From this 2010

To this 2011

24 week and Christmas came and went.  Of course Willow got gifts.  Most were toys, educational ones, so that's good.  She did get some clothes to add to her wardrobe and that's cool too.  Next year she will be more aware of all the goings on.  She got to experience her first snow as well a couple days after Christmas. Not sure if she was impressed or not.

22 weeks weigh in.  Drum roll please.....

as you can see Willow pants LOVES her groceries !!!
Willow tried Avocado for the first time yesterday. She was pretty into them.  Sweet potatoes will be next.

This weekend we will be getting our Christmas Tree. Willow is a little to young to enjoy the experience so she'll stay with the grandparents.  But I'm sure she'll love looking at it when it gets decorated.  Check back for tree pics.

A lot of milestones have occured lately with Ms Willow pants.  Our first experience with squash

Our first bath in the big girl ducky tub

Such a big girl...sitting up assisted with Boppy

Then our visit with Santa

Stay tuned for our 22 week weigh in at the end of the week.

Willow had a big day today.  Weigh in day (21 weeks)

Then shopping and Santa

Then big girl bath in her ducky tub  

From this

to this

 in one year.

One year ago today we found out we were going to have a little Baby Nugget.  We are so happy you are here Willow Grace. We LOVE you

Willow sat up for the first time tonight with the help of her Boppy !!!!!

Willow's first Thanksgiving has come and gone.  She got to meet her cousins and see her great aunt and uncle.  Of course staying at g-ma and g-pa Hofmann's house was fun (for g-ma especially).  She got to try mashed taters, can't say that she enjoyed them much but she got to try them anyway.  Then the day after Thanksgiving was her 20 week weigh in.  Getting so big. 13 lb 8oz.  She is doing so good at grabbing things with each hand, and transferring things from one hand to the other. She gets distracted easily while eating tending to watch and follow people and whatever is going on in the room at the time.  Rice cereal eating it going well, she eats about a tablespoon at a time(usually). We have started feeding it to her twice a day now.  We have made our Christmas cards and can't wait to get them sent out. Watch your mail :)

Happy 19 week Willow pants.  My oh my how you have grown.  So much more coordinated and purposeful in her movements. Follows you where ever you go, so attentive.  Eating rice cereal like a big girl and trying real hard to sleep thru the night.   Everyone says she looks like Jim and my mom. I'm fine with that, I just hope she gets the Jackson side of my family (my dad's mom's side) feisty nature and the confidence to be her own person !!!!!  Watch out world :)

Willow had her 4 month....YES 4 month doc appt. today.  She's gaining like she should, growing like she should and reaching all her milestones! Yup overachiever!!! She has started waking up again in the middle of the night to eat and is eating 6-8 oz each feeding so we got the all clear to start rice cereal.So tonight before bed we mixed some up.  She did pretty good with it. Didn't spit too much out. I think it's a start and hopefully we can get enough in her to satisfy her thru the nigh.  So excited!  She got more vaccinations today and didn't do too bad. She came home and slept. 

Happy First Halloween baby Willow.  She was too young to actually go Trick or Treating.  She did have a costume but.............she has had a bad couple days. So she put on the costume for about 5 min.  Maybe next year she can go out and get some loot.

I know this is a blog about Willow pants but in a round about way this post is related.  Lately I have been thinking a lot about how much Willow has changed my life FOR THE BETTER and I keep coming back to MY grandparents and how sad I am that they will never get to meet her.  As the holidays get closer they are always on my mind every year.  All the special things that we used to do.  Well today as I took Willow on our daily walk I was yet again reminded about my grandparents.  Someone in our neighborhood was burning their fireplace(or woodburning stove). The smell of the wood smoke really reminded me of my grandparents.  Not sure why all of a sudden it came to me but it did. Every year as it got colder I remember that smell(we lived next door so I smelled it a lot).  I remember the way my grandpa's flannel shirt smelled of that smoke every time I hugged him. And for some reason today it really brought back those great memories.  Kinda sappy I know (especially for me), but I had to write this down for Willow to read someday.  I hope she has as many great memories with her grandparents as I did with mine.

Just 1 days shy of 16 weeks. Willow Grace weighs 12 lbs 15oz.  What a big girl she is.  She is really alert, grabbing some things and sleeping really well.  She CAN turn over she just chooses NOT to.  She rolls to her side and back.  When on her tummy she just really really wants to be able to move across the floor. She gets angry cause she can't.  When propped up on her pillow she tried to sit up on her own.  She sits in her Bumbo seat like a champ and LOVES LOVES LOVES to be outside.  She's a big eater and we are hoping that when she goes in a couple weeks to her ped appt. she will get the ok to try some solids. She smiles at everyone and every once in a while you can get a giggle out of her. It's so much fun to see how she's growing. I can't believe she's almost 4 months old. I try to slow down each day and really watch her, so I can remember how small she used to be. I'm enjoying every minute I get to spend with her and am so very fortunate that I can spend everyday with her.

Happy 12 weeks Nugget.  It's so hard to believe that she is that old already. Seems like yesterday she was born.  I was hoping she would be 11lbs today but nope :(  Oh well, she's still growin' like a weed.  She can really hold her head up and is a lot more alert and LOVES to be outside.  Getting her to sleep in her crib at night is getting a little better, we're workin' on it.

