A Day in the Life of the Summers Clan

A couple days off gives you a whole new perspective

2012-01-30T11:34:00.000-06:00

Ahhhh, this weekend really energized me. I think it was because we didn't have to be anywhere for anything. So Steve spent Saturday doing yard work (our yard looked horrible, it so needed it) while I watched and played with the kids inside, and Sunday was spent at the Houston zoo for fun family times. It was great!

Now to try to finish my journey of.. well, whatever you would call getting help for depression/anger issues.

We had just moved into our new house, and I was somewhat happy again. I thought I'd do what I did when we moved into our first house back in Little Elm. Basically get everything unpacked and in it's place within a weeks time. That so didn't happen with 2 kids to take care of. Instead I thought about all of the things I wanted unpacked, and never really had the energy to do them once they kids were taken care of. Instead I wanted to lose myself in books or the internet. So I would read or get on Facebook or something equally mind numbing, and forget that I was surrounded by unpacked boxes and a dirty house. Eventually, on weekends, Steve and I would hire a babysitter to watch the kids so we could get stuff unpacked and put away. It took about 5 weekends of this to get the downstairs, bathrooms, and the kids' bedrooms mostly done.

Halfway through that process, I got it into my head that we needed to have a housewarming party. Queue me freaking out about the house not being done in time. The morning of the party we had most everything put away or in our room/closet, and the house looking nice. We actually had a great party and it made me feel a little better about everything, but I still wasn't really there. I started to lose who I was by this point. I was angry all the time, yelling at the animals or the kids (never Steve, amazingly), and I wanted to either read or be on the internet all the time (so much so that I would ignore the kids for hours at a time until I couldn't stand the crying anymore). I wasn't coping well, and my sister noticed it one day when she and the kids came over. There were still boxes all over the place (I had brought them out to their respective rooms after the party), and the house hadn't been cleaned in at least 2 weeks. I just didn't care anymore, and she saw it. And the thing was, I knew she saw it, and I still didn't care. That was so not normal for me (being so anal and OCD).

Then one day I was helping Lizzy go potty (we were halfway in the whole potty-training business), and Michael came over and tried to climb up on to the toilet. Lizzy started freaking out about being touched while on the potty, and I got so mad that I wanted to fling Michael across the room. It was like a wake-up call. It wasn't normal to feel this way. Luckily I was only thinking it, and didn't actually act on the thought. That night I asked Steve if I had always been this angry because I just couldn't remember every being NOT angry. He said no, and that it was like I didn't even have a button to push between not angry and raged. It was just there from one moment to the next. It made me feel horrible, and I decided that the next day I would call a doctor to see what I needed to do to fix myself.

Next day came and I called my OB/GYN office. I didn't know who else to call, and I figured that maybe it was like a postpartum thing that was going on with me. I explained what was going on to the nurse and she said that she would talk to the doctor to see if I needed to come in for an appointment. I got a call not too long later telling me that my OB/GYN felt that she couldn't help me. That I needed to see a therapist for what I was describing. It was like getting hit in the chest. I went right from maybe needing some help to needing to talk to a therapist. I just didn't think I would need to go to that extreme. Anyway, my OB office called around to some therapists and found one I could see ASAP. I had to ask Steve to take off work the next morning so that I could go to the appointment.

At the appointment I ended up telling him everything I told the OB nurse and then some. He asked some questions that I didn't even think would be relevant. He ended up diagnosing me with extreme mood swings, wanted me to take at least one night a week or every two weeks for myself (he felt that I was never getting a break, which I wasn't (I was always putting everyone elses' needs before taking care of myself)), and get on some mood stabilizers for medication. He also wanted me to talk to a psychotherapist about my problems, and to come back in a month for a check up to see if the medication was working. So that day I started my medication, and tried to get into see one of the 3 psychotherapists he told me to call. Problem was that it was a week before Christmas and no one had any openings until after the new year. So I just waited and took my medication. It took a little bit, but with some work I started to feel more like the old me. By the time I talked to the other therapist, I felt like I didn't really need to. She agreed, but told me some other things I could do to help with my anger. She felt I was depressed, and I was turning it into anger and rage. I was to exercise, write out my thoughts, and keep on the medication. She also felt that I didn't need to see her again unless I felt that I absolutely had to.

About a week later I went back to the first therapist for my check-up. He was extremely happy about everything I was telling him, and said that someones it takes a lot of tries to get everything right for the patient to get better, but that sometimes they hit it right the first time. Seems he hit it right the first time with me.

I'm due back to see him in 3 months to make sure the medication is still working, but otherwise I feel more like myself all the time. I still have my bad days (hey, I have an almost 3 year old and an almost 1 year old. Of course I get frustrated/angry every now and then), but I have more good days. I also see how much better the kids are now that I'm not angry all the time. I was influencing how they reacted. And since I was angry, they were angry, but now that I'm not most of the time, we get along a whole lot better.

Anyway, that was my journey through the whole depression aspect of my life. Things can only get better from that experience. And I will enjoy experiencing the joys and frustrations of everyday life in our household. Thanks for reading, and I hope you'll keep coming back.

Lizzy is definitely living up to her terrible twos, and Mike has started screaming his joy for everyone to hear.

Mental health is good for you

2012-01-27T11:43:00.001-06:00

Where was I? Oh yes, living at my parent's house. But I got a little ahead of myself. Let's back track to when I had Michael. It was overwhelming. Becoming a family of four is intense. First you have to worry about how the first kid will take everything. Lizzy did quite well actually. She seemed to be taking to being a big sister. A loving big sister no less. I, on the other hand, was struggling mentally and emotionally. Oh I had lots of help. My mom came to stay with us until we moved in with them, and Steve had off work for those first two weeks. I thought it would be like with Lizzy, but a little easier since I already knew how to take care of a newborn. I didn't really think of Lizzy needing a lot of attention too. Steve and I would take turns with each kid on what they needed, but it seemed Lizzy only wanted me, and Mike needed me close for food so I was a little in demand and was losing my patience with it all. I figured it was normal, and if I yelled a little it was to let off steam and was okay. I wasn't yelling all the time. Yet.

Switch back to living with Mom and Dad. I had help, yes, but not as much help as I thought I needed. I was basically a single parent that felt guilty for asking for help from my parents. It was usually me taking care of Mike (he was eating like crazy and I was the only food source), and Lizzy wanting all of my attention. I just couldn't do that, who could? So I would ask Mom or Dad to help out. At first they were happy to, but once we had been living there for a couple of weeks, they would hem and haw about helping out more and more. It was like I was imposing on them, or at least that's what it felt like to me. I get it, they did this already, they're older and get tired easily, and so I would stop asking and just let one of the kids cry or whine. It inevitably lead to Dad or Mom asking me why I wasn't taking care of whoever was crying. I started to yell more at the kids, and feel very put out and annoyed with everyone. I mean, why was it all falling on my shoulders? Why was I having to do all of the work? Steve was still in Dallas working, and would come in on the weekends. But I would still have to get up and stay up at night to feed Mike while Steve got to go back to bed. It got to where I was envious of him and felt resentful, but I never took it out on him. Instead I just yelled at the kids more often, and it didn't help that Lizzy went 2 weeks with diarrhea from stress and the fact that Steve wasn't around.

Then came time that Steve moved in with us as well. I thought, finally I get to have somewhat of a break. It didn't work out that way though. I still had to be the one to get up at night (even though Steve got up too, to change the diaper while I got ready to nurse), and I didn't get a break during the day because one of us had to watch one kid while the other watched the other kid. By then, Mom and Dad checked out on helping unless it was specifically asked of them. Again, I got it, they figured Steve was now here, so why should they help? In my head, I knew if we weren't living with them I would feel no need for them to help out, but living with them had me thinking that they should. Like I said, my mental health was taking a nose dive. I felt anger, resentment, and frustration all the time. I wasn't happy, though I put on a really good front. So good, that I even convinced myself that I was happy. I was still yelling at the kids whenever they would cry or whine. It grated on my nerves so much, and I wanted it all to stop. To just have one hour of no tantrums, no crying, no having to take care of anyone. I didn't get it though.

