.
They define the word “Precious”.
I can’t stop looking at them and repeating out loud, “That beautiful girl is MY daughter.”
I wasn’t supposed to have a daughter. I was the mother of two handsome, intelligent, hilarious boys. They were my everything and we weren’t going to have any more children because we didn’t need anymore children. We had everything we ever wanted in our boys.
Family and friends would constantly ask us if were were going to “try for a girl.”
“No.” I would firmly respond to their inquiries. We will not try for a girl. We have two healthy, amazing boys and they are all we need.
I would also tell people that I didn’t think I could be a good mother to a girl. I didn’t have a good relationship with my mother growing up, she resented me and was always angry with me. I was afraid I’d be that way with my daughter.
Besides, two kids was ENOUGH. I couldn’t even imagine a third child in our house.
Little did we know… God had other plans for our lives. He knew that we needed a little girl, even though we didn’t realise it.
So I look at these pictures and I am in awe of the beautiful child that I see. The little girl with a face so sweet it melts my heart.
And she’s mine. She belongs to me.
And I love her. Oh, how I love her.
My birthday gift
My daughter.
I never imagined I would love her as much as I do. And she loves me right back. When she smiles at me like that, it takes my breath away and will bring tears to my eyes.
I went to see my mom this morning. She hugged me, which is something she never does, and she said “Happy birthday, mija, I love you.” She told me she was thinking about me this morning, how 33 years ago she gave birth to me, while my dad was drunk (I KNOW, my dad, THE PREACHER!) She told me she loved me so much, the same way I love my Gabby.
I never thought of my mother loving me this way. We’ve had so many problems in our relationship, there’s been so much negativity. I’ve never thought she likes me much. But when she said that to me today, I realised that there was a time when our relationship was beautiful. Before life got complicated she loved me more than anything. I was everything to her, I was her first little baby girl. Now, as I hold my daughter, I think of my momma holding me, kissing me and just LOVING me the way I love my daughter.
And it makes me happy. Happy to know there was a time in our lives were we just loved each other. Where she was my momma and I was her little girl and nothing else mattered.
Thank you for the birthday wishes, and THANK YOU TO THE BEST FRIEND a girl could have for thinking of me and reminding everyone that I’m an OLD HAG! I love you, ma’melly!
You don’t OWN me (SHE does)
You see that sweet, chubby little girl right there? The one with the adorable smirk on her face?
That little girl is The Boss of Me
She is The Boss of my boobies. They no longer belong to me. Nor do they belong to the previous owner (Tony). No, they are all hers and I must whip them out at her command.
She is The Boss of when I eat. If I just served a nice, hot bowl of soup and she wants the boobies that she is the boss of, all she has to do is let out a little cry and I must abandon the bowl of soup so she can feed her first.
She is The Boss of when and if I may pee. If she’s hungry and I have to go, I must hold it to feed The Boss first. If she’s tired and I have to go, I must hold it and rock her to sleep first. She’s also the boss of when I can go #’s 2-5. Holding that aint easy, either, let me tell YOU.
She’s also The Boss of when and if I sleep at night. I thanked her today because she’s been sleeping most of the night for the past 3 nights, but I know that she can change her mind anytime.
I fear The Boss.
I respect The Boss.
But mostly, I love The Boss. She’s the best “Boss of Me” I’ve ever had, even if she does throw up on me 19 times a day.
She’s also the cutest, most beautiful, sweetest boss I’ve ever had. I GLADLY work for her for free, in fact, it’s a priveledge.
I think I’m looooove
I love watching my daughter sleep. She makes these sweet little faces and the most heartwarming sounds you’ll ever hear. Coos and sighs and occasionally she’ll let out the cutest little fart you’ve ever heard. Or she’ll belch so loud, it actually makes me proud. I love to bend down and smell her, then gently kiss her chubby cheeks, or run my fingers softly over her thick, black hair. As I watch her, I think to myself how unbelievable it is that such a beautiful creature was formed inside of my body. And it overwhelms and humbles me.
It’s also a really great way to avoid doing the dishes, ya know what I’m saying?
My loss is her gain, or something like that
Gabriella had her first check up today.
My baby girl has already grown an inch and a half and put on 2lbs 3oz. That’s right, my baby already weighs 10.8. She’s in the 100% in the weight category and 75% in height. Doctor told me that if a baby has mantained their birth weight when they come in for their first check up, they’re happy. I have some GOOD milk and I’m proud OF it. (Because, I don’t have much to be proud of these days)
He told me that she is a very relaxed and calm baby and that he can tell she’s very loved. I told him that she IS very loved and has at least 4 people fighting to hold her at any given time. Then he said what I said yesterday…
“You can’t spoil her, so it’s great that she has so many people to hold and love her”.
I asked him if he could put that in writing so I could shove it in my husbands face when he got home from work. See, I was right! Like hardly ever ALWAYS!
I tried to take some pictures of my very big, healthy girl to show off just HOW big and healthy she is, but she wasn’t really in the mood for pictures… (didn’t stop me from taking them, though)
Not only does the girl have an appetite like mine, apparently, she has my temper as well.
Maybe your momma should have held YOU more often so you didn’t grow up to be SO MEAN!
The next person who tells me I’m “spoiling” my THREE WEEK OLD BABY because I pick her up when she cries is getting kicked in the ribs.
People like MY MOTHER and MY BABY’S DADDY.
I absolutely hate when people tell me that. She’s a newborn, I’m not going to let her scream and cry just so as not to “spoil” her.
I believe in letting a baby “cry it out” at some point. I did it with my boys so they could learn how to put themselves to sleep. But not at this age. She’s still too little.
And what the hell is so wrong with holding my baby anyway? I love her so much, I want her to be close to me. And she loves to be held.
I despise the term “spoiled” when referring to a newborn to begin with. The poor little baby has just been expelled from the uterus, where she was all warm and snug. She was thrust into the world that is foreign to her without a choice in the matter. I don’t blame her for wanting to be close to the only place she’s ever known. That’s not spoiling her, that’s called LOVING AND TAKING CARE OF HER.
I am not going to let my THREE WEEK OLD CHILD scream and cry so that gramma and daddy don’t worry about her being “spoiled.” Oh hell no, I’m not. I’m going to hold my little girl when she cries and I’m going to kiss her on sweet, chubby cheeks and tell her I love her and I’m going to smell her hair while I’m singing to her and I’m going to flip her her daddy off while I’m doing all of those things because he thinks I should have left her in her crib and let her cry herself to sleep.
Ok, maybe I won’t do that last thing, but I WILL give him dirty looks!
My little ballerina
Oh my God, I had no idea having a little girl would be this much fun. I love her so much and I can’t help thinking she’s the most beautiful little princess in the world. When I dressed her up in her little tutu (that my friend Robyn F made for her!) I forgot all about yesterday. She melts my heart, you have no idea how much…