Happy 11 weeks Nugget!! 10lbs 10oz !!!! Can't believe it's been 11 weeks already.  She is doing great!  Holding her head up like a champ and has figured out she has hands. They aren't just those annoying things that keep popping her in her face.  She can follow a toy and really looks at you and smiles some. She has been sleeping pretty good at night and isn't too bad to get back to sleep after eating. She's a little furnace though so we are trying to figure out her wardrobe.  She is soooooooo hot so she usually hangs out in a onesie and socks most of the time.  But some of her really cute outfits are long sleeve and long pants.....she may only be able to be in those to pose for pics then change.  Check back next week for more updates

Happy 10 weeks Nugget.10weeks=10lbs!!!  Hard to believe!  She's doing really well. Eating 4 oz. now.  Sometimes we can stretch the time between feedings to 3-4 hours but usually it's still around 2 hours.  Night time has become a tad easier. Trying to get her to bed around the same time and she usually sleeps 4-6 hours before waking to be fed. Amazing how being able to get that little amount of sleep at a time actually seems like a LOT.  Who knew I could function on that little amount of sleep. I sure do get lots done when I'm up and going by 7 am each day .  She is very alert and is so strong.  Tummy time is fun, she gets her legs kickin' and can wiggle herself around.  She loves to walk around the house and outside and look at everything.  We are much more willing to take her out places now, we just have to take more stuff with us than we did before we had her. I am realling enjoying my time with her at home, who knew.  Her next doc appt isn't until she is 4 months old ( 4 MONTHS!!!) So that won't be til November. I just can't believe how time has flown by.

Willow had her 8 week doc appt. today.  She's growin like she should. I really need to keep track of the percentiles of her weight, length, and head circumference( I'm a bad mom).  Doc said we need to work on keeping her up more during the day so she will sleep at night.  Also said she should probably be eating more so we are going to try to up her intake.  She had her shots today also. She really did pretty good. She cried when she got 'em but as soon as they were done she fell asleep.  As I write this we've only been home a couple hours so we'll see how the rest of the afternoon/evening goes. She's already outgrown some of her newborn stuff, so I guess that does mean she is growing.  Doc was pretty impressed that Willow had already rolled from her belly to her back , she said they don't even ask about that til the 4 month visit. So YAY for our overachiever!!!!  I sure am enjoying this. I really didn't think I would be a good SAHM or if I even wanted to be a mom.  I'm am really glad we decided to do this.

Happy 8 week Nugget !!!!  Willow is really growing.9lbs 9oz. SOOO close to 10 lbs.  I just know by the time she has her next doc appointment on Wed. she will be 10 lbs.  She is much more alert and the other day actually rolled over from belly to back on her own.  Way to go Willow. What an over achiever!!!!  She has yet to roll from her back to her belly but I know it's only a matter of time.  She has been sleeping for up to 4 hours at a time at night which is AWESOME!!!!  Keep it up and we'll be getting HOURS of sleep soon!!!
You know I didn't know anything about babies before having Willow but everyone said I would know just what to do . And you know what??? They were right! I just seem to know what to do, it's so strange and I"m having such a good time staying home with her. 

Friday Ms Willow pants was 6 weeks old.  She's almost 9 lbs and doing good.  She seems more alert when she is awake and awake more during the day.  So far she is doing pretty good at night too.  She will have a couple times during a 24 hours period where she will sleep 3 to 4 hours before waking .    She seems to be cooing more and focusing on things around her.  She is still a BIG fan of being held. 
I had my 6 weeks checkup with my OB and got cleared to do what I want.  His words were " you can do whatever you want just don't do it all at once"  HAHAH, he must really know me :) 

I wanted to add her profile to compare to the ultrasound profile.  Looks just like her...don't ya think??

Update on Ms Willow pants. Her pediatrician called this A.M and her echo came back clear. No problems. So we will monitor her murmur and elevated heart rate but at this time there is no need for concern. So YAY!!!! She has her 2 month ( can you believe that???) doc visit on Sept 5 and she'll get her vaccinations( wait....did that make her sound like a dog??? ) Anyway.... on a cute note, we think she actually smiled. Not gas, but an actual smile. It's amazing how much she's grown and how alert she is now when she's awake. She LOVES to be held and isn't a fan when we put her down. But at this point you can't spoil her right??????
I've decided I need to start putting her in a her newborn clothes because before long she'll outgrown them. Even if we aren't going anywhere I'm going to try to get her in some of her clothes everyday. Stay tuned for more updates

Let's see, where did we leave off. Oh the EKG that Willow had showed a "left axis deviation" and from what I can tell doesn't always mean anything is wrong. But since the doc also heard a murmur on her exam they wanted to go ahead and do an echocardiogram as well. So we had that done on Friday and are now waiting for the results. Fingers crossed that there really is nothing to be concerned about. On another note she was 5 weeks on Friday and now weighs 7lb 15.5 oz. YAY!! Also another accomplishment is that we think we have officially gotten her graduated from the preemie/low flow nipple to the level 1 nipple. That means it won't take her FOREVER to eat. Check back for updates on the echo.

Friday Ms Willow pants had her doc appointment. She weighs 7lb 4 oz and has grown to over 20 inches. Everything is looking good. Next appointment( 2 months old) she will be getting her vaccinations, should be interesting.
Today she had her follow up carseat test and ........(drum roll please)..........SHE PASSED !!!!!!!!!! The only issue was her heart rate was elevated and they were a little concerned so they called her doc and she ordered a EKG for her. Luckily they were able to get her right in. So we won't know the results for a few days as it had to be sent off to a pediatric cardiologist. I'll keep you posted. And since she did pass her carseat test that means we got to break out the swing!!!! YAY!!!