4 Months Old

We're a 1/3 of the way to One! I honestly couldn't tell you where the past 4 months have gone...it feels like it was just recently that we were wondering if we'd ever be blessed with children. Avelyn you are the BIGGEST source of joy (worry and stress...but all worth it) in our life. We can't imagine how we ever existed before you were born; you are our sunshine and our life. We love you more than we ever thought it was possible to love someone.

This past month...
*You sat in a high chair during dinner for the first time (at Grandma and Grandpa's)
*You rolled over from your belly to your back, and from back to your belly
*You grab at your feet and put them in your mouth (more so when you don't have a diaper on)
*You had your first taste of rice cereal
*You LOVE sleeping on your side (and this is how I always find you)
*You still haven't slept through the night more than twice
*You love playing with your toys, it doesn't matter if it's your exersaucer, your exercise mat, or your stuffed animals
*You love putting EVERYTHING in your mouth: Toys, fingers, hands, anything
*You can stand on your own, just holding on to someone's fingers
*You some how manage to move yourself ALL OVER your crib...you're never in the position that I left you in
*You take anywhere from 4-8ozs at a time
*Sometimes you think the middle of the night is the perfect play time and can't figure out why mommy sits in the rocking chair half-asleep watching you
*You are such a happy baby
*You've started giving the sweetest hugs and hold on tight to mommy and daddy
*You're starting to associate your name with you
*You'll play by yourself on your exercise mat for 45 minutes at a time
*You're still having a bit of a mommy-obsession, but you're getting better at going to other people
*You're ticklish on your feet, sides, and tummy
*You love your bath time and kick your feet with such ferocity (I can't wait until the bathroom is done, so you stop soaking the kitchen!)
*You have one of the biggest and best smiles in the world
*You're officially wearing 3-6 months clothing
*You're almost as big as your cousin C, and she's 3 months older than you (your feet are the same size)
*I actually have to start brushing your hair in the morning, otherwise it gets all knotty
*You've started grabbing at EVERYTHING and pulling on it as hard as you can (especially hair)
*You can also scream like it's nobody's business...especially when you want something NOW!
*You're very interested in whatever it is that Mommy and Daddy are eating
*There is no better sound in the world than that of your talking and laughter

You have changed so much in this past month, it's astounding! Mommy and Daddy love you so very, very much!



Here's the pictures!

Another BIG first for AVELYN!

(I'm a post whore today...my apologies :-)

Well last night I took A up to bed, and had her on her tummy while I folded diapers. I left the room (she was on the floor) to get something and came back and she was on her back...I did a double take and thought to myself, "I did have her on her tummy, didn't I?". I figured it was fluke so I rolled her back over and watched.

She rolled from her belly to tummy 4 times in a row (twice on camera). Here it is :-)

People who say they sleep like a baby usually don't have one. ~Leo J. Burke

Sleep? Sleep?! I know not what you speak of, please tell me what is this "sleep"?

That's been our house the past two nights. Monday night [into Tuesday] A decided to do what she usually does from 4-6 (waking up every 45 minutes) from midnight until 6. I had just gone to bed 30 minutes before she started. I think I got a total of 2 hours sleep.

Last night, I got more sleep, but it was another rough one. I put A down at 8:15, I went to sleep at 9:30, I heard her at 11:30, went in dreamfed her, and she was down until 3. I was thinking...OK, this is good, we're at least getting back to the other schedule. *ERH!* Nope. I put her back down at 3:15, she was ok until 4am...then she wanted to PLAY. Still OK, figure it's the 4 month wakefuls, I leave her in her crib and let her laugh and talk and play.

Then the crying starts. I go back in to sooth her and she is SOAKING WET all over her chest. I change her pajamas (I figured she'd spit up), got her to go back to sleep and put her back down. This lasted another 20 minutes. She's crying again, she's soaked again. I change her a 3rd time, and feel her bed...the sheets are soaked. At this point the kid is going to be sleeping on a quilt in her crib.

I've soothed her to sleep, she's taken 2 more oz...I'm standing next to the crib, and she starts gagging...I sit her upright and SPEW! all over me, the dresser, the floor, the pile of now REALLY dirty sheets and clothes: Projectile vomit. Fortunately I didn't get any on her. I put her down in the crib, she's back asleep now, and proceed to clean what I can in her room...it's 5am. She fortunately slept until 7:15.

At that point I brought her into bed with me and we slept (after another bottle) until 10:30. I must say, I really enjoy the fact that I don't have to get up and go to work at 7am when she's had a night like that....God Bless ALL of you who do do that.

It wouldn't even have been a bad night, except for the changing clothes and sheets repeatedly. I hope she starts doing better soon.

