The Blue Wrap

My sister made this blue wrap carrier for me, and so far it works really well because it tucks Amy's legs up and keeps her real warm close to my body. It almost looks as if I'm pregnant, except her heads popping up through the hole.

My Best Friend

I keep reaching points where I think I couldn't love Ryan more, and then he surprises me again. I feel so blessed to be privileged to spend my life with my best friend. The other night I had some intense pain, and though Ryan couldn't do anything to take it away, he spent the entire night holding me, even though it meant that he would be dead tired the next day at work. The lyrics to the songs I had on our wedding video apply more every day I'm with him:

"When I see you smile, I can face the world...you know I can do anything"

"When I see you smile, I see a ray of light, I see it shining through the rain."-Bad English
Ryan does bring comfort and sunshine even when it seems things are rainy, and for that I am so grateful.

Ryan...

makes me feel like I can do anything: be a great mom, sew, sing, be a scholar, make a difference in the world, or whatever I want to do.

makes me smile when he holds his baby girl and talks to her.

makes me feel like the best version of myself.

He makes me...

feel safe and secure...he's my protector.

cinnamon rolls on Sundays (well, used to till my gallbladder started acting up and I have to shun butter...now he hides the goodies in the house from me so I'm not tempted too much)

drool when he gives me back massages.

I love the way he...

supported me in my schooling and read my history books aloud in crazy accents.

kisses and hugs me.

likes hanging out with little kids. He longs for the day he can toss Amy in the air I think.

Ryan...

strikes poses without even knowing it sometimes, which always makes me smile.

makes my life sunny.

In a nutshell, I am grateful for this amazing friend and husband! I'm so grateful we can be sealed for time and all eternity.

How Much the Munchkin's Grown

So...I think it's time for a comparison picture of how much Amy's grown, don't you?

More Pics

Sorry the one photo's sideways.

Chubby Cheeks

I love Amy's cheeks! Probably one of the only things she gets from me.

All Dressed Up

It is so fun dressing up baby girls! This dress is one that I apparently wore when I was a little munchkin. It's good we tried it on her this week, because I don't know how much longer it'll fit around her arms.

These little booties were given to me when I was blessed as a baby.

It's amazing to think that she ever fit inside of my belly.

Cute Little Feet

It's funny how relative some things are. When I look at Amy on my lap, she looks huge. When she's on Ryan's lap, she looks tiny. When I hold her feet in my hands they look like they're getting so big...when I put my feet up to them, they look tiny again.

About the Sunday Photos

So...you don't believe me? Well, look at these beauties! In Ryan's defense, it's hard to remember to smile when you're focused on taking the picture right. We had one that was SUPER cute of Ryan and me, but then only Amy's eyes were showing, just peeping over where the picture cut off. :) Na ja, es macht nichts, neh?

ENDLICH!! (finally, in German)

This is how Amy likes to sleep -- all BUNDLED up. If she's not bundled up like this, she looses the binki and then fusses about it until you put it back in. If she's bundled like this, her head is up and gravity is on our side. The yellow blanket is a quilt made by Ryan's Grandma Weight. The pink one is a handy dandy velcro "star" blanket my parents brought back from China for her. Unfortunately, she's too long for it to work as intended, but it does keep her other blanket snug around her, so it's all good.

Here's one of several pictures we tried to take Sunday of Amy in her cute little church outfit. Yet, most of them were not all the photogenic for one or both of us. So, we decided to post the best of them all...

Here Amy's being held by my cousin, Sarah. Jeff and Sarah came for some of Ryan's delectable cinnamon rolls Sunday, and Sarah was not adverse to having some baby time.

No Photos

For the life of me, I can't find our camera. We took some cute pics on Sunday of Amy in a little pink dress I sewed, being held by her adoring pappa...but now I can't find the camera. She's still cute as a button and getting squishier each day. My brother wants her to be in the 98th percentile for "chubbiness" by the time we bless her. He suggested like a marathon, I host a nursathon for her. :) She'll get chubby on her own I figure, and I'm more inclined to get some things done around the house. :)

Medical Costs

Has anyone ever thought how crazy expensive it has become to have kids in this country? I don't mean this post to come off as a rant, because Ryan and I were very blessed to be discharged early from the hospital and have the baby naturally, which drastically decreased what we have to pay, but I just want to point out how much things have increased as food for thought.

