Busy, Busy, Busy!

I really have been slacking these past couple months with the blog, but there has been so much going on and it was hard to find the time to write, hopefully I will get better at updating more often!  
Well I can't believe Hayli is 5 MONTHS OLD today!  When I look back at the pictures of her in her first month I just can't believe how much she has changed, she is just getting so big!  A couple months ago I was really wanting to figure out how I could document her growth and milestones in a fun, different way, so I came up with this super cute idea...... doing it via chalkboard!  Its so cute and perfect for her baby book!  Here are the ones I have taken over the past couple months that I havent gotten around to posting.....

Watch Me Grow....

I still can't believe how lucky we are to have such a good baby!  She still is sleeping through the night, MOST nights, every once in a while she will get up around 5am, but not very often.  I had to totally stop nursing her because of problems she was having due to her acid reflux so now I just pump and bottle feed.  We still have been having problems with her acid reflux, her pediatrician kept telling us to up her dosage of medication until she was finally taking the ADULT DOSAGE.  She was still having problems so Derek and I decided we had, had enough, and we took her off the medication and to a chiropractor, trying desperately to find some alternative.  We are currently working with the chirorprator to find a solution for this problem so hopefully the next time I post things will be better!  :)  Other then that she is doing just great!  She is playing with toys, rolling over, reaching for everything that comes near her, grabbing her toes, babbling, cooing and (our favorite) laughing.  She can also almost sit up on her own, just give it a few more weeks and she will get there!  She is growing and learning at such a fast pace that is amazes me everyday!  Last Saturday I finally brought myself to clean out all her newborn clothes; it was seriously one of the saddest things ever!  I was in tears putting away all her little clothes, luckily she can still fit into most of her 0-3 month clothes so I didn't have to give up too much.

This is her cleaned out closet- I told Derek this means I get to go shopping for more clothes!  :)

Recently we bought Hayli a little bumbo chair because she is ALWAYS wanting to be sitting up now.  This has become her favorite thing in the world!  She just loves to sit in it and feel like a big girl, especially at dinner while Derek and I are eating!  The bumbo came with a tray filled with toys that I thought she was going to love but she actually hates!  It just makes her so mad that she cant get close enough to put the toys in her mouth, it is so funny to watch for a minute but then she gets too upset.  Luckily the tray comes off and it is now left off 24/7 for everyone's happiness.

She just can't take it!

A few weeks ago at grandma's house in Heber, grandma pulled out one of Cassie's old Johnny Jump Ups.  I thought she was going to be too little for it, but we put her in and and she just loved it!

Another one of Hayli's most favorite things is her daddy!  It is incredible to watch her light up when he comes around, it brings tears to my eyes almost every time.  Daddy's just have that different way of playing and caring that is so special, even mom's can't compensate for it!  If Derek gets home late and I have already put Hayli to bed the second she hears his voice she will wake right up and just stare at him until he will come over and talk to her.  Already she thinks that daddy means playtime and sometimes it gets so bad that I have to make him leave the room for a second to get her to settle down.  She LOVES to make her daddy laugh!

They love sticking their tongues out at each other :

Last week though, Derek broke both his arms!  One in a soccer game and the other longboarding.  He is in temporary casts right now, and on Wednesday he goes to get his real cast put on.  He wont be able get those casts off till right before Thanksgiving!  This has been a huge change for ALL of us to get used to.  He can't really hold Hayli, which is probably one of the hardest things.  But we are taking it one day at a time and are just happy knowing he will get his arms back eventually!

 

I have started work again.  I only teach a couple of dance classes and a few hours a week at the desk.  I am SO lucky because I get to bring Hayli and she is always so good!  Its fun to bring her and show her off, plus I don't have to be away from her.  She is a future ballerina for sure!

Sleeping in the dance studio while mommy works!

I have also started a gluten free diet.  :(  The doctor wants me to try it to see if it helps with Hayli's acid reflux.  I have been on it for about a week now and its the saddest diet I can think of.  If you know me, you know I live off of bread.  Its been a really hard thing to get used to, totally changing what I eat.  If anyone out there knows of good gluten free recipes or food PLEASE SHARE!!!  I need help!!!!  If this works I will have to be on it the whole time I am breastfeeding (which I plan to do till she is a year)  so I will take any suggestions anyone might have!

Last month we had to say goodbye to Derek's sister Cassie, as she left for college to BYU Hawaii and my brother Sean, as he left for his mission to Finland.  They both left on the same day and it was a little crazy having all the family in town at once but we had such a good time with them all.  It was really sad and hard saying goodbye to both of them.  But amazing things are in store for them and we cant wait to hear of all their stories to come!  We are thinking of you guys always!

Well this think that pretty much sums up the last couple of months for this Coulam family!  Its definitely a great life!  I will be updating more often so next time wont be so long.

