12 Week Picture

Yesterday was 12 weeks with our little Gwen. It's been a bit since Gwen wrote everyone a letter. Hopefully, she will let everyone know how she is doing soon!

Survival!

We'll call this post survival because we've survived some milestones this past week!
Gwen (well really Mom and Dad) survived her first time being left with someone other than Grandma and Grandpa. Mike and I went to his cousin Katie's wedding last Saturday night. It was a beautiful wedding and we actually allowed ourselves to relax and have a great time. Mr. Prieb even wore a tux -- I failed to get a picture of him in it though.
Our good friends Cyril and Teri Russell were kind enough to come over and stay with Miss Gwen for SIX hours. They said she was great, but I'm pretty sure they wouldn't tell us if she wasn't. :-)

Teri sent us proof that she was having a great time!

Second part of survival is that Gwen started day-care on Monday and I went back to work full time. I have to admit there were a few tears (from me -- just smiles from the girl), but after three days, I'm happy to report it's getting much easier and I'm actually enjoying being back at work. Our schedule this week is that I drop her off before work and Mike (who's on his midnight shift) picks her up around 4 pm -- I think Mike's getting the better end of the deal this week! We're feeling great about our day-care choice, Jacque has been in business for a really long time and definitely has passion for kids. What makes Jacque's even better is Gwen's friends, Brody and Bre Hutts, (remember the Monkey and the Chicken from Halloween?!) go there too! We're sure they are looking out for her and showing her the ropes. Mike said when he went to pick Gwen up on Monday, Jacque was changing her and a little boy was holding her hand. So sweet, Dad had better watch out, the boys are already after our little cutie pie!

A few weeks ago -- when Gwen's colic was in full swing -- we had family pictures taken. Gwen was not full of smiles yet and didn't exactly cooperate the best. Diana did an awesome job and amazingly managed to get some great pictures!

Mom and Dad staring at Gwen -- our favoite pastime these days!

Sleeping Beauty

Already has daddy wrapped around that tiny finger of hers!

Our sweet little angel.

Our SCREAMING little angel!

We hope you all have a very Merry Christmas . . . we're thinking Gwen will have to share her thoughts on this special time of the year very soon!

Gwen's 12 Days of Christmas

Gwen's version of the 12 days of Christmas. Rather than repeat every verse, Gwen says, just go through it once!

On the twelfth day of Christmas Gwen gave to us... 

Twelve filled up diapers

Eleven unused 'onesies'

Ten tiny toes

Nine months of prepping

Eight baby bottles

Seven solid hours sleeping

Six dirty burp cloths

Five doctor bills!

Four grandparents adoring

Three months of colic

Two exhausted parents

And One Healthy Happy Baby!

Gwen has already met Santa! 

December? Where did November Go?

What has happened since Thanksgiving?! Last Saturday, Gwen went to her friend, Lilly's, 3rd birthday party! What a fun time Gwen had at the party. There were so many kiddos running around, and delicious cake and ice cream. Gwen of course didn't get to have cake, but enjoyed seeing all of her friends.

Tamie sent me this picture while I was at work this week.  I'm sure some of you have already seen this picture on Facebook; Grandma couldn't help but post it.

Monday, Gwen had another Upper GI test done. She was, as always with doctor visits, on her best behavior. Not only was Gwen good for the doctors, she also had great results! There were no signs of re-flux and it showed she is digesting her food much better. Tamie and I are continuing to give Gwen the mixture of breast milk, formula and rice cereal, if it's not broke don't fix it, right?! This mixture seems to keep Gwen happy and full. 

Gwen lifting her head on her boppy pillow! 

Thursday was Gwen's 2 month check up. We are happy to report that Gwen has surpassed the 10lb mark! She weighed in at 10lb 3oz, 22 inches long. Not all of the appointment went well. Along with weighing in, Gwen had her 2 month shots. She did NOT appreciate the shots!  

Gwen already has an Ipod, but she likes her Ipeed better.

Today Gwen got to meet yet another new friend! Lakin Vianne! Lakin is the daughter of Jenny and Eric Rector of Hillsboro, and was born November 17th. Only six short weeks apart from our little one. It was great to visit with parents who are going through some of the same struggles and fun times we are going through. 

Biggest smile we've been able to catch on camera!

Along with digesting her food much better, came so many SMILES! It has been hard to see our girl cry and fuss so much, without any smiles as she struggles with Colic. It seemed like this week Gwen took a huge turn for the better. Gwen has been sleeping 7-8 hours at night, waking up for breakfast, then easily laying back down for another nap. Such a relief for two tired parents!

Gwen all dressed up to go to church!