Then I had enough. I couldn't handle living with my parents anymore. Steve was getting a little annoyed as well. So we made sure we could have two houses at once (at least for a couple months until we sold the first one (which had been on the market for 3 months by this time with only 2 showings and no offers)), and set out looking for a home. It only took us 2.5 weeks to find it. We put an offer on it immediately, and went through the long process of buying it. We closed on the new house on August 26, 2011, but didn't move in right away. We needed to paint, clean, and get it ready to move into. Finally on September 9, 2011 we stayed at our new house for the first time. Everything was clean, was pretty, and we had all of our furniture and things from storage. I thought I would feel happier now. We were finally in our own place, we were done moving. But it was just one more thing that made me spiral deeper into wherever the hell I was.

And now Mike is up from his nap, so I will continue this another time.

Lizzy is 2 years 8 months and Mike is 9 months old and I am realizing that I had a lot of triggers that I ignored

We are alive and kicking

2012-01-26T15:40:00.000-06:00

Wow, it's been...more than a year. A lot has happened since Lizzy turned one. We got pregnant with number two, found out it was a boy, had said boy and named him Michael, moved down to Houston to be closer to family (and get a new job for Steve), bought a new house, and rented out our old house. Life was throwing us curve balls for a while, but we made the best of it and are happily settled down into everyday life again.

I wanted to get into writing more blog posts because 1) everyone and their mom seems to be getting their own blogs, and I like to follow blindly like a sheep (not really, but it sounded good), and 2) I went to see a psychotherapist and she said to start writing stuff down to help with my issues (more on this later). We shall see how much I keep up with this since having two kids under the age of three is a little hectic, but I'm going to try my best.

First some pictures:

Lizzy - June 2010

Lizzy - July 2010

Found out we're pregnant - August 2010

Lizzy - August 2010

Lizzy, PawPaw, and Grandma - September 2010

Lizzy and Mommy - October 2010

Lizzy - November 2010

Lizzy and Daddy - December 2010

Lizzy and Daddy - January 2011

Lizzy - February 2011

Lizzy - March 2011

Lizzy and Daddy - April 2011

Michael, Daddy, and Mommy - April 2011

Lizzy - May 2011

Lizzy and Mike - June 2011

Lizzy and Mike - July 2011

Lizzy, Mike, Daddy, and Rascal - August 2011

Lizzy, Mike, and Katie - September 2011

Lizzy and Mike - October 2011

Lizzy and Mike - November 2011

Lizzy and Mike - December 2011

Lizzy and Mike - January 2012

Now to talk about the whole psychotherapist thing. I'll start at the beginning of when I noticed a change in my behavior....

About the time that I got pregnant with Michael, I started to get a little annoyed with how Lizzy would act or I would feel really bothered by having to play with her 24/7. She was in a MDO (Mother's Day Out) program, but that was only 2 days a week from 9am-2pm. For a while it was fine, but once the pregnancy hormones came into the picture, things got a little overwhelming. I dealt with it all by going to a lot of play dates, sleeping when Lizzy was in MDO instead of cleaning the house, and telling myself it was just the hormones and would go away once Michael got here.

On April 1, 2011, Steve informed me that his Dallas office for V I Technologies was closing, and we had three options. We could stay in Little Elm and try to find a job (which not a lot of people were hiring), move to Austin where the main office for V I Tech was, or move to Houston and find a job so we can be close to family. We decided staying in Little Elm was out since no one was really hiring (believe me, we looked), and we've wanted to be close to family for so long anyway so moving was in our best interest. Steve put out feelers in Houston, but didn't tell anyone at the Austin office that he was. Our plan was for me and the kids (because I was 39 weeks pregnant by then) to move in with my parents while Steve lived wherever he had a job. Once our house in Little Elm sold, we'd look for a house wherever the job was and go ahead with moving again. Two things I didn't really prepare for: the selling market is really that bad, and I would have to take care of a newborn and a toddler while under the strain of living with my parents again.

Needless to say, it didn't go quite as we planned. Oh Steve found a great job in Houston, but for the first month he had to stay in Dallas to finish out the office being open. Our house didn't sell at all so we eventually had to rent it out. We lived with my parents for 3 months when we figured it would only be for about 1-2. I had a whole month of getting up every 3-4 hours to feed Michael during the night, and then staying up all day with no nap (since Lizzy decided she didn't need to nap anymore). It was a little bit of hell, and my mental health showed it.

I'll continue this post at another time. It's getting a little long, and Michael is getting really fussy. The joys of parenthood as we know it.

Lizzy is 2 years 8 months, and Michael is 9 months old

Happy late birthday?

2010-06-24T10:24:00.016-05:00

Okay, so a lot has happened. Lizzy turned 11, then 12, and is now 13 months old. She's currently teething her molars (fun stuff!), and she's been walking since 2 days before her birthday. Heh, if you think I'm bad at keeping up with this blog, just think of how I am with her First Year Calendar :P

Lizzy decided, 2 days before she turned 1, so start walking without any help. And because she had been cruising along anything and everything for so long (about 3-4 months) she took right off and didn't even fall! It took her awhile to get the hang of standing up from a sitting position to start walking, but if she was already standing, look out! Since she's now about 13.5 months she's RUNNING everywhere and won't stay still for a minute. It's like she has a whole world to explore and she can't miss a minute of it. Gone are the days of being able to go out to eat for us. Now we must either let her walk around, following her while one of us eats, or we just forgo the whole "going out to eat" business. Maybe in a couple years we'll be able to go to a restaurant with her again, but until then it's either eating at our house or someone else's :)

Molars suck. As soon as she turned a year old, she start teething for her molars. At least that's what I'm telling myself to make myself feel better about all of the fussiness and temper tantrums that are happening. Where did my sweet little angel go? I digress... So Lizzy now has one molar on the bottom right and bottom left one is on it's way. It's gotten to the point that her teeth are causing her to get sick. She currently has a wet cough (yummy isn't it?) and her diapers are, well, I just won't go there. Needless to say that my first comment in this paragraph is the honest to God's truth. MOLARS SUCK!

I can't believe my little girl is a year! Can you? Probably...but I can't! I remember fondly of the times when she would just sleep in my arms weighing only 10 lbs, or when she would just sit on the floor and not move b/c she didn't know how to. I think I'm tearing up a bit...

I signed Lizzy up for a Mommy's Day Out program at a church that's about half a mile from the house. She starts the day after Labor Day and will go on Tuesday and Thursday from 9am to 2pm. I will have 10 hours by myself every week!!! Unless there's a school holiday, as the church goes by the LEISD school calendar. But still, my house will be clean again! I will be sane again! I will get SLEEP again! Can you tell I'm excited? I love Lizzy, I really really do, but Momma needs some time to herself.

In about 2 weeks, Lizzy and I are heading to Houston for a 2 week vacation to see family and friends. That means Steve gets the house (and animals) all to himself for 2 weeks straight. Will be go back to his bachelor ways (meaning eating beans on tortillas for dinner and other fine cuisine)? We shall see. Meanwhile, Lizzy and I will be meeting up with Aunt Rosanna, Ko-Ko, Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Jennifer, Aunt Kara, Uncle Greg, Uncle David, Aunt Emily, Uncle Vlad, (Aunt) Karen, (Uncle) Jason, (Aunt) Mary, and many other family and friends that I'm just not in the mood to name. All I know is Lizzy will start off with dinner with Steve's family, then have fun with other family and friends, go to a wedding, head to Gavleston at some point, and end our vacation in Austin. (Aunt) Karen will get to babysit for an hour or two while Steve (he's meeting up with us in Austin) and I go to a birthday dinner for (Uncle) Jeff. Then it'll be girl time for Karen, Lizzy and I while Daddy goes out partying with Jeff and friends. It'll be a ~~good~~ great vacation.