Does ANYONE have ANY advice on dealing with the 4 month-wakefuls (I try to stimulate her as little as possible to get her to go back to sleep)? Or any ideas on how long it usually lasts? I know that her laughing/playing was definitely what they talk about, but could the sleeping on and off (45 minute intervals) in the early morning be part of it too?

New Things for Avelyn (updated)

I'm not sure if we're going through a phase or what, but I'm pooped! It seems like every night for the past week (we had a few REALLY good nights of crib sleep) from 3-7am, I don't sleep. I put A back in her crib at 3:30 (she's been waking up at 2:30) after a bottle, but then she fusses a bit (while asleep) on and off for a couple of hours, then finally goes to sleep around 4:30, only to wake at 6:15 laughing and talking, at which point I've been doing another bottle and bringing her into bed with me, so that I can get a few more hours.

I have my own sleep issues. I've never been one to lay down and BAM! I'm out...it takes me a bit to fall asleep, knowing that I'm going to be woken up in a few hours, makes it even harder for me to fall asleep, and on top of that I'm not getting enough physical exercise, so my body isn't as tired and ready for sleep as it should be (in spite of not getting much sleep).

A has started doing this new thing...it's actually really annoying and scared the crap out of me the first time. On Sunday night, at 2:30...I keep hearing a THUD over the monitor, then suddenly I hear the crib rattling (the drop side). I go running in there...A has completely moved herself! I put her in laying lengthwise in the crib, she's rotated herself 90* and is kicking the side of the crib. She's done this the past few nights and I think she's waking herself up. I tried putting her closer to the other side, so that when she moves, she's not too close to the side she's kicking (she only rotates in a clockwise direction).

Now throughout the early morning, not only does A fuss, but she moves in the crib so that she can kick the side: YAY!

The second new thing (besides moving around her bed) is a direct result of the night time lack of sleep. I think part of A's waking is that she's hungry (as noted by the 4-6oz she takes at 3am and again a few hours later). Today I introduced a bit of rice cereal.

At first she was making faces at me (I was spoon feeding it), but tthen she started to enjoy it...she didn't get very much and it was more or less for me to see if she would take it by spoon and whether she would actually eat it. I want to add a tiny bit of it to her bottle at night, to see if that helps the sleeping thing.

Of course most anything you read says no "solids" until 6 months, but I've also read a lot of stuff with people doing rice cereal at 3-4 months in a bottle at bed time. I figure it's worth a shot...particularly if she isn't adverse to it. We'll see how it goes tonight.

The other thing is about school: We've planned on homeschooling since before we were married, but I keep hearing "Montessori" popping up in a lot of places. I've been looking into it and found this website, which has a section specifically for Montessori learning in a home school environment. I think there is actually a Montessori school in the next town over, about 40 minutes away.

They actually have a whole section on their website about Montessori learning in the first year, which is quite interesting. What I like about it, is that it's not an education as much as it is learning. I love learning! It provides babies, kids, etc with a cause and effect way of seeking out new things and developing their own interests and knowledge...whether it's researching a topic that interests you or learning how to use a toilet.

~*~*~*~UPDATES~*~*~*~
Well we did a bottle (2oz) of rice cereal at 6 last night. I could already tell she was sleepy. Usually she just naps in the swing in the evening, while I get dinner ready, but last night I decided to see if she'd go down in the crib. She did: From 7-10pm, woke up then, gave her another 2oz bottle with rice cereal and 3oz of formula, and she was down until 4am (woohoo!).

We even managed to avoid the kicking the sides of the crib; I put her in the opposite way, so if she was kicking it was the side against the wall, and didn't make any noise.

Then she pulled her usual of waking up at 6:15, fussing and laughing. I brought her in our bed, but she was not interested in cuddling, so I put her back in her crib for 30 minutes, until she wasn't laughing, then gave her a bottle and brought her in bed with me until 8:45.

I ended up taking a benadryl to help me go to sleep...it worked. Was it a perfect night? No, but it was certainly better.

"Baby Gate" Olympics (and other sundry)

In our house we do not have baby gates as the world knows them, we have old expandable metal window screens. We've only ever needed gates to keep our dogs out of the dining room and the upstairs.

These gates have always been the bane of my existence. I'm a klutz, and as such, I have issues with "jumping" these hurdles. As you can see in Exhibit A (picture to the left): These are not especially high screens (maybe 2' high). If you notice in the background of Exhibit A, there is a white drying rack.

This morning I tried to step OVER the screen, tripped, and landed on the [now broken] drying rack. If this were the first time this had happened I would not be posting, but as I've tripped no less than 1,000 times on these screens, and broken no less than 4 screens, over the past few years, I am. This morning took the cake though...I managed to trip over the screen, scrape my calf, and land on, and break, the drying rack.

Avelyn was watching the entire thing, and burst out laughing.