On non baby related news: Tamie and I have to prepare our home for an open house on Sunday. We've had three different people look at our house. All with the same response, 'It's too small'. Yes, Tamie and I both agree it's too small! We'll keep being patient for now. We can't get this house sold soon enough!

Waking up and playing with her toys.

8 Week Picture

Gwen, again with her Cubs teddy, posing to show how much she has grown.

Gwen's First Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving day was spent with my parents, Steve and Rita, Grandma Martens and Sue Ward stopped by to meet our little girl. It was a great dinner, and even better dessert! The Prieb family has so many things to be thankful for. 

Gwen's Thanksgiving outfit

This past weekend was obviously Gwen's first Thanksgiving, but it was also her first big road trip. Gwen has been on shorter trips to Salina, but this trip was an over nighter! We started early Saturday morning heading back to see Tamie's parents in Sedan, Kansas. Trying to time out Gwen's eating schedule with our driving schedule was the biggest task. Gwen eats every three hours. So, before we made it all the way to Tamie's mom's house we stopped in to see Norman and Diana Reeves. Norman was Tamie's pastor and friend through Tamie's teen years, and remains a good person to talk to when times get chaotic. After a quick stop to catch up with the Reeves, and to feed Gwen, we took off for the final 45 minutes of our drive. 

Gwen keeping warm 

Gwen was a perfect little girl the entire three plus hours she rode in her car seat. This made Tamie and I very very happy! Once we got to Tamie's mom's place we let the girl stretch out and eat while we ate. Her break from the car seat was short lived, and we were on the road again, this time heading further south to Bartlesville, Oklahoma. We made it to Bartlesville and still no crying! Hard to believe! We quickly checked in at a hotel and Gwen got to stretch, play and of course, EAT! While there, Gwen enjoyed her first Christmas light show! And then a nice dinner with Uncle Bob, Aunt Nancy and her family. After all of that, Gwen was ready for bed and nearly slept the entire night!

Yelling for the Chiefs, luckily Gwen doesn't yet understand how terrible the Chiefs are!

Sunday morning all three of us were up early and headed back to Sedan, for dinner with Tamie's dad, Tom. Just a short 45 minute drive back to Sedan. At Tom's we enjoyed fried catfish and mountain oysters for Thanksgiving! Unfortunately, no HORSEMEAT was served! Gwen finally got to meet some more of her cousins, and spent some time being cuddled by Aunt Nancy. Right after lunch we packed the girl up, and headed north, back to McPherson. What a great Thanksgiving, made even better because of our happy girl!

Trying on her pink cowboy boots!

Today Tamie and I put up our Christmas tree and holiday decorations. Which basically means, I push and pull totes out of the shed while Tamie fills the house with Christmas decor. Gwen is looking forward to some doctor visits next week. Next Monday, the 5th, Gwen goes back for another Upper GI test to see how she's digesting her food. Thursday the 8th is another big day with Gwen's two month doctor check up. Tamie and I are excited to see how Gwen's GI test goes and to see how our little girl checks up with the doctor.

Gwen's checklist is normally done every three hours!

We'll leave you with that for the week, hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!  

It's to COLD out!

Changes

Tamie and I have been taking everything one day at a time with Gwen. Gwen's colic recently took a turn for the very worst! Last Monday we took our little girl back to the doctor to attempt to try something new to help relieve Gwen's anxiety. The doctor came up with a cocktail for Gwen to drink, 2oz breast milk, half scoop of formula, and one teaspoon of rice cereal! And what a turn around we have seen with our girl! Since Monday, we have had only normal baby crying. No more three to five hour scream sessions! Tamie and I could not be happier. Having a happy, sleepy baby has made our lives, and Gwen's so much better. As of Thursday, Gwen weighed in a 9lbs 4oz, the formula mix has really helped Gwen put on some weight! 

In non-baby related news, Tamie and I have put our house on the market. We know, we know, as if we don't have enough going on. We happened to find a house that fit us and our baby just right! We currently have a contract on another house, contingent on selling our current home. Very exciting, very busy times! We will leave you with that for the week. Here's a few quick pictures of Gwen, and proof that she is finally a sleepy, happy baby!

Such a good sight to see, a yawning Gwen!

Such a great feeling to hold a smiling baby!

Gwen has recently learned to use that lower lip to get what she wants!

Pic from this morning. Gwen is not happy about being woke up to eat!

Happy baby! 

Busy Little Girl

Our little girl has been quite busy this week, actually, all three of us have. 

Last Wednesday we took Gwen with us to my BPU five year service award dinner. She did great through the entire lunch! 

Friday, Danielle, a childhood friend of Tamie's, brought her toddler, Addyson to meet Gwen. 