And now for some pictures...

Again with the updating

2010-03-11T21:24:00.007-06:00

Man, I am bad at updating. Okay, so the last 2 months...

Lizzy turned 9 then 10 months. She's always so happy, I love her to pieces.

Lizzy also got her first really bad sickness. She got a stomach virus that caused her to vomit then have diarrhea, and because she didn't want anything in her tummy from her nausea she got dehydrated. Since she got dehydrated we got to spend a lovely Saturday morning and afternoon at the ER. It took them 5 sticks before they got an IV in, and Lizzy screamed the whole time. At least after all of that she started drinking fluids again. She finally got over all of her sickness, but it took a week plus a couple of days. Now she's back to her happy-go-lucky self that loves to eat and play.

Tomorrow we have a playdate with a group of people at the Wiggly Play Center in Frisco. They have a toddler area, so Lizzy can have fun in there (with me) while I have some adult conversation (if she lets me).

Other than her getting sick for a week, everything has been pretty normal. Lizzy loves her fruits and veggies, she crawls, she cruises along anything that is as tall as or taller than herself, she loves laughing at the animals, she's shy around new people, and she's making her way confidently around the house now.

And now for some pictures...

8 months

2010-01-11T10:28:00.005-06:00

Guess who turned 8 months old on the 7th?

She's really getting the hang of crawling. Her favorite place to go is the kitchen. As soon as she sets hands on the tile she starts yelling loudly to hear her own voice. She's so silly!

Those top teeth are still coming in. I wish they would hurry and cut through the gums! Tylenol and teething tablets are our friends.

Well, since she is eating more and more solids, my milk supply is starting to dry up. We got our first can of formula yesterday at the store. I have some milk in the freezer that we'll be mixing with the formula so that she gets used to the taste. I still plan on nursing her at night, but she doesn't get enough during the day anymore, hence the formula. Hey, I made it 8 months! Go me :)

Grandma and Pawpaw are coming to visit this weekend. It's supposed to rain most of the weekend, but that's okay. We'll keep entertained by watching Lizzy crawl all over the house.

Big news for us as well. We've decided to buy a new car. We'll be getting a Toyota Sienna XLE. Yes, I am getting a Mommy Van. We'll trade in the Highlander for the new vehicle. Not sure exactly when, but the plans are in the works. Lizzy will have lots more room and trips will be a lot more fun.

Lizzy is up from her nap now so I will write more at a later date. Here's a picture of her teeth!

See what happens with life happens?

2010-01-06T12:44:00.016-06:00

Okay wow, it's been way too long. Life just kind of got away from me. We've been so busy, I'll break it up for ya'll.

October 2009:

Grandma and Grandpa (Pawpaw) came to visit the weekend of Pawpaw's birthday. We all had fun and Pawpaw took lots of pictures on his expensive camera. Lizzy found her toes this month as well. She loves to put her feet and toes in her mouth whenever she gets a diaper change (let's everyone tell her future boyfriends this ;) ). She also learned to sit up all on her own! One day I decided to see how she would do (as I had been doing this off and on throughout the month) and on the 25th she stayed sitting up when I let go! She also showed interest in the food and drinks we were eating, so she started solids. She did great! She eats like a little lady now, with her hands folded over each other. The month ended with Ko-Ko coming to visit for Halloween. On the actual day of Halloween, Lizzy decided that she wanted to try out her first word, Da-Da. It's been non-stop talking since.

November:

Lizzy had her 6 month doctor's appointment this month. She weighed 18.01 lbs and was 26 inches long. Grandma and Pawpaw came to visit again! They came in on a Thursday after she got home from her playdate. There was a 9 month old little girl at the playdate, but Lizzy was bigger than her in size! She kept taking all of the toys away from the little girl. Funny now, but we'll have to keep an eye on it later on. On the 19th Lizzy got her first tooth! She only fussed for a day or so, the pop, there it was. The second one came in soon after. She also went to the doctor and get her first of 2 flu shots. I made Daddy go with us so he could see how shots make her very unhappy, and do you know how she did? She didn't cry at all! She made a whiney sound and then nothing. I was so annoyed that Daddy got out of a crying Lizzy! Thanksgiving was spent in Victoria with the Summers'. We had lots of fun seeing everyone! Lizzy started to try and crawl during this month, but never quite actually moved.

December:

Lizzy crawled this month! She actually started going backwards, but finally got the hang of going forward toward the end of the month. We had a Christmas playdate before leaving for Houston to spend Christmas with the O'Donnell's. We had loads of fun! When we got back home, Lizzy had to get her second of 2 flu shots. This time she cried like she usually does when getting shots and Daddy got to see first hand what Mommy has to go through (not to mention Lizzy). On New Year's Eve Lizzy pulled herself into a stand position! Now every time we help her into a standing position she tries to walk. Soon she's be all over the place!

Here some pictures!

First Aggie game

2009-10-06T09:01:00.004-05:00

When Lizzy poops it's so funny to watch and listen to her. She'll scrunch up her face and grunt. Sometimes she'll even make a low moaning sound like it feel really good to get all that poop out. Probably doesn't sound very funny or good to anyone else, but I guess you have to be there. Either way she always feel really good afterward and usually takes a really long nap if it's around that time.

Grandma and Grandpa are visiting the weekend of the 17th and KoKo is visiting Halloween weekend. Lizzy is excited (though she doesn't know it yet) to see everyone.

Lizzy was doing so well with going to sleep early until last week. Now she wants to be up and playing until 10 PM almost every night. Last night was the first night she went to sleep early in a long time. She's also starting to wake up around 3-4 in the morning to eat again. I'm guessing a lot of this was because of a growth spurt she had this last week. She's only wanted to cuddle and eat.

Lizzy has found her throat and voice more so than before. She's started this "coughing" thing now where she starts to actually cough. She'll just sit there or bounce and cough over and over again. It's really very funny. And no, she's not sick. She also has found that moving her tongue while making noise makes different sounding noises. It's really very cute, and I got a few videos of her doing it.

I thought maybe she had an ear infection this past weekend because she kept rubbing and pulling at her right ear, but she was never really fussy like she was sick. So yesterday I kept watch to see if she kept at the rubbing/pulling, and nothing. She never acts sick and the only thing I had to go on was that she was rubbing/pulling on her right ear. Now she's stopped doing it, so I guess it was just a baby thing for her to do. So no doctor for her until she actually acts sick.

Yesterday Lizzy was a little angel. I guess she knew it was my birthday. We had Ramona and Jenny come and babysit while Daddy took me to dinner. Daddy also got me flowers, and we had some fun looking, smelling, and touching them. I think she really liked the colors of them.

For Halloween Lizzy is going to be a ladybug. It's the costume Sydney wore for her second Halloween. Hopefully it'll be a little chilly so that Lizzy is not so hot in her costume.

Lizzy saw her first Aggie football game last weekend. She actually watched the game most of the time too. It was pretty funny.

Time to upload all of the new videos of Lizzy so I can send out an email.

Bubbles

2009-09-22T11:00:00.005-05:00

We've had a fun couple of weeks. Lizzy is now a champion roll-over roller. Every time I put her on the floor on her back, she starts to roll over. Yesterday she rolled from back to front to back again. Soon she'll figure out that she can roll all over the house. Then I really will need to vacuum every day.

The cloth diapers we have are called one-size as they grow with baby. Lizzy is now on the biggest size. I hope she can stay in them until she potty trains, but I seriously doubt it. I can dream though, can't I? She's doing great in her diapers though. No blow-outs in the cloth as all!

