Mummy's Little Angel...

Nothing new really happening, just felt like posting a new picture of my lovely lil' bean and having a quick mushy moment about her. We are all doing brilliantly and are finally starting to settle into being a family. I know that sounds odd, considering Anya is 12 weeks old, but it's just now starting to feel comfortable and natural. I look forward to waking up in the morning so I can go into her room and laugh with her. She wakes up in the morning and chats to herself and then cracks the biggest smile when I go in and greets me with a laugh. I love her 11pm feed because she is sleepy, warm and cuddly and still smells of her bath. I love sitting her on my lap and having a "serious conversation" with her one minute (I swear, she talks to me) and then erupting into fits of giggles with each other. I love changing her nappy and letting her lay naked on the change mat. She loves this and kicks, smiles and laughs for as long as I let her stay naked (may prove worrisome in her teens!). But my absolute favourite part of being a mum is bathtime. My little girl is a fish at heart and is never happier than when she is in the tub. She has a quick wash and then she kicks and splashes for as long as she is happy to do so. I invariably end up soaked but it doesn't matter because it makes her happy, and that makes me happy. At 30, I finally feel like I know why I am here and what I am meant to be doing. It's simple really, I am here to be Anya's mum and all I need to do is love her. And that is so very simple to do.

When you become a mother you stop being the picture and instead become the frame.

Lots of love
Summer
xXx

Well Hot Damn, the Girl Can Sleep!

Our little Anya is now 11 weeks old and has been going through a few growing pains lately. She is getting very difficult to settle and we have found that the only way to calm her is to let her sleep on my chest. May not sound like that much of a hardship I know, but it means I am stuck on the sofa all day every day. The housework has been piling up and we needed to find something that would settle her. So today we went shopping and I used my birthday money to buy her a new bouncy chair. It bounces, it rocks, it vibrates, it has a pressure sensitive foot rest and a light up toy bar that attaches as well. It plays music and nursery rhymes but more importantly...SHE SLEEPS! Yay! Best damn birthday present I ever got! LOL

Lots of love
Summer
xXx

First Mother's Day!

Well, in the UK anyway. My first mother's day...I can't believe it. It still sometimes shocks me that I am a mum and Anya is 10 weeks old already...surely it will sink in soon. :)

We're all doing beautifully though. Anya is rapidly piling on the pounds. She was 7lbs 8oz at birth and is now 12lbs 2oz...and it shows too! She almost out of her 0-3 month clothes already. Although that is partly due to her length. She's grew 8cm in the first 8 weeks! Or for you Canadians out there...that's just over 3 inches. It looks like she's going to be tall...thank god she inherited the Cashmore genes rather than the Phillips genes! :)

She had her 8 week check on the 21st and everything went well. The doctor was happy with her progress and amazed at her growth! She then had her first immunisations and mummy cried almost as much as Annie. It was horrible and the poor little lady was so upset. It broke my heart and I have to take her back for round two in another two weeks. :(

We're also finally getting moving on the immigration forms. Andy's police check came back last week and we have been filling in all the forms and getting all the necessary paperwork together. What a bloody job!! I can't believe how time consuming it has been. I have to do some photocopying tomorrow (and by some I mean hundreds of pages...eek!) and then hopefully it should be getting sent off by Tuesday or Wednesday. So please, cross fingers, toes, legs AND eyes for us that everything goes through ok. :)

I've also posted February's video on YouTube. The link is on the right.

Lots of love
Summer
xXx

Fat Bottomed Girl...

...you make the rockin' world go round!!

It's official...our daughter is a fatty! We were in to baby clinic today and she weighs in at a hefty 11lbs 4oz!! That's a gain of 1lb 2 oz in two weeks. I can't believe it. The midwives at clinic were impressed with her progress though so I guess she's still within the normal range.

She is doing beautifully though. She smiles and chats and is more alert every day. The colic is still fairly bad though and she spends a good portion of the day grumping and crying. But she quickly settles with a cuddle. We bought a sling last week too and she loves being in it while I potter around the house getting work done. Although the biggest news is that she is now sleeping through the night!! For the past week and a half - the day after my last post actually - she has been sleeping from 11pm until around 7:30am. It is amazing and I am finally starting to feel human again. :)

I've added a couple more pictures, mostly off of my mobile phone. Click the links on the right.