Saturday, they shopped Main Street for the Holiday Open House. 

Sunday, Tamie and I officially became members of First Christian Church, the same church where we were married, and have been attending for over the past two years. We are very happy to be a part of such a great church family! 

Monday, Tamie and Gwen enjoyed a cold rainy day in their pajamas while I finished up my last evening shift. 

Finally, today, Tuesday. Tuesday was filled with activities for Gwen. Unfortunately, not all of them were fun. Gwen has been spitting up often, almost after every feeding. We became so concerned we took her to the hospital, where the doctor scheduled an Upper GI(gastro intestinal) test. It was a simple test, and not harmful at all to Gwen. The doctor simply gave her a drink of barium water, and watched how Gwen digested her food through x-rays. They found that Gwen still had curdled milk in her esophagus and stomach, at 10am, from a feeding time of 7am. They also determined that Gwen has acid reflux with this test. However, through the entire testing session, our little girl was totally cooperative! Now we are waiting for the final test results to come back, and praying that the doctors can help Gwen. Almost immediately after the doctor Gwen got to go have some fun! Tamie's co-workers at Farmers Alliance had a diaper shower and chili lunch for us. Not only was the chili and dessert good, Gwen got her little red dress for Christmas. Tamie and I want to give a BIG thank you to anyone who helped make the lunch and diaper shower happen! 

Above, is the mound of diapers we were given from Farmers Alliance! Take a guess at how many diapers Gwen got! The answer is at the bottom of this post.

Gwen making a goofy face while being held by Mom.

Tamie often sends me pictures while I'm at work, this is just one of the many.

And finally, Dad got Gwen to smile while cuddling on the couch. 

Well, what's your guess on how many diapers? The final count was exactly 1,245 diapers! 

4 Week Picture

Hard to believe that our girl is four weeks old today! We'll be using her Cubs teddy bear for her monthly pictures. (Thanks Richard!)

Letters From Gwen Part 2

Hi again everybody! It's Gwen! Mom is busy doing laundry and Dad is yelling at the Chiefs. I sure hope the Chiefs win, it makes Dad so happy. I've been such a busy little gal this week. Mom and Dad took me to the doctor again. I have been staying awake WAY too much! I have only been sleeping 6-7 hours a day. Doctor Overholt says, "that's not enough". In fact, the doctor says I have something called Colic. I don't care what it's called, it keeps me awake, and makes me really upset. Thank you to the doctor for figuring out that all I need is four tasty drops to calm me down. 

 Here's proof the drops work! I'm asleep!

 That's me taking a snooze again, Dad says I snore. I don't think so!

 This was the outfit I was supposed to wear when I came home from the hospital; it just NOW fits me!

 Monday was Halloween, I dressed up as a skeleton! And when Mom and Dad shut the lights off, my bones GLOWED! I had so many friends stop by to trick-or-treat. Here's a few pictures of my friends.

 The monkey is Brody, and his little sister Bre is a duck. QUACK QUACK!

My other friends from Lindsborg couldn't make it to the house, but they sent us pics. This is Haley, and she was a little ducky too!

Haley's big sister Lilly was a duck too! QUACK QUACK QUACK!!

I've got another diaper shower from Farmers Alliance next week! I go through so many diapers, I keep Mom and Dad very busy changing them. I'm looking forward to meeting all of Mommy's co-workers. Daddy has a service recognition dinner at BPU tomorrow. He's been working for BPU for five years, I'm excited to meet some of his co-workers too! Uhoh, I gotta go guys, Daddy is done yelling at the Chiefs and Mommy is coming to check on me. 'Til next time...

Faces of Gwen

It has been quite a week at the Prieb household. Gwen has been keeping Tamie very busy, while I am on midnight shift. Gwen went to the doctor today, she has gained a good amount of weight! She went from 7lb3oz to 7lb13oz, in just 6 days. Our little girl is growing up right before our eyes! Speaking of eyes, Gwen has been kind enough to pose with her big eyes for some pics. Enjoy!

Sleepy face.

Yawning face.

Happy face. 

Night night face. 

Just tooted face.

Pretty face.

Halloween fun pic!

You Want It...

You got it. Everyone has been asking for pictures of Gwen. So, not much writing to do here, just pics!

Picture of Gwen, taken October 18.

Proud mom holding her baby girl!

Gwen is often found with her hands behind her head, when sleeping. 

Aunt Nancy came to visit and help around the house.

Dad is frequently staring at his girl.

Gwen with her froggy towel, getting a sponge bath.

Again, sleeping with her hands almost behind her head this time.

Taking a nap in mom's arms. 

Aunt Dallas came up to visit also! Thanks for all the great meals!