XOXO

Hayli's Newborn pictures!

This has taken me forever but I am finally posting Hayli's newborn pictures!!  They were taken by Jorden Keith Photography when she was about 3 weeks old.  (I can't believe how much she has already changed!)
I really wanted to make sure that I got some good pictures of her in her blessing dress because the dress was so beautiful and hardly anyone got to see her in it, since we did the blessing only 3 days after she was born so that my dad could be there.  But of course, I think my favorite are the ones of her in her pink tutu!  Every little girl needs pink tutu pictures! ;)
Jorden was so great with her and she was so good through the entire shoot!  She was so awake and alert and loved all the big lights that were brought into the room.  Anyway, I loved how they all turned out, there were so many good ones but these are definitely my favorite!!  They are just so precious! 

  She is so beautiful!

In her blessing dress.  I am so obsessed with this dress, its so gorgeous!

So precious!

She is our little princess!

3 Months Old!

Tomorrow is my sweet baby girls' 3 month birthday!  I can't imagine life without her, it seems so weird to think that there was a time when she wasn't with us.  The past 3 months have been so amazing, some of the best of my life, everything is just so complete with her here with us.

I feel like the days with her just fly by, and every day she is getting bigger and bigger.  She has officially gotten into a definite daily routine of all her feeding times, napping times, playing times, bath time, and bed times.  Her acid reflux has gotten better but not gone away.  Her doctor had to up her medication because she still stops breathing every now and then, but it has definitely gotten better.  For the first 2 months of her life I was taking her into the doctor every week (no joke!) because of her acid reflux, or I thought she looked too pale, or I thought she wasn't eating as much, or because she was having diarrhea but we have made it through the last 4 weeks without visiting/calling the doctor once, and we have both survived so I'm pretty proud of that!  :)  At her 2 month appointment I made Derek come with us because I knew I wouldn't be able to handle being in the room and watching her get her shots so I had him sit with her so I could leave the room.  The whole "getting shots" process took about 30 seconds and Derek said her hardly cried.  She had definitely stopped crying by the time I got back to the room, but the super sad part was how sick she got that day from the shots.  :(  I couldn't believe it, it broke my heart.  She would sleep and then wake up crying (which she never does), she wouldn't eat, she would just cry until she fell back asleep.  I felt so bad!

These past couple of weeks she has gotten really clingy to Derek and I.  She really doesn't like for anyone else to hold her.  Its really strange because wherever we go she cries and cries when other people try to hold her and its SO unlike how she is at home.  But I'm sure she will grow out of it soon!  I just like to take advantage the time I have with her when she wants to be with me all the time!  She is the most perfect baby, I cant' believe it, and maybe I'm being a little bias but I really think she is THE most perfect little girl! She still loves to sleep, she sleeps all through the night (10:30pm-7:30am, she wakes up to eat and falls right back to sleep till usually 10:30am), and she takes great naps throughout the day.  She loves her bath time, and reading books with mom and dad.  She loves going on walks around the block and she totally LOVES going to her dads soccer games!  She can hold her head up when sitting, she drools SO much all the time, she is always sucking on her fist, she is liking her swing more and more, she has rolled over once (which I got pictures of), she is starting to play with her toys and she is talking so much.  She is such a happy baby and hardly ever cries, when she does its usually very easy to figure out what she needs and she stops within 2-3 minutes.  The one thing that she has come to totally dislike is her car seat.  This girl hates riding in the car unless mom or dad is sitting right next to her in the back.  Otherwise she is screaming her head off the whole ride.

I can't believe how blessed we are to have her in our home.  Hayli brings so much happiness and joy, it has made our lives that much better!  I remember being pregnant and how everyone likes to tell you how "you don't know what you are getting into by having a baby," and  "how difficult it is about to get," "how the first few months are always the hardest.'   I guess we are just lucky because having Hayli is the easiest, best thing we have ever done.  There has not been one moment of feeling frustrated with her, or of missing the days when she wasn't here with us.  She has completed our lives and our family, and has only made us love each other and her that much more.  I guess I am just lucky.  Happy 3 months baby girl!  Mommy loves you more then you know!

First days with Hayli

 My little girl!  She has grown SO much!

The classic "ooo" face!  haha

 First smile picture!

 So little!

Just starting to talk!

  

Big stretches trying to wake up!

 Beautiful girl!

 After getting her first shots.  :( Heartbreaking!

 Took this picture to text to Derek one day......

 A little while later I hear her making noise so I come in to check on her and she had ROLLED OVER!!!

 What a big girl!!

 A little mad that I am still taking pics instead of picking her up. haha

 Lilttle teapot

 Playing with her toys now!

Our precious girl!  <3  I love this pic!