I've stopped using the blue bath tub for her baths now. She's also too big for me to have her in our shower with me. If our shower was bigger it wouldn't be so hard, but our shower is so tiny. So now we use our garden tub. As you can see from the picture, she just loves her baths.

Speaking of, we now have a definite schedule again. I KNOW you want to know:

8 AM - Get up, diaper change, eat, play
10 AM - Nap
11 AM - Get up, diaper change, eat, play
2 PM - Nap
4 PM - Get up, diaper change, eat, play
7:30 PM - Bath, pajamas, play
8 PM - Eat
8:30 PM - Bedtime

Now there's some more eating and diaper changing in there, but that changes every day depending on how hungry she is during the day. She's started to soothe herself to sleep now, so I try to get her into her crib by 9 PM at the latest. Most nights she's asleep by 9:30 PM, sometimes earlier and sometimes later. Still, I think our schedule is pretty good.

Lizzy has also found her thumb. Yes it could lead to all sorts of mouth problems and blah blah blah, but she puts herself to sleep with it in her mouth and doesn't need to fall asleep while feeding now. So I say for her to go for the thumb and we'll deal with it later.

Well, now I must clean stuff up as she's taking a nap right now.

Labor Day and 4 months

2009-09-10T08:51:00.003-05:00

Labor Day Weekend was a fun one for us. Thursday we traveled to Houston to break up the time in the car. We stayed the night in Houston and spent half of Friday with Grandma and Grandpa. Grandma and Grandpa were going on a 5 day cruise the next day, so they wouldn't be in Galveston while we were there, and Lizzy needed to get in time with her grandparents.

We left Houston around 2 PM and hung out at the beach house in Galveston for the rest of the day. Lizzy got to lay on a pallet and play, sleep in a swing, and go downstairs to watch her puppies run after a ball. At 9 PM Aunt Jennifer, Uncle Greg, Sydney, and Parker showed up. Sydney was asleep already, but Parker decided it was time to play. By then it was time for Lizzy to start to head to bed. Since we were traveling Lizzy didn't sleep as well as she normally does. The night before she had gotten up at 1 AM, 6 AM, and 8 AM. That night she woke up at 3 AM, 6 AM, and 7:30 AM.

Saturday was a fun day. I made breakfast (with help from Aunt Jennifer) and then we spent most of the day downstairs watching Sydney and Parker swim in the blowup pool, and watching the dogs run after balls and frizbees. We brought the swing downstairs and whenever Lizzy was tired, I would set her in it and she would go right to sleep. There was a nice breeze all day that kept the mosquitoes away. In the middle of the day everyone decided to take a nap, but Lizzy and Sydney weren't tired, so I stayed awake to watch them. We went downstairs to have some fun with the dogs and so that we wouldn't wake up everyone upstairs. After a while, Greg came down because he heard the ice cream man and thought Sydney was downstairs by herself. We got ice cream though, so no nap wasn't so bad. That night Lizzy woke up at 2:30 AM and 6 AM.

Steve decided to wake up with Lizzy to let me sleep until 8 AM on Sunday. Aunt Shirley showed up around 8:30 AM and played with Lizzy while we all ate breakfast. After eating it was time to head to the beach. I didn't have a swim diaper, but Lizzy swim suit has a built in one, so we just used that. I needn't have worried though, as she didn't potty until we got back to the house and in the bath. At the beach I held her in the shallow water while Aunt Jennifer got some pictures. After being in the water I wrapped a towel around her and she passed out. Water always relaxes her. Back at the house we both rinsed off to get the salt water off of us. Then we all headed over to Aunt Shirley and Uncle William's beach house. Kevin and his family, William and his family, and Aunt Shirley and Uncle William were all down for the day. It was getting late after a while, so Daddy, Lizzy, and I went back to our beach house to finish packing. We left around 8 PM.

That night Lizzy slept from 11 PM to 7 AM with no waking inbetween. I have a feeling she was just as exhausted as Daddy and I were. We left Houston around 11 AM and got back home at 3 PM. It was actually a really good car ride.

That Monday Lizzy turned 4 months old as well. We had a doctor's appointment on Tuesday for her 4 month well check. Here are her stats:

Weight: 16.06 lbs (97th percentile)
Length: 24.25 inches (50th percentile)
Head circumference: 16.5 inches
All developments on track

I thought maybe she had an ear infection because her right ear smelled a little yeasty Monday night after her bath, but the doctor checked both ears and they're both perfect. Aside from thinking that, everything is great with her. The doctor was happy that I only had that one question. He asked if she was on any solids yet and I said no. He said that at her next well check we would talk about solids since she'll be 6 months by then. Oh my baby is growing up!

Speaking of growing up, guess what she JUST did?!?!?! She rolled over from back to front! Now she can roll over both ways! Oh, it's so exciting. I got a short video of her doing it too, I need to upload it and show everyone!

Time to get back to playing with Lizzy...

Parties and playdates

2009-08-30T10:54:00.003-05:00

Oh man I did it again. It's been a long time. Seems like I'll be doing this every two weeks instead of every one, haha. Run down on what's been happening...got DirecTV (wooooo satellite), Grandma and Grandpa came to visit, we took a road trip to Victoria to see Daddy's friends as well as Koko and Pop Pop, cousin Sydney had a birthday (5 years!), and we had a playdate hosted at our house that included going to the pool.

8/14 We had the DirecTV guy come to set up satellite for us. Grandma and Grandpa wanted to visit that weekend so I checked to see if they could come by noon that day to help with the set up. Daddy decided to take a half day at work, so I ended up not needing my parents there, but it was great that they were just the same. Grandma loved seeing her little Lizzy! Plus we finally got great TV to watch!

8/15 Grandma and Grandpa watched Lizzy while Daddy and I cleaned the house. Or, we tried to clean the whole house. We only got the main living areas (cat room, den, study, kitchen, laundry room, Lizzy's room) done as we were having cousin Ramona, Scott, Jenny, and Jeff over for dinner. Had a fun time with everyone, we even got to play Mexican Train.

8/16 Grandma wasn't feeling too well so they only stayed until noon. We all went out to eat for breakfast at IHOP. Been a while since Daddy and I went out to eat for breakfast. Then we went to Target where Daddy got a new universal remote to play with once we got home. Grandma and Grandpa left soon after getting back to our house.

8/21 We left early to head to Victoria. The trip wasn't too bad. Lizzy slept until we got to Cameron. Then we stopped to have a bite to eat and kept her out of the car seat for about 30 minutes. Then we drove until we needed gas and kept her out of the car seat for another 30 minutes or so. The whole trip to Victoria ended up taking about 7 hours. Once there we hung out with Koko (formerly Gigi) and Pop Pop. Koko even had a shirt made by Aunt Rosanna that had a picture of Lizzy's hand in her hand. It was very cute.

8/22 Koko and Pop Pop went to Houston to visit Aunt Emily and Uncle Vlad while we stayed in Victoria. We ended up heading out to shop for a bit until it was time to head over to Daddy's friend's house for their party. We bought a swing so that Lizzy could nap during the day without having to be in my and Daddy's arms. It was one of the best things we have ever bought. Then it was party time! Lizzy got to meet most of Daddy's friends, though not all of them could make it. Stayed there for a while until it was close to bedtime, then it was back to Koko and Pop Pop's house.

8/23 We hung out with Koko and Pop Pop all day except during lunchtime when we went out to eat with Daddy's friends. Daddy and I went for a walk with the dogs (as we didn't have a stroller) and left Lizzy with Koko. Lizzy didn't like that at all and cried most of the time we were gone. Once we got back, we got her shower going and that calmed her down quite a bit. She was mostly tired.

