Dear Rylee~

You are three months old today.

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How can it be? It seems as though I was waiting forever and preparing and rushing for you to arrive and now you're here and teaching me to slow down.

Be still and know that I am God.
Psalm 46:10

We went from a family of three to a family of four exactly three months ago. And time, for a while, seemed to stop in the warmth of our happiness and love and life.

And when time started up again, it took a slower pace.

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A cricket chirped outside the window early this morning before the sun came up. Would I have noticed it before? I bring you to my chest and breathe in the quiet. The breeze through the open window tells tales of autumn. Soft sighs chirp from you bundled in my arms.

You smell like Heaven and it's so incredibly hard for me to put you down even for a second. You are Momma's girl, sweet Rylee.
Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing Okay, okay....you're Daddy's girl, too. I think he has some sort of magical potion that calms you the second he scoops you up.
Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo PrintingYou just sort of melt into his chest while letting out a sweet sigh the moment he holds you. Daddy's little girl.

At three months, you have most definitely graduated from the newborn stage. The thrush is gone and nursing is blissful again. You are wearing size 2 diapers and I dressed you in your first 3-6 month outfit yesterday.
Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing You can still wear some of your 0-3 clothes. You are still swaddled for every nap and at night. The Miracle Blanket is a miraculous thing....I'm just saying.

You started sleeping in your crib about two weeks ago and have adjusted well. You are a tummy sleeper and this freaked Momma out for a bit, but I think I finally figured it out. It's rather simple, I just swaddle you in the Miracle Blanket and then lay you on your side on the changing pad that is in your crib. I roll a thick blanket and place it in front of your tummy so you feel like you are sleeping on your tummy but are actually on your side and cannot roll. Genius, I know.

I have the camera monitor right in front of your face so that I can see you fall asleep. Daddy thinks it's creepy, but I love watching your little eyelids get so heavy until they finally close.

You are nursing about 6 times a day and taking 3 naps. You usually fall asleep about an hour after you wake up in the mornings, then take your big nap from 1-4 in the afternoon, then take a short snoozer between 5:30 and 6:30. You are sleeping through the night and for the most part, have been since you were 6 weeks old. I usually put you down around 9:30 and bring you to my bed around 6:30 in the morning where I nurse you and you sleep with me till 9 or 10. You have proven to me that you can go 8-9 hours at night without nursing, but I usually have to go in your room a couple of times throughout the night to pop your sassy back in your mouth. You love to lay in my bed and nurse and have become a tad spoiled in this department. You usually fight me if I try to nurse you anywhere besides my bed or the rocking chair in your room. And that's okay with me....except when we are out running errands and you get hungry and sitting in the front seat of my car just won't do.

My sassy little girl.
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You are talking up a storm! I love hearing you babble away as if you think I know exactly what you are talking about. We started including you at the dinner table a few weeks ago and you just chat away, throwing in your two cents like the rest of us. You love your bouncy chair
Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing and laying on the floor with your Baby Einstein mat. I also caught you gnawing on the elephant that hangs from your car seat....so cute! Oh and FYI, you despise your car seat....if there was a word stronger than "hate", I would use it to describe your feelings toward that contraption. I don't get it....but your brother hated his, too.

Rylee, you bring so much joy to this family.
Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing Your brother tells you every.single.day. how much he loves you and thanks me for you. You have no idea how loved you are by each member of our little family. Your smile alone makes my heart do somersaults.

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I wanted you for so very long, my sweet, little angel.

You have this gentle calmness about you and when I feel irritated at life, all I have to do is pick you up and breathe you in.

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I've called on God's guidance in these calm moments more than ever. "Lord, let me mother my daughter according to Your will." His whispers are heard so clearly when I let go of the busy.

You may be new, but you bring with you the presence of old stories and songs with a lazy rhythm. Appreciate the silence, Mama. This stillness is for you and me.

And this is the stuff of life.

Happy 3 months, Rylee bug!!

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~Love Mama