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Matt's been working on the bathroom as much as he can. He's gotten all the walls tore down to the studs. He's hoping to get the ceiling done this week, so that on Sunday and next week he can run the electric...so the following weekend he, FIL, and BIL can hang sheet rock! WOOHOO!!!


We also went to Low.es today to look at the rest of the stuff we need for the bathroom. Surprisingly we don't need to special order anything for the shower....they carry it all in stock. So we're going back on Sunday (since we have a coupon) to get the rest of what we need. We did get the lights for above the shower and bath, as well as the sink top. It's progress, but we're getting there.


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I'm trying to find something to wear for A's Christening: I'm not having much luck. One) because I'm a cheapskate and I don't want to spend more than $20 on something, two) because there's just not much out there.

I finally began to cave and was willing to spend more money, but then what I found, I can't find a matching top for. I called CWC and asked them, but the top is unavailable. Can someone explain to me how clothing stores can show outfits, but not SELL all the pieces to the outfit?! I did find a top on landsend.com, that would possibly go, but then I'm paying for shipping etc and not knowing whether it's going to match! How frustrating!

Then I got the most recent Vera Bradley catalog and in there is the cutest white dress with colorful butterflies on it with a navy cardigan, but do you think THAT is for sale? Nope.

I looked at jcrew; I looked at Ann Taylor; I looked at Talbots: NIENTE! NADA! ZILCH! ZIP!

ZZzzzzzzzz.......

That was us this afternoon. A went down for a nap at 12:30pm (first time she'd been asleep since we got up at 8:45am)...and slowly mommy and daddy followed suit. When suddenly there was a yell, and mommy jumped off of the couch to find someone wanting a bottle....at 3:45.

I think I only slept for a little over an hour, but Ave did a good nap. She's sleeping a bit better at night, but she's still waking up...I'm thinking she's waking herself up in her bassinet. Her hands hit the sides and her feet and head are almost touch the ends. I think tonight we may just move her to the crib....hopefully that solves the dilemma....because 5 or 6 (even 3) hours of straight sleep would be bliss :-)

The other day when we went shopping T.arget had Dr. Seuss books on sale (2 for 10). I love Dr. Seuss books...they're long enough that it takes a bit to read, entertaining enough to keep A interested, and all around everyone is happy. Matt took this picture this afternoon. (please ignore my silly face). Obviously reading is a family-affair in our house; there's a reason why we don't have TV.

I grew up with my mom reading books to us....she was ALWAYS reading something. Matt's parents I don't think ever read them books. To my mom it was a must for us to read together. Obviously we're going to continue with that. I think it makes a HUGE difference in a person's life if they grow up reading books, especially ones beyond their age and if they read them out loud. We love BOOKS! (and sleep:-)

Feeling better...

Yesterday was blah! I felt better all day, but by 6pm the exhaustion was catching up with me and Ave was fussy and quite frankly I was beginning to lose it (to the point that I was seriously considering putting her in her crib and just leaving her for a bit, because I was getting edgy).

I called Matt and asked him when he was going to be home because I was on the verge of a breakdown. He came home about 5 minutes later and it was better. It seriously just helps me to have him here...even if she won't go to him, there's someone else here.

We went up to bed at 9...she went down pretty easily, I turned out the late at 9:30 and she started. I swear the kid has photo-sensitive skin...she knows when I turn the light off in my room, even with her door shut! I went in and gave her George, she went back to sleep, I went back to bed, she started again, I went back in gave her the last oz in her bottle and she went back to sleep.

She fussed again at 10:30, but went right back to sleep and STAYED asleep until 3:30. Gave her a bottle, put her back down and she was out until 6:45, at which point I brought her back in bed with me until 8:45. So it was a better night, not the best, but better.

BARF!

Yea, that was me...last night. I have no idea why, but it was not a good night. Yesterday my sister, A, and I went shopping and out to lunch (pizzeria uno). I had some things to return at sears and wanted to pick up cardstock to make A's christening invitations. Felt fine all day....we put A down to sleep at 8, and she stayed down.

I turned off my light at 10:30, at 12 I hear her crying, I go in give her her pacifier (George) and she goes back to sleep, at 1:15 I wake up and keeping swallowing...feeling nauseaus from post-nasal drip (?), go to the bathroom and feel like I'm going to throw up, but then don't, but then I did for a 1/2 hour, I try to go back to sleep, my stomach is hurting, my throat is raw from throwing up....I hear Miss A again at 3:00. I get up, AGAIN, and give her a bottle, she goes back out...then she keeps waking up on and off until 5:30...at that point Matt get's up to go to work (he's slept through ALL OF THIS!), I get her and bring her in bed with me (it's now 6:30)...she's only interested in sleeping until 7:45, then we're up. I don't even know how much sleep I got last night, all I know is that this was the 2nd night in a row that she's not sleeping well (this was THE WORST night since she was born).