8/24 We headed back home to Little Elm. The trip was the best one we've had as of yet. Lizzy slept until we got to Cameron. Then we stopped to eat again and kept her out of the car seat for another 30 minutes. After we got back on the road, she fell asleep again. When we stopped for gas, she was still sleeping so we went ahead and just got gas and headed on. She slept the whole trip except when we stopped to eat. It was AWESOME.

8/25 I called Sydney as it was her 5th birthday. Her party is set for 9/12, but we won't be able to go. We'll see her for Labor Day weekend though!

8/29 We hosted our 3rd play date. Only 2 moms could make it. Once everyone got here we all packed up and headed to our neighborhood pool. It was great. Lizzy got to swim with Daddy and me and she had her new swimsuit on along with a hat that matched. Swimming really took it out of her because as soon as we took her out of the water and put a towel around her she was out cold. I got a cute picture with my camera phone that it at the top of this entry. Then we took Rascal to the vet to learn that he needs his food changed. So we all went to PETCO after to get new food. While at the vet, I weighed Lizzy and found that she weighs 16 lbs now! She's getting so big!

Well, coming up in the next 2 weeks we have Labor Day Weekend coming (which we will spend in Galveston), Lizzy's 4 month check up at the doctor, and Lizzy's going to be 4 months old on the 7th! Lots to talk about next time.

I hear her starting to fuss, time to go feed my hungry girl!

Two weeks to catch up

2009-08-10T14:00:00.003-05:00

Wow, sorry for taking so long to post again. We seem to have been really busy for the last 2 weeks. Let's see if I can remember everything that happened.

07/24/09 we headed to Houston when Daddy got home from work. Let me just say that traveling at night with Lizzy is not the smartest thing for us to do. She was cranky whenever she wasn't sleeping. I ended up having to stay in the backseat with her for the last leg of the trip. When we got to Grandma and Grandpa's she was NOT a happy girl. She wanted her shower, to be fed, and to pass out. And that's exactly what we did. I got into the shower and had Steve give her to me. Then I fed her, and as she was feeding she passed out cold. Grandma and Grandpa had set up my old crib, so that's what she got to sleep in all weekend.

07-25-09 was Astros game day for Daddy and me. Aunt Jennifer, Uncle Greg, Sydney, and Parker all came to Grandma and Grandpa's for lunch and a visit. We all had a good time. Even some family friends showed up. Then Daddy and I headed out to Minute Maid Park while Grandma babysat. Astros lost, but we had a good time anyway. Plus Grandma got to give Lizzy a bath and try and get her to bed before we got home. Lizzy woke up once we got home, though, so I went ahead and fed her to which she decided to pass out again.

07-26-09 we headed over to Aunt Emily and Uncle Vlad's to have lunch before we set off for home. Before we left Grandma and Grandpa's, we got a call from Aunt Jennifer. She needed Daddy to come look at their computer, so we decided to head there after seeing Aunt Emily and Uncle Vlad. Uncle Vlad got to meet Lizzy for the first time. She was such a good girl too. She liked using Uncle Vlad as a slide. We had some great burgers for lunch. Then we headed over to Aunt Jennifer's where Daddy looked at their computer. Turns out that the hard drive or motherboard or SOMETHING wasn't working right which meant that they needed to get a new one of what wasn't working. Then Aunt Jennifer gave me some great advice...Don't stop until Lizzy wakes up on her own. See, the whole reason we would stop every two hours would be to feed and change Lizzy because the pediatrician had said to make sure she didn't get dehydrated on the trip. Well the ride home was much smoother with the advice from my sister. Thank you Aunt Jennifer!

07-28-09 we got some pictures in the mail from Gigi. They were of Daddy when he was a baby. Lizzy looks JUST LIKE HIM. So now I need to scan those into our computer and take some "look alike" pictures of Lizzy. Once that is done, I'll be sending out an email with each picture in a side-by-side view for everyone to see.

08-01-09 I got to go to a friend's baby shower while Daddy babysat Lizzy. He seemed to have a good time with his lovely daughter. I missed her and so did everyone at the shower. They all wanted to know where she was.

08-07-09 Lizzy turned 3 months! We also had a playdate to go to that day. It was at Chuck E Cheese since most of the mommies in the group have at least one kid that is 2+ years. I had an okay time, but I think I'll skip out on those playdates that are held there until Lizzy is a little older. I did get our picture taken by one of those machines that makes the picture look like it's drawn with pencil. I still need to scan that one as well.

So that catches everyone up on what's been happening the last 2 weeks. Now we'll get to look forward to getting a satellite dish with DirecTV, having Ramona and Jenny babysit so Daddy and I can clean the house, and heading to Victoria, TX to see friends for the next 2 weeks. Hopefully I can keep up with this every week again though.

As for new things Lizzy can do, she still rolls over quite a bit from front to back, she LOVES to talk and coo, she scoots on the floor whether on her belly or back (scoots forward when on her belly, in a circle when on her back), and loves playing in her activity centers.

For pictures, just head here.

Something interesting

2009-07-24T10:34:00.003-05:00

100 Things Your Kids May Never Know

And for the link phobic:

"There are some things in this world that will never be forgotten, this week’s 40th anniversary of the moon landing for one. But Moore’s Law and our ever-increasing quest for simpler, smaller, faster and better widgets and thingamabobs will always ensure that some of the technology we grew up with will not be passed down the line to the next generation of geeks.

That is, of course, unless we tell them all about the good old days of modems and typewriters, slide rules and encyclopedias …

Audio-Visual Entertainment

Inserting a VHS tape into a VCR to watch a movie or to record something.
Super-8 movies and cine film of all kinds.
Playing music on an audio tape using a personal stereo. See what happens when you give a Walkman to today’s teenager.
The number of TV channels being a single digit. I remember it being a massive event when Britain got its fourth channel.
Standard-definition, CRT TVs filling up half your living room.
Rotary dial televisions with no remote control. You know, the ones where the kids were the remote control.
High-speed dubbing.
8-track cartridges.
Vinyl records. Even today’s DJs are going laptop or CD.
Betamax tapes.
MiniDisc.
Laserdisc: the LP of DVD.
Scanning the radio dial and hearing static between stations. (Digital tuners + HD radio b0rk this concept.)
Shortwave radio.
3-D movies meaning red-and-green glasses.
Watching TV when the networks say you should. Tivo and Sky+ are slowing killing this one.
That there was a time before ‘reality TV.’

Computers and Videogaming

Wires. OK, so they’re not gone yet, but it won’t be long
The scream of a modem connecting.
The buzz of a dot-matrix printer
5- and 3-inch floppies, Zip Discs and countless other forms of data storage.
Using jumpers to set IRQs.
DOS.
Terminals accessing the mainframe.
Screens being just green (or orange) on black.
Tweaking the volume setting on your tape deck to get a computer game to load, and waiting ages for it to actually do it.
Daisy chaining your SCSI devices and making sure they’ve all got a different ID.
Counting in kilobytes.
Wondering if you can afford to buy a RAM upgrade.
Blowing the dust out of a NES cartridge in the hopes that it’ll load this time.
Turning a PlayStation on its end to try and get a game to load.
Joysticks.
Having to delete something to make room on your hard drive.
Booting your computer off of a floppy disk.
Recording a song in a studio.

The Internet

NCSA Mosaic.
Finding out information from an encyclopedia.
Using a road atlas to get from A to B.
Doing bank business only when the bank is open.
Shopping only during the day, Monday to Saturday.
Phone books and Yellow Pages.
Newspapers and magazines made from dead trees.
Actually being able to get a domain name consisting of real words.
Filling out an order form by hand, putting it in an envelope and posting it.
Not knowing exactly what all of your friends are doing and thinking at every moment.
Carrying on a correspondence with real letters, especially the handwritten kind.
Archie searches.
Gopher searches.
Concatenating and UUDecoding binaries from Usenet.
Privacy.
The fact that words generally don’t have num8er5 in them.
Correct spelling of phrases, rather than TLAs.
Waiting several minutes (or even hours!) to download something.
The time before botnets/security vulnerabilities due to always-on and always-connected PCs
The time before PC networks.
When Spam was just a meat product — or even a Monty Python sketch.

Gadgets

Typewriters.
Putting film in your camera: 35mm may have some life still, but what about APS or disk?
Sending that film away to be processed.
Having physical prints of photographs come back to you.
CB radios.
Getting lost. With GPS coming to more and more phones, your location is only a click away.
Rotary-dial telephones.
Answering machines.
Using a stick to point at information on a wallchart
Pay phones.
Phones with actual bells in them.
Fax machines.
Vacuum cleaners with bags in them.

Everything Else

Taking turns picking a radio station, or selecting a tape, for everyone to listen to during a long drive.
Remembering someone’s phone number.
Not knowing who was calling you on the phone.
Actually going down to a Blockbuster store to rent a movie.
Toys actually being suitable for the under-3s.
LEGO just being square blocks of various sizes, with the odd wheel, window or door.
Waiting for the television-network premiere to watch a movie after its run at the theater.
Relying on the 5-minute sport segment on the nightly news for baseball highlights.
Neat handwriting.
The days before the nanny state.
Starbuck being a man.
Han shoots first.
“Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father.” But they’ve already seen episode III, so it’s no big surprise.
Kentucky Fried Chicken, as opposed to KFC.
Trig tables and log tables.
“Don’t know what a slide rule is for …”
Finding books in a card catalog at the library.
Swimming pools with diving boards.
Hershey bars in silver wrappers.
Sliding the paper outer wrapper off a Kit-Kat, placing it on the palm of your hand and clapping to make it bang loudly. Then sliding your finger down the silver foil to break off the first finger
A Marathon bar (what a Snickers used to be called in Britain).
Having to manually unlock a car door.
Writing a check.
Looking out the window during a long drive.
Roller skates, as opposed to blades.
Cash.
Libraries as a place to get books rather than a place to use the internet.
Spending your entire allowance at the arcade in the mall.
Omni Magazine
A physical dictionary — either for spelling or definitions.
When a ‘geek’ and a ‘nerd’ were one and the same.

My thanks go out to all of my fellow GeekDads for their contributions to this list."

Baptism

2009-07-23T13:23:00.008-05:00

Lizzy's baptism went great! Family started showing up around noon on Saturday. We had a good time together grilling burgers and hotdogs then going swimming at the pool. Lizzy stayed home from swimming because she was taking a nap. Half the family stayed with her.

Sunday was the big day. We all got to the church a little early to make sure we knew what to do. Once there we learned that there were only going to be 3 baptisms that day including Lizzy's. She was mostly good throughout the ceremony, but I had to keep walking with her in my arms to keep her from fussing. She was very tired, but overstimulated from everything so wouldn't fall asleep. She still smells like the oil that the deacon put on her head, although it's definitely lighter in intensity.

Sunday evening Gigi, Pop Pop, Daddy, Lizzy, and I all went to Blue Mesa for dinner. Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Jennifer, Sydney, and Parker had to head home to Houston as Sydney had camp the next day. Blue Mesa was wonderful! I love their sweet potato chips.

Tuesday I decided to take the money that Lizzy received for baptism and open up a savings account in her name (and mine since she's a minor). So now she has a savings account I can put any money into that she gets from holidays or for whatever. It'll be good to have for her so young so that when she grows up she can use it later on in life.

This week Lizzy has started to coo a lot more. She will sit for hours with me or Daddy and we will coo back and forth to each other. Monday night she wanted to talk so much that she stayed up later than usual just talking away. She tried to do it last night, but I told her that it was bedtime and that she needed to sleep. She took the hint when I lay with her to nurse her one last time for the night.

She also smiles all the time now. She just has the cutest smile and voice. I love being able to spend my days playing with her. We read books, look in the mirror, watch game shows (she loves all the colors and lights), smile at each other, and talk to each other whenever she's not eating or sleeping. She also loves when she has her diaper off. Whenever she's crying and won't stop, she immediately calms down on her changing table because she knows she will soon be without anything on her bottom. Even when she doesn't have a dirty diaper, she loves being changed. Haha, the things she'll hear about when she's older.

She has rolled over a total of 4 times now. About 2-3 weeks ago she rolled from front to back 2 times in a row. I thought it was a fluke since she should be too young to do it or know that she was doing it. Then last weekend she rolled over 2 times again from front to back. I think she's starting to figure it all out now. When she gets tired of tummy time, but doesn't want to only be on her back I will roll her from front to back and back to front a couple times in a row. She loves it.

She's taking a nap right now, so I should get back to doing chores.

Weddings and Baptisms

2009-07-15T09:19:00.003-05:00

I've finally noticed Lizzy's sleep schedule. She sleeps about 8 hours at night, takes a 2 hour nap in the morning, a one hour nap in the afternoon, and a 2 hour nap in the evening. If she doesn't get those naps during the day she ends up being very fussy at night.

We went to our first big event with Lizzy last Saturday night. Steve's co-worker got married and invited us to the reception. She did really well, not getting fussy until right before we left. She was really tired, but the music was really loud therefore overstimulating her. We had to leave early so we could get her home and to bed.

Sunday we went to a nice dinner while Lizzy stayed home with Ramona. It was our first babysitter that wasn't grandma. Steve and I actually got to go shopping and to dinner without having to worry about getting out a stroller or if Lizzy would get fussy while we ate. It was so fun! Don't get me wrong, I love my little girl to pieces, but sometimes I do need a bit of a break. I have a feeling Ramona had as much fun as we did because she said to call her any time to babysit again.

Today we're going to Steve's work to have lunch with him before I go to a doctor's appointment for myself. All of Steve's co-workers love Lizzy, especially Jenn. Jenn and I have become somewhat friendly (probably more so once she has her little boy in October) so we get to sit and gossip when Lizzy and I come to visit.

Sunday Lizzy is getting baptized! Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Jennifer, Gigi, Pop Pop, Sydney, and Parker will all be here to celebrate with us. I think Ramona, Scott, Jenny, and Jeffery are going to come as well. Saturday night we'll actually have the celebration dinner since everyone needs to leave Sunday afternoon/night. I plan on baking some cupcakes and decorating them myself for the dessert. Hopefully they'll turn out okay.

Time to finish some chores while Lizzy is taking her morning nap.

Two months old

2009-07-08T06:58:00.005-05:00

We've made it two months!

Date: 07/07/09
Weight: 13 lbs (94th percentile)
Length: 23 inches (76th percentile)
Head circumference is in the 81st percentile
Development is right on track

We have a big girl on our hands! The doctor's appointment went great. Breastfeeding seems to have done an awesome job for my little girl. Steve and I think she'll have his height since she's already getting so big so fast, but who knows.

She also received her first set of shots as well. She DID NOT like it AT ALL. She cried so hard during them, but was okay once I got her into her car seat and was moving toward the door. She did well for the rest of the afternoon (her appointment was at 2 PM), but once 6 PM hit she would not stop crying/screaming. She was so distraught that she wouldn't even eat so we got the Moby wrap out and I wrapped her against my chest. Took a while, but she calmed down finally and fell asleep. When dinner was ready I unwrapped her to switch her to Steve (he'd already eaten), but she wouldn't calm down again. We decided to put her back onto me. We figured her smelling me is what got her to calm down in the first place. She was calm for about 30 minutes that second time, but kept crying so we went ahead and started her night time ritual of shower, eat, and bed. I knew she didn't feel good when she cried throughout her shower. I kept taking her temperature yesterday, but she never had a fever. But we finally got her to calm down enough to eat which made her fall right asleep. Got her into her bed around 10 PM.

She's doing a lot better today. She still feels a little warm, but she's not screaming about it. Right now she's in her swing pooping while sleeping. She still grunts a whole lot, mostly in the morning because she doesn't poop during the night. We found a gripe water that worked wonders for her. It's non-Americanized so it's a little stronger than Little Tummy's or other ones you can get at Walgreens. We recently bought a 4 pack off Amazon.com because we don't know of any Indian food stores around here (which is where you can get this stuff). Just waiting for it to come in the mail as we used the last of our other bottle up 2 days ago.

Time for me to get a nap in while she sleeps. She slept okay last night, but still woke up at 4 AM this morning so I am beat.

Fourth of July festivities

2009-07-06T07:25:00.003-05:00

We had a lot of fun on the fourth of July. We cleaned the house, did yard work, went to a pool party, and actually went to bed on time instead of staying up to watch fireworks.

Steve did yard work the morning of while I vacuumed and straightened the house. Lizzy slept most of that time, but when she was awake I carried her around while cleaning. We also had some play time and tummy time. She's getting so strong with her tummy time. She can lift her whole upper body up. We say she's doing push ups as she goes up and down a lot.

We went to a friend's house for a pool party around 3 PM that day. When we got there, we had all of the kids sit on the couch to take pictures in their 4th of July outfits. There was a 5 year old, a 2 year old, two 11 month olds, and Lizzy. We had fajitas for lunch with cupcakes for dessert. Lizzy got hers a little later if you know what I mean. Then we decided to get our swimsuits on and go swimming. We got Lizzy's swimsuit on her and realized that this was the first and only time she's going to wear it as it was already almost too small for her. She's now in 3-6 or 6 month clothes. Once I got my swimsuit on, we headed out to the pool. Both Steve and I think she liked it. I think she couldn't decide if it was a bath or not b/c of the water temperature. Reason I say that is she had the same expression on her face as she does when she gets a bath. Relaxed. Afterward we headed home as we ran out of diapers (we had brought 4!) and she was getting tired fussy. When we got home I took a shower with Lizzy, fed her, and got her to bed at 9:45 PM.

Sunday we had a milestone happen with Lizzy. She rolled over from her belly to her back! We were having tummy time when she started bending only one arm instead of both. Next thing Steve and I knew she was on her back. We turned her back over and she did it again! I'm not sure if she'll keep doing it, but it was sure awesome.

Lizzy is now sleeping at least 7 hours every night. It's so great to be able to sleep more than 2-3 hours at a time now. She'll go to bed anywhere between 9 PM-12 AM and be up around 4-7 AM. I try to get to bed soon after she goes down, but a lot of times I need to finish little things around the house so I won't have to worry about them the next day.

Tuesday Lizzy will be 2 months old. It's also the day she's going to get her first set of shots. I'm hoping she does the same as she did when she got her Hep B shot when she was born. Basically sit there and be happy. I know, wishful thinking, but I can hope! At least I don't have to be anywhere or do anything after so we can come home, cuddle, and calm down.

Today we're going to the library so I can get some more books. I've finished all of the books that Gigi got me when Lizzy was born (thanks Karen!), so now we can venture out to see how she does while I pick out some books to read.

She's fallen alseep in her swing so I am going to get in a nap too. Last night she went down at 9 PM and woke up at 4 AM so I am TIRED.

New habit?

2009-06-30T07:09:00.004-05:00

I just had to say, Lizzy slept for 8 hours last night. I wonder if this will be the norm now. It's so great having sleep again!

Back from our first overnight trip

2009-06-29T11:57:00.006-05:00

And we made it! Going to Houston turned out to be very fun for all involved. Lizzy did really well in the car trip (5+ hours with stops for changes and feedings). She didn't quite like getting back into the car seat after every feeding when we stopped, but eventually she would quiet down. Grandma got to have Lizzy all to herself Friday afternoon/night. She babysat (while Lizzy slept) while Steve and I went to see a movie. Then we grilled steaks and chicken for dinner. Lizzy had her first shower with me (she's not as slippery when wet as I thought she would be). We got her to bed/sleep around 10 PM, not too bad I say.

The next morning Steve, Lizzy, and I lazed in bed until around 8 AM. Then it was time to get everyone ready for the family reunion. On the way there, Aunt Jennifer called to see where we were and how long it would be until we got there. Everyone was anxious to meet Lizzy. I can't tell you how many times I heard, "Where's that baby? I need to see her!" It was so funny! We all had a good time at the reunion. Lizzy did very well. She didn't fuss unless she needed a diaper change or was hungry. She even slept a couple of times in people's arms. That night we had our second shower together. I really think she loves the shower. I know she loves baths as she gets really quiet and relaxes. She did the same thing in the shower. She went to bed at 9 PM that night.

Sunday Steve and Grandpa went shopping at Fry's and Best Buy (Grandpa got a new printer/scanner/fax, Steve got some memory cards for work) while Grandma and I hung out at home with Lizzy. Before we left to go back home, Aunt Jennifer showed up and brought some non-Americanized gripe water. We gave it to Lizzy and boy did it work wonders! She started tooting and burping up a storm. The car ride back was less eventful than the car ride there. Although she got hungry about 5 minutes from the house and therefore started to scream her head off. Steve and I felt so bad when we finally got home and saw her little red face with all of the tears. We quickly changed her then fed her. Since she was so upset it took her a while to latch on, and then she took in way too much. Poor little girl. We got her into bed at 9:45, happy, clean, and full.

She slept NINE HOURS last night! I couldn't believe it. I went to sleep at 11, next thing I know it's 5 in the morning and Steve's alarm is going off. She's not making a sound, so I went back to sleep. She started making some noise around 6:45 so I got up to get her up. It was so great to have those 8 hours I got to sleep.

7 weeks

2009-06-25T15:52:00.003-05:00

We'll be heading to Houston tomorrow morning. Went today to get some diaper rash cream and some travel baby bath and lotion. Also gassed up the car so we don't have to do it tomorrow morning. We plan on getting on the road as soon as we're all fed, clothed, and pottied. Houston here we come!

Lizzy slept 7 hours straight Tuesday night! I was so excited that I got more than 4 hours of straight sleep. It was so great, I just can't get over it. She hasn't done it again, but who knows. She is 7 weeks now.

She's started to spit up a lot again. I think it's the heat outside. It's been in the 100s for the past week. Hopefully it'll stop soon.

Well, she's fussing, so I need to go tend to her.

It's already been 6 weeks?!?

2009-06-21T18:33:00.004-05:00

Sorry I haven't posted in more than a week. It's been a little busy. The reason we were busy is that we had an extremely fussy baby. The reason for the extremely fussy baby? I had Chinese food on Wednesday night, Thursday afternoon, and Thursday night. I didn't realize it was the Chinese food until Thursday night. Lizzy had been fussy all day Thursday, fighting sleep due to gas pains. It got to the point that I couldn't put her down without her screaming bloody murder, and sometimes she would even scream and cry in my arms no matter what I would do. Steve didn't have any more luck with getting her to calm down either. It's finally out of her system though, so it's all good. No more Chinese food for me until I am not nursing anymore.

On Thursday I also had my 6 week postpartum checkup at my OB/GYN. Everything is great with me, I've even lost 34 lbs since giving birth! After the checkup I went by my old work to show Lizzy off to my old co-workers. Everyone LOVED her of course. I was curious about how much she weighed, so I weighed myself while she was in my arms, then weighed myself without her in my arms. She weighs a whopping 11 lbs now! No wonder my arms are always so tired, haha. I'm definitely getting my arm strength up from having to hold her all day.

The weekend of the 13th we got to see Steve's family as they all came to visit and meet Lizzy. It was a great visit! Rosanna was in town from Maryland, so she got to come too! Lizzy loves her Aunt Rosanna, Aunt Ann Marie, Aunt Emily, Uncle Thor, and Gigi! I don't think she was set down the whole time they were all at the house (well, except for during dinner).