Lots of love
Summer
xXx

6 Weeks Old...

...and her personality is starting to come out. She has been chatting and smiling for awhile now but she's finally looking at us like she knows who we are. It's so nice to go into her room in the morning and to have her look up at me, crack a huge grin and start cooing at me. It makes my heart melt every time she does it.

I think we're also getting close to sleeping straight through as well. She used to wake every four hours through the night, but she's now going almost 6 hours. A couple more weeks and she may even go a full 8 hours! Ah sleep!! :) I cannot wait.

She was in to baby clinic last Wednesday for a weight and health check and she is a little porker! She was 7lbs 8oz when she was born and she's now 9lbs 15oz. Almost 10 pounds!! Good lord! I knew she was getting bigger though...I had to pack away all her newborn clothes last week. The health visitors were all really happy with her development though. She's holding her head up for longer each day, looking at her hands and feet and focusing on toys when we hold them up to her. She's doing great and Andy and I are loving having her with us.

Lots of love
Summer
xXx

Our Girl Smiles!!

And it is the cutest little smile ever! She's been smiling for about a week now, but she'd only do it if we smiled at her. Now she just smiles for no reason at all. And she's talking to us as well. She grunts and grins and I adore the lil sweetie! I've put a video of her grinning up in the video section on the right as well as a couple more photographs as well.

AND...she's 5 weeks old today!! :) I can't believe how quickly the days are passing.

Lots of love
Summer
xXx

Blog Updates

I've been a busy girl today and have finally managed to create a video section on my blog. You can click through each individual video through the menu on the right or go direct to my YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/profile?user=summcash

Go have a look!

Lots of love
Summer
xXx

Four Weeks Old...

...and she's growing like a weed!! The health visitor came by on Wednesday and she weighs 9lbs 5 oz. She has gained almost two pounds in just under four weeks! The health visitor is happy with her progress though and has discharged us to clinic. That means they won't come to the house anymore but we can still pop in to the clinic whenever we want if we have any concerns about Anya. We do have to go about every two weeks though just to monitor her weight and progress.

She is growing so quickly...it amazes me! She is getting really good at holding her head up and can support it for longer and longer every day. She also is starting to focus on me and Andy. It's so nice when I'm talking to her and she looks right at me. She's also grinning as well!! My little girl makes me so happy. She's my little star.

Although...I have to ask...how the hell does the government expect you to take a passport photo of a baby and STILL conform to their strict photo guidelines?? Andy and I spent almost an hour trying to get a decent picture of her the other night and it was virtually impossible. Although the pictures we came out with are HILARIOUS!! I have to put them up here...they are too funny not to share.

Lots of love
Summer
xXx

Three Weeks Old....

....and colic has settled in.

Piss.

On the plus side:

I quit smoking 1 Year, 18 minutes and 11 seconds ago (365 days). I have saved £1,157.99 by not smoking 5,475 cigarettes. I have saved 2 Weeks, 5 Days and 15 minutes of my life. My Quit Date: 12 January 2007.

Lots of love
Summer
xXx

Two and a Half Weeks...

...and we're exhausted! But absolutely loving every second of it. Anya is growing so fast and is putting on weight with every health check she has. She is doing really well and we are finally starting to settle in to being parents. It's only just started to feel real to us. For the first week and a half it felt as though we were her babysitters and her real mum and dad would be coming to collect her soon. It's nice to finally feel like she is ours forever.

My mum, dad and brother got here on New Year's Eve for a visit and I think they fell in love with her. Andy and I hardly held her the entire week they were here as they had to cram a couple months of cuddles into one week. They spoiled her rotten (which we were expecting...first grandchild/niece) and left on Sunday. Hopefully we'll be moving back to Canada in a couple months and they will be able to see her whenever they want.

Anya is a little darling and I am loving being her mummy. I have a hard time looking at her and not smiling. We are finally a family now and I have never been happier with my life. I have put up loads more pictures of my little girl. Click on the "Photos" section to the right.

Lots of love
Summer
xXx