Right now, I'm exhausted, my head and neck hurt from throwing up, and I've tried laying on the couch while she naps, but it isn't happening. I've had a REALLY hard time over the past week falling asleep and staying asleep...I don't know what that's about (the only thing I can think of is lack of physical exertion). My stomach feels better, but I just want to curl up in a hole and sleep :-(

3 MONTHS (13 weeks + 1 day)

THREE MONTHS?! THREE MONTHS! SERIOUSLY HOW HAS IT ALREADY BEEN THREE MONTHS?!

Last night lying in bed, I realized something...One year ago (Jan 31) we had our IUI, it was my first day "pregnant" with Avelyn. Wow! I was blown away by that thought. A year ago we'd pretty much given up hope, had received the paperwork to start the adoption process, we'd already discredited the IUI..."knowing" it hadn't worked. And, now here we are a year later....I have a 3 month old swinging in my kitchen, taking a nap.

Here's her stats:
Weight: (correction) right around 13 1/2lbs
Length: just under 25"

Yesterday was also the first time we've taken A out in the snow (it was sunny and 30*) and to meet the chickens. The snow didn't phase her, but the chickens....oh my the chickens. She just starred and starred at them...I think what they were and the sounds were completely enthralling for her. Here are more pictures!

We spent quite a bit of time putzing around with pictures today, in honor of 3 months (about 3 hours on and off, with about 4 or 5 outfit changes). Some of them I even have A in my christening gown.

I was christened at 2 months old and A will certainly not fit into my gown at 5 months (when she's christened) so I just had to take some pictures of her in it. I'm actually thinking of having MIL take the train from my wedding dress to make A's christening gown. I know other people do this, and honestly, the train is the only part of my dress I'm attached to. The rest of it will probably be for dress up....so why not turn it into an heirloom...I'm sure A isn't going to want to wear my dress when she gets married.

Ok, a couple of new things she's doing: Drooling like a faucet, blowing raspberries, sitting upright in her bumbo for 10+ minutes at a time, sitting up in my lap with little to no support, eating (and gagging on) her hands, talking up a storm, and down-right giggling at things.

I've been holding off on doing one of these, but I think I can manage now...a side by side comparison of me at 13 weeks and A at 13 weeks. I definitely think she's the cuter of the two of us.


And here's the link to SOME of the pictures I took of her today (there were 347 total).

First Play Date!

Yesterday Avelyn and I had our first play date with my best friend from high school and her daughter (who's 6 weeks).

Friend and I haven't really been friends since shortly after graduating 10 years ago...she became a vastly different person than she was in high school (not a party-er to a HUGE party-er...I never did), but is now somewhat becoming like she used to be.

It was fun...and I was blown away by the fact that 1) there were TWO babies in my house and 2) how HUGE A is compared to Lillian. I know babies grow, but to see her side by side with another little one it was shocking!

I had cleaned the house furiously all week leading up to it (the house hadn't really been cleaned at all this month...it needed it) and baked a quiche for lunch. The babies were awesome they pretty much slept or ate the entire time, allowing us to rehash our delivery stories (friend's delivery was 20 hours). It felt almost normal...except there was thought in the back of my head "Please don't ask why it took us 3 years to get pregnant" - she didn't.

Here's the slideshow of pictures from the play date.

12 Weeks!

It's kind of sad, that after this, her 12th week, we'll start saying her age in months :-( It's going WAAAAY too fast! People keep asking if we're ready for the next one...um YES!

I mentioned in last weeks post that Avelyn has done two new things: Pulling "George" out of her mouth and putting him back in and moving her spoon from one hand to another (which hasn't happened again since). The one thing that she did start doing toward the end of the week is reach and grabbing at toys...namely those on her gym-mat-thingy or ones we're holding. It doesn't happen all the time, but she does do it on occasion. And, speaking of her exercise mat, she's also figured out if she kicks it that it makes noise. Oh, and her favorite thing is when I read "Red Fish, Blue Fish"....loves that book!

This past week, while we didn't have many new developments it was a week of fun toys! Grandma picked up a cash register for A, too keep at the store. Targ.et had it clearance, it was regularly $30 (which is WAY too much for the thing), but Grandma got it for $7.00...definitely a more acceptable price.

The other BIG buy was a splurge on the Baby Einstein "Around the World" Discovery Center at $90. I did NOT want to spend that much on an exersaucer, but it really was the most entertaining one out there and I figure if we break that out to a per child cost, it isn't that bad. A is definitely a little small for the exersaucer, but she LOVES the lion puppet that's on there and all the other noises that the thing makes.