Today was Steve's first Father's Day. Lizzy got him a card that magically showed up on his table by our bed sometime during the night. I cooked homemade pancakes while Steve cooked the bacon. Then I served him breakfast (and seconds!) while he watched TV. Next we relaxed and watched some more TV. Then I let Steve go take a nap while I watched Lizzy (who was fighting takng a nap, and so was fussy). For dinner we cooked steaks, asparagus, and had spinach salad with strawberries. Now we're watching TV again. All in all I think it's been a really good first Father's Day for Steve.

Next week we're going to be in Houston for the Lejsal family reunion. We can't wait to see everyone. It'll be our first trip out of Dallas with a baby and the dogs. Hopefully all will go well with the drive. Can't wait to see everyone!

Lizzy is now put to bed (she's already had her bath and nursed), so I must go head to bed as well. I am on nighttime duty every night so that Steve can get a good night's sleep for work. I'll post again soon (hopefully within the next week).

Happy birthday and one month

2009-06-10T16:02:00.003-05:00

First off let me just say, HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEVE!!!

Sissy, Greg, Sydney, and Parker came for a visit this last Sunday-Monday. We all had a good time, although it messed Lizzy's schedule up a bit. We all went to the pool while Steve and Lizzy stayed home. When we got back from the pool, we learned that Lizzy ate 7 oz of expressed breast milk! Can you believe it?

Lizzy had a bit of a hard night that Sunday night, not wanting to sleep and being a little fussy. We were both so tired on Monday that we slept most of the day, which then messed up Monday night. Tuesday was better though.

We're getting into more of a definite schedule now. She has her awake times in the mornings and in the evenings, then sleeps most of the other times of the day. Nights are still a learning experience, although last night was great. She slept a little after eating around 7:30 PM, was awake until about 10:30 PM when she ate again. She then slept from about 11:30 PM until 2 AM when she ate again. Then it was back to sleep right away to wake back up at 4:45 AM for her last feeding of the night. It was an awesome night mostly b/c she would go right back to sleep after getting changed and fed.

Today was a fun day for Lizzy and me. She was awake from about 10 AM until noon, so we walked around the house looking at stuff, had tummy time, and sat and looked at each other.

Oh, I almost forgot, Lizzy turned one month old on Sunday! She's gotten so big compared to what she was when she first came home. It's going by so fast!!!

Okay, this is going to be a short entry. We need to go to the grocery store, and Lizzy is going to go as well. It's going to be quite an outing. I'll get to show off my Moby wrap again.

4 weeks old today!

2009-06-04T11:28:00.004-05:00

I can't believe Lizzy is already 4 weeks old. It's gone by so fast! Seems like it was just yesterday that she was sleeping all the time and we were having trouble with breastfeeding. Now she actually stays awake some of the day and is nursing like a champ. She knows who I am and likes to look at me. She's still not smiling on her own, but I think that happens more toward the 8 week mark. From what I've read, she should start making cooing noises soon. Can't wait for those!

We have such a grunter on our hands. She even grunts in her sleep. Like right now, she's napping and grunting at the same time. I just got all of the extra stuff we had out of her crib and put away. Tonight we'll transition her into the crib. When Steve gets home from work we'll set up the monitor in her room. She's gotten to where she sleeps well in her bassinet, so hopefully this change will go smoothly. Maybe this will help Steve's and my sleep patterns. When she grunts, it wakes us up, so we don't get a good a sleep as we could while she's out.

I can definitely tell it's summer. Lizzy sweats when sleeping in her swing during the day. I don't like it when she sweats so now I've started putting her in her bassinet for her daytime naps. So far so good on her not sweating. I seem to be sweating 24/7, but I attribute that to hormones and not the weather. I did turn the A/C 2 degrees cooler during the day, though, so we'll see if that helps as well.

A week ago we started going on morning walks with the dogs. We did it every day from Wednesday until Saturday. I figured we could take a break on Sunday. I fully intended to start walking again Monday, but we had a huge thunderstorm come through. Tuesday was the same thing, but only rain no lightning. Wedensday morning saw rain again. This morning we actually had a nice morning, but we were up from 11:30 PM to 3 AM cluster feeding so I decided it was better for us to sleep than to walk. Tomorrow...tomorrow I plan on walking. It's good for all of the household. 1) Lizzy gets fresh air, 2) I get exercise, and 3) the dogs get exercise. Need to keep up with it.

We have somewhat of a daily routine. This is how our day usually goes:

4 or 5 AM - last feeding of the night/diaper change
6 AM - naps while I get Steve's lunch made and breakfast ready
7 AM - go on our walk
8 AM - naps while I shower
8:30 AM - bathtime for Lizzy
9 AM - feed
10 AM - naps while I either nap or clean the house
12 PM - feed/diaper change
1 PM - awake time
4 PM - feed/diaper change
5 PM - either naps or awake time
7 PM - feed/diaper change/change into night clothes
8 PM - bedtime
10 PM - feed/diaper change
11 PM - either back to bed or awake time
1 AM - feed/diaper change
2 AM - back to bed
4 or 5 AM - last feeding of the night

Sometimes we have cluster feedings in there, where she'll feed every 30 minutes or every hour. She is a growing girl! But so far, that's our day. And of course those times can vary.

Well, time for me to get back to my day. Lizzy is napping (she last fed at 10:30 AM), so I better go nap as well.

A letter to Lizzy

2009-05-27T06:15:00.003-05:00

Dear Lizzy,

I know that I am the source of your food. However, when I am trying to get to to go to sleep during the night, please happily oblige. I promise I will not withhold the boob from you when you wake up again. Being awake from 10:30 PM until 2 AM is not fun for Mommy. It's also not fair for Daddy when Mommy wakes him up at 2 AM (because she's so tired that she can't see straight) to help to get you to sleep. Mommy feels almost like a failure when you go right to sleep for Daddy around 2:30 AM. Again, I know I smell like food, but you do not need to eat 24/7.

Love you always,
Mommy

P.S. I don't really feel like a failure. It's just so frustrating when you won't go to sleep for Mommy EVAR...

Doctor appointment

2009-05-26T18:01:00.002-05:00

Date: 05/26/09
Weight: 9.05 lbs (65th percentile)
Length: 20 inches (25th percentile)

She gained 2 lbs since her last doctor appointment! She's now about a half pound heavier than her birth weight. Asked about her grunting so much and spitting up a lot. Dr said she is eating too much, plus she might have some reflux. So now we have to keep her sitting up straight for 30 minutes after she eats, and I have to get her off the boob when she goes to sleep b/c she keeps comfort nursing, causing her to overfill. She's got a little bit of baby acne on her face, but nothing too serious. Her left eye has been a little goopy with some green discharge, but nothing that makes her eye stay shut. The dr asked if either of us have allergies, which Steve does, to which he said that that is probably what it is since it's not bothering her. Basically Lizzy has some seasonal allergies and with all of the rain and wind we've been having the pollen is way up.

We can't get her shots early b/c the insurance won't pay for it, but the dr said getting them a week earlier won't be any different than getting them on time. So the trip to Houston is still on for the family reunion. Just have to make sure no sick people come around her. She's also had a little bit of a diaper rash going on. Not anything too bad, just some redness around her anus. Dr said that's normal, just to apply regular diaper cream until it clears up, so that's what we've been doing. I've been trying to find diaper cream safe for cloth diapers, but I need to order it online. lately I've been using desitin creamy. I'll have to strip my diapers after she's done with this small rash.

I also asked about bathing her everyday now. She gets so dirty b/c of how much she was spitting up. Dr gave the okay to do it everyday, so it'll be part of our routine. Hopefully this will help with the rash as well. They did the second baby screening today too. Basically they