In 1942 my grandmother gave birth to her first child, Diana. For whatever reason, she was in the hospital for a week with Diana. It cost $50 if I've been told correctly. Now, many people might say "Yeah, but the cost of everything has gone up since then...50 was probably a lot back then." True...I agree, $50 would have been a lot of money back then, but being a history major I tried to find out what a poor wage would have been in the 1940s: 1,000 dollars would have been a poor wage. In 1942 my grandma was paying one-twentieth of their annual income for Diana's delivery etc. If Ryan and I had not had insurance to help a bit, we would have been paying one FOURTH of our annual income!! And that without $1,500 for an epidural, $2,300 for an additional day in the hospital and other pain medications. If that had been tacked on it would have been almost a third of our annual income!

My advice to anyone trying to save money with the birth of their baby (excluding circumstances such as where the baby has to visit the NICU or there are complications with the delivery)

1. If you can do it, don't get an epidural. It's about $500 for the shot and $1,000 for the anesthesiologist. I believe sometimes it's even harder for the husband than the wife, that is if you have labor like me. Ryan cried to watch me go through the pain, and if we weren't determined not to get an epidural, I think Ryan would've been the one to ask, not me. I was too busy trying to get through each contraction.

2. Labor at home as long as possible...it's almost $25 per hour.

3. If it's possible to leave the hospital early, do it.

I'm glad we were able to have Amy with fewer costs and am VERY grateful for it.

Growing, Spitting up and Cooing

Amy continues to grow well. Her legs and arms are starting to get chubby...we are anxiously awaiting the day that her belly gets chubby too. She has also taken to making really cute sounds. She is supposed to take this multi-vitamin cherry flavored liquid to ensure she's getting enough Vitamin D, but ultimately we might have to figure something else out. She hates the stuff so much and always tries to gag and throw it up afterwards. The most she's been able to summon up in the past was a mouthful of spit-up, but last night she spit up at LEAST two feedings worth. I had just gotten out of the shower before feeding her and giving her the vitamin drops and needless to say, she and I got in the bathtub to clean ourselves off. I am going to have to figure out a better way of getting her to take it, or pay the fee to have my breast milk proved sufficient enough in Vitamin D. I'd be very surprised if I don't have enough Vitamin D in my breast milk, but it's 6$ for the drops and 60$ for the testing, so we've just done drops.

Ryan's mother, Jan, is visiting with us and it's been great to have her. Her company is very much appreciated during the day while Ryan is at work and she's helping me sew a dress for Amy for her blessing. She also showed me how to make the carmel icing for the chocolate cake...a Bollinger family tradition. We had it last night...yummm!

Steph's Sweater

I really enjoy being a Mom.


This is a cute sweater made by Ryan's sister Stephanie. We had to document it before she outgrew it.

Our tall baby

Amy already fits into 3 month old clothes. I am guessing that all the other clothes we got that were for shorter babies won't work on our kids...since they seem to take so after Ryan.

This little outfit looks like it will work for the week...but depending on how she grows, not much longer than that.

Should I take this as a sign that ALL of my children will tower over me? Yet, I was 21 inches long I think. But, obviously somewhere along the line being tall became less important to my body. I think it pooped out in 6th grade. It decided "who needs to be tall, if you find a tall husband he can get the cereal down for you...see?" :) Thankfully that's what happened, but maybe my body also had a back up plan of investing in a ladder.

Our Dr's Visit

Well, Munckilina here does NOT like being examined at the Dr.'s office, but we were able to find out how much she's weighing now and how much she's grown. So, when she entered the world she weighed 8 lbs 13 ounces and was 21.5 inches long. Now she's 9 lbs 12 ounces and 22 inches long. She's in the 81 percentile for weight and 91 percentile for length. We got some saline drops to help with her stuffy nasal cavity and we're supposed to give her some Vitamin D stuff. It's cherry flavored, but she definitely thinks Mommy's milk is better. She gave me really odd facial expressions as I gave her some today.