The other thing that we're dealing with is A's obsession with me: That's right at 11/12 weeks she is having stranger issues and mommy attachment. I won't lie, it's wonderful to know that I am the ONLY one who can calm her down (for the past 2 1/2 weeks) but it gets exhausting to never have your arms to yourself. She screams bloody murder until she get's me.

Last night however, Matt and I went to see Sherlock Holmes (good movie) and Matt's sister came and stayed with her (knowing that she could very well scream the entire time). Yesterday seemed to be better though...she let Matt hold her for over an hour yesterday afternoon and actually didn't scream the entire time we were out. Hopefully we're turning a new leaf.

Here's the link to her 12 week pictures and a video of her on her exercise mat.



Oh, and on the DL: Someone has STTN TWICE this past week (1o:30p - 6:30a). I hope just didn't jinx it!

“Faith makes all things possible.... love makes all things easy.”

I got my new glasses last night: WOOHOO! They're definitely taking some getting used to. Not only are they a stronger prescription, but there is also something with an astigmatism in my right eye that makes adjusting to them harder. (excuse the picture...I haven't brushed my hair today).

We also had A's ophthalmologist appt yesterday: Clean bill of health. The doctor didn't see any cause for concern with her pupils/irises. Most likely she will grow out of it.

She's been doing better. Yesterday was bearable and she was acting a bit more like herself. She was on her more regular sleep schedule last night and so far today she seems to be more like herself. Someone had suggested that it was a growth spurt, and then someone on the bump.com boards said their son went through the same thing at 8-10 weeks and chalked it up to a growth spurt and the vaccines. We're thinking it's a mix of a growth spurt, the vaccines, and an upset tummy. I'm beyond glad that she's getting back to her normal self.

We had a meeting this morning with the Child Health Plus people...A's application is submitted and they didn't see any issues with her getting the insurance. Hopefully it will all be through and submitted before her next Well Baby visit in March. I even got the application in the mail for Matt and I for Healthy NY...hopefully that goes through smoothly.

While my ILs are in Egypt my MIL let me borrow her cricut. It's a pretty cool thing, but I'm rather disappointed with it's limitations. I thought for sure that I should be able to cut text out of an overlay and just place it over another piece of paper, but you can't...you have to have the individual letters cutout and glue them to your paper. Oh well. I think I may try and use it for A's Christening invitations. The cartridges are certainly not cheap though for the different fonts and such.

This is what I made for A's room though. I've wanted something like this for a while. It isn't quite this color (I wasn't using the flash), but I'm pleased with how it came out :-) I'm waiting on one thing from Willow Creek Signs and then her room will be DONE!

This just in: Matt was in a car accident. He's fine. Today is the day he does the route, with another guy. The other guy was driving...he has issues, a lot of issues...most of which have been resolved for the past year or so. Matt was putting things into the computer and BAM! I'm not sure of all that happend, but from the sounds of it, the other guy fell asleep while driving and jerked the van off the road.

It's not even funny how many issues there are now because of this: The first being that the van is undriveable and they still have the entire day's worth of deliveries to make. If Matt makes it home before 10 tonight I'll be surprised. The other big issue is getting the van repaired; this isn't a minivan it's a 16' refrigerated van. On top of all this my parents insurance for the trucks/business is going to go through the roof because of this.

The guy told my dad in December that he was going to be moving out of the area in June, but I think my dad might just be firing him before then...he's pretty pissed. There's absolutely no excuse for this guy to not come to work well rested: He lives alone, his girlfriend is in another town, and he has no other responsibilities outside of work. At least Matt is ok (albeit very pissed off).

My daughter has been body-snatched!

My normally happy, easy going, smiley, sleeping, goes to anyone baby has been kidnapped. In place of her I have a baby that wants only mommy and SCREAMS until I'm holding her.

I'm at a loss...the past 2 days have been horrible, worse than when she was days/weeks old.

Last week she had her vaccines (Monday) and she was sleepy all week, but still happy...just wasn't eating as much as normal...Sunday night she slept 8 hours straight.

Monday it started...when she gets upset no one can console her, once I have her, she's ok and goes to sleep pretty quickly.....Tuesday night she wouldn't stay asleep unless I held her....otherwise she just screamed and screamed.

All day yesterday she was beyond anything I've ever seen. I held her the entire day, except for a few breaks when she was asleep and I could put her down, but never for more than 35-40 minutes. Daddy tried to console her...SCREAMED. Oma (my mom) tried.....SCREAMED. It did not matter she who or what they were offering...she screamed.

She slept last night (on me - because I was exhausted). Matt got up with her at 5... she took a bottle from him, and then SCREAMED and would not calm down and go back to sleep. Again I ended up holding her and within minutes she was out. She hasn't done that in almost 2 weeks (sleep on me).

Tell me she's too young to be showing this kind of preference. Or what we can do...because Mommy's going a bit batty. I'm praying that today is LOTS better and that she just hasn't felt well.

10 weeks

Yesterday A was 10 weeks...how are we already in the double digits. I actually got really sad thinking that this is the last time she'll hit double digits for anything until she's 10 years old...then I realized...DUH! 10 months :-) and that made me feel better.

Three different things this week:

MIL bought a bumbo thingy (it's a knock off) for A...and she LOVES it! We set her in it for a few minutes at the store and she just loves looking around at everything. She's actually getting to the point now that she doesn't like laying down, because she wants to see what's going on. The only thing she doesn't like about it is the having to bend at the waist thing...doesn't like that.

She's become fascinated with staring at her hands...she just looks at them all intent and cross-eyed...too funny.

Sleep...not only are we back on our old sleep schedule (down at 10pm, up at 3:30, then down 4:00-7am)...but she did one better last night. Down at 8:30pm and out until 5:00am. HOLY MOLY! She's also slept the past 2 nights in her room (with a heater)...she's in the bassinet, but she's sleeping in a different room from us. It's hard..I don't like it, but I know she's sleeping better because it's warmer in there. Eventually we'll have to move her to the crib, but for right now...I think it's too big for her and she feels lost in it.

I think that's all for 10 weeks :-(

(psst...this is my new favorite picture of A...she's looking so grown up)

Catch-Up

Breath!

I feel as though things have just been a whirlwind of ending and beginning, from one year to another, and that I just haven't written a REAL post. I don't feel that much is going on, but there are some things.

I called worked last week and told my boss I'd like to come in and discuss my return to work with her and our HR manager when she's next in the office. I could already tell it was getting a bit "chilly" on her end of the phone...great! I was told to contact our HR person to set it up; she finally called me back today. I go in next Monday at 1:30 to discuss my return (or lack there of) to work. I can hardly wait for this conversation *note sarcasm* Either they will be cool about it or completely bitchy and I'm not sure how to deal with it. I just have to keep telling myself, "It's not personal: It's business".

We had a nice Christmas, definitely better than last Christmas...when we found out the week before that BIL and PP were pregnant...whoops! I managed to not get into a fight with my brother, although we didn't spend much time near each other. I did almost got in a fight with FIL... or rather his behavior was TERRIBLE and I seriously wanted to punch him in the nose.

Christmas day he was down here and had a major attitude, granted he had a slight cold and didn't feel great. Matt asked him if he would be able to help him sheet rock our bathroom...."I'll have to think about it" (we found out yesterday, that while FIL was visiting BIL in NH, he helped him sheet rock their entire basement...but he can't help with our bathroom).

Then on Sunday (12/27) FIL, in a moment of kindness, helped Matt move the last of the wood pile into the basement (it only took a couple of hours). We went up there for dinner that night and he was in a mood again. We were doing presents with SIL and Matt's grandparents. FIL sits down next to the tree, MIL asks him to hand out gifts "I don't want to" and flat out REPEATEDLY refused to participate in giving gifts, left the room the minute they were done and went back to his TV (he didn't have a cold at this point). That night he makes some comment about A...I think we were talking about her hair or something...and he goes "It's not like it matters....it's all going to fall out anyways": SIL kind of went off on him about that.

I've been trying to get a picture of A and her grandparents since she was born, but FIL is never cooperative. They're leaving for Egypt for a month and I really wanted a picture before they left...here's the picture I have. He flat out refused to look at the camera. Isn't lovely?! GRRR!! He's been seriously getting on my nerves lately.

We have started a couple of our "To Do in '10" list. We went to Lowe's on New Year's Day to look at stuff for the bathroom and decided that we really don't like any of the bath vanities they have OR we don't want to spend $600 on them. I think we may just build the cabinet and the medicine cabinet too. We still have to sit down and price out the whole project, but we're seriously going to try and get it done for less than $1500. Sheet rocking is really the biggest part of the job, even the tiling of the shower isn't going to be too big. I just want to get it done.

I actually managed to work on a sewing project for the second time since A was born. Yesterday we were snowbound (we actually were all weekend, it was REALLY nice)...Matt brew a batch of beer and I started working on a tote bag in which to store all of the crafting supplies for the kits I bought. I'm hoping to be able to work on it in the evenings a bit, but between A, the dogs, the chickens, the furnace and the rest of the "household to dos" time is scarce.

We've decided on a bit of a sleep routine for us. We're going to rotate nights, as long as she's on schedule. Meaning every other night Matt get's the 3:30 shift and I get to sleep, but if she's wonky and not sleeping I get her. I tried in the crib last night again. She slept for about 3 hours in there, but would start crying every once in a while. Needless to say I didn't sleep during that time and actually considered sleeping on the floor so I was right there....we'll have to see.

The doctor wasn't too concerned, but was relatively adamant about no tummy sleeping. I know once she is allowed to sleep on her tummy that she's going to be a great sleeper, until then.... I honestly can't complain because she's not a bad sleeper, she just doesn't do what I (or the books) think she should. I guess that's partly my problem...I need to get over them (the books) and just do what works for us.

Here's the beginning of the tote bag I'm working on. I bought the black paisley fabric several years ago and absolutely LOVED it, but didn't want to use it in just anything...so I decided to use it in this (I have 5 yrds of it!).

I also went for my eye exam today, that was interesting with a 2 month old that didn't want to sleep. I need a stronger script, no surprise there, but I also have an astigmatism in my right eye...had one when I was a kid too. I asked the doctor about my eyes starting to bother me for up close work (ie. quilting or hand stitching) and he said to try wearing my glasses for that too, rather than just distance.

I'm not sure if these are it, but it looks kind of like them, but they're Mocha and Cream not black.






And I think that's all that is going on right now.....phew!

2 Months - Well Baby Check-up

Today we had Avelyn's 2 month check up: She's doing well!

She weighed in at 11lbs 9.9oz and 23.6" long (she was squirming though; we measured her last night and she was a touch over 24"). He did detect a slight heart murmur, but he said it wasn't something he felt strongly enough about to send us to the cardiologist. We're going to play the "watch and wait" game on it. He said that if she wasn't thriving he would be more quick to send her.

I also asked him about something else that Matt and I noticed: A's pupils are not centered to the rest of the colored part of her eye...only by mere fractions, but enough that we notice it. He wasn't sure if it was an issue or not so we now have to go to a pediatric ophthalmologist (YAY!).

And the most dreaded part of the entire visit: SHOTS! Ave had to have 3 shots and an oral. The oral was ok, the first shot was done before she noticed, but the 2nd and 3rd sent her into the stratosphere...poor baby...I was doing my best to keep it together. She was hysterical...I have NEVER seen her cry that hard.

We're home now and she's sleeping. I'm hoping and praying that she doesn't have any issues from the shots.

9 weeks ~ Sleep Baby, Sleep

I think hitting 2 months flipped a switch. A used to do pretty good napping in the swing during the day, but now OY! The kid just wants to be awake and I can tell she's over tired and miserable because of it. We've tried everything the past few days....from swaddling (which we stopped doing at 3 weeks because she hated it), the bouncer, the swing, to putting her in her crib or in her bassinet, the only thing that works is if we lay on the couch with her on our chest...then she'll nap.

As wonderful as it is to hold her while she sleeps I have to get things done around here! And I'm paranoid about creating bad sleep habits that are going to be murderous to break down the road. She needs to sleep during the day, but doesn't.

She does OK at night. She's back to her earlier routine and she does the big chunk of that (10-3:30 or so) in her bassinet, but she has to be on my chest or Matt's to fall asleep. I have yet to put her down while she is drowsy and have her actually go to sleep on her own. I'm at a loss for what to do. I started reading "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child", but I feel like all it does is tell me HOW she should be sleeping, not WHAT we need to do for that to happen.

I hate just letting her cry. She doesn't wind down and just becomes more and more hysterical...especially if her pacifier (aka George) pops out. I just don't know what to do....

We want to start transitioning her to her room, for at least the bigger sleep session at night, but even that...I can put her down in there sound asleep, but she wakes up after 15 minutes and then cries...I go in soothe her (not taking her out of the crib) and she's ok, then cries again...this went on the other night for 3 hours until I gave up.

She'll sleep in her bassinet, next to me, fine for her big stretch. When she wakes up at 3:30am if her hands and cheeks are cool (if they're not I leave her in the bassinet) I bring her in bed with us, because the house does not stay warm (especially when it's -15 with the windchill and no heat upstairs). We want to transition her to her crib only because we can turn a heater on in there and get it a lot warmer.

I know what I want...good nap sessions during the day, preferably in her crib so nothing disturbs her and sleeping in her crib at night, but how can I do that when it doesn't matter where she sleeps. She won't fall asleep unless on us and then doesn't stay asleep depending on where we put her :-(

I plan on talking to the pedi tomorrow about it....oh yeah...tomorrow we have SHOTS! YAY! :-(

(As down and as desperate as I sound, I'm more just concerned about her getting into bad habits. We're all getting good sleep at night...even if it is with her on my chest.)

What a weekend!

Saturday night, after being in the store all day, Matt and I went to one of our dinner dances. His sister came down and stayed with A while we were gone. I know a lot of people have major anxiety about leaving their little ones the first couple of times...for whatever reason (probably because she doesn't scream, yet, when I leave) I'm ok, for a few hours...then I start to miss her like crazy. We were only gone for about 3 hours....and dinner was well worth it!
(Can I just say how much I absolutely love the color of my eyes in this picture? Is that ok. It actually reminds me a lot of the Cullens eye-color in Twilight or what I imagine Claire Frasers [Outlander] to be)

Unfortunately, this will be the last picture ever taken with Matt's nose looking this way. On Sunday, while doing wood, he smashed it. A piece slipped off the truck, hit another piece, and catapulted that one into his nose. It's broken, and there was a huge gash across the top of it. Hopefully it heals all right, but I'm not to sure if it will...it was rather a bad cut (I don't know if he'll let me take a picture of it or not).

Matt and I have a guilty pleasure...my sister makes endless fun of us for it: Twilight. That's right, both of us like Twilight. In the afternoon, I took A up to my parents' for a few hours so that we could go see New Moon. It was OK. Fortunately neither of us were expecting anything too grand. I really like Taylor Lautner and kind of like Rob Pattinson, but I really don't like Kristen Stewart and think they could have cast a much better person for Bella's role. She always looks like she has a perpetual sneer on her face (even in other movies).

We were laughing pretty hard at all the no-shirt action. There was one scene in particular with Jacob taking off his shirt that was so obviously over the top. There were some pretty cool special effects and no, we can't wait for Eclipse to come out.

That was all our excitement for the weekend: We managed to get out twice without A and do somethings. Of course, that will probably be the last time for a long time, because anything else we have to do she can go too.

6 weeks

Today, my baby is 6 weeks...that's sounding so old already. She's doing a lot better with the next level nipple (unless it's breast milk...which is thinner...she needs the level 1 for that). Her smiles are amazing!

Smiles are one of those things that people have a difference of opinion on: Some feel that the smiles in the beginning are gas related. A's weren't: She was smiling, in response to something, at 2 weeks...not all the time though. Now her smiles are almost constantly...she's always giggling about something or other...especially when she's just woken up or has a full tummy and is content.

She's also started to "squeak" more in the past 2 weeks. It used to be every once in a while, but now she's really starting to "talk" and I love it! We pretend that we're carrying on a conversation.

Every day I love this little girl more and more and fall more in love with her. While I am so excited to watch her grow and learn, there's another part of me that is so sad to see this time slip by.

ETA: Grandma measured A on 12/15 and she was 23" long and I weighed her at the store and she was 11lbs clothed and diapered, so about 10lbs 12oz.

“Think what a better world it would be if we all, the whole world, had cookies and milk about three o'clock every afternoon and then lay down on our

blankets for a nap." ~ Robert Fulghum

I think I've redeemed myself in the cookie department. After the nut ball debacle A and I headed over to the store, where we made magic cookie bars and baklava...both turned out the way they should: WOOHOO!

Then this morning I managed to get a batch of the nut balls done. They taste so much better when the nuts aren't bad. So far I have 3 tins of cookies downstairs...well 2 actually, because I'm trying to figure out how to store the baklava, but at this rate they're going to be gone before I get them downstairs. I'd love to blame it entirely on Matt, but, alas, I am just as guilt as he.

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I ended up going over to the store this evening to help them clean up. My mom had surgery on her foot yesterday. Her feet are screwed up and working 60hrs a week on her feet doesn't help. She ends up changing shoes 4 or 5 times a day because they all start to hurt her feet after a few hours...even the expensive nursemate ones she bought.

The doctor said that in her right foot the toe bones are rubbing incorrectly, so that was today's surgery. They went in and shaved all the bones in her right foot. She's also missing a joint in both of her baby toes and has a torn ligament in the left foot. Hopefully once this is all done and healed she'll feel a lot better and not have to suffer.

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We had a bit of an issue with A: All day/evening Thursday she would eat barely anything. She'd take a few swallows (unusual for her...she'd blow through the whole bottle if you let her) and start screaming. She'd do this for about an ounce, then fall asleep. She'd wake up about 20 minutes later and repeat....this went on the whole day and into the evening.

I was looking on the boards while I was pumping and someone had asked about when to switch nipples to a faster flow. I clicked on it and some did it as early as 7 weeks, but all did it once their LO started collapsing the nipples and doing the scream and eat thing. I stopped using the nipple I was using (the one that came with the pump) and switched her to the evenflo level 1 and she guzzled down 5 ounces (and spit some of it back up).

The evenflo nipple is a bit better(she at least eats regularly and doesn't scream), but she still collapses it repeatedly. I ordered the level 2s from amazon.com and have them over nighting to us (I got their free trial of amazon prime so overnight is only $6 - I'd spend more than that in gas and time to go to the store an hour away). Hopefully they'll arrive on time and this won't be an issue.