week 15

i'm starting to lose track of the weeks, which is what i hear happens around 3 months.   i still can't believe elise is still only 3 months old; we feel like we've been parents for much longer!  i must say, motherhood has gotten much easier during the past month, which is in large part due to the fact that nursing has improved a lot.  it's improved so much that my story will actually get published in a book.  thanks to all your prayers, we are now successfully nursing and only giving 1-2 bottles a day and best of all, i'm only pumping once a day!!!  YEAH!  i can't tell you how happy i am to come to this point because there were many moments where i really questioned all the pumping/cleaning/bottle/nursing cyclical madness.

when i look back on these past few months, i realize that we were basically in a fog the first two months but things became gradually easier after that.  we were just talking today how we feel like we're in a parenting groove and although there are still challenges (i.e. NAPS!!) we feel much more confident as parents.  speaking of naps, elise is still not napping more than 15-30 minutes unless she is being held or pushed in the stroller.  i will likely start some form of nap training during her fourth month.

today, we had to take elise to the pediatrician because we've noticed that she has somewhat of a curved spine and she always tends towards the right.  when she sleeps, sometimes her body curves to a C position. thankfully, the doctor said that it was not serious and we didn't have to worry...although i do wonder if a chiropractor would say the same thing.  elise was also developing a rash under her neck and despite us smearing all sorts of creams and ointments, the rash was just spreading and getting worse.  she would often scratch it and it was so hard to see this as a parent!  the pediatrician said that it is actually a fungal infection and she gave us the right ointment (lotrimin) to apply.  elise is also developing a slight case of eczema and she has sensitive skin, overall.  

bryant's on spring break this week, which means...spring break for mommy!  yeah!  it has been so great spending a lot of time together as a family.  since bry usually comes home right before elise's bedtime, he doesn't get to spend as much quality time with her as he would like.  i think they had a lot of good bonding time this week.  :) 

some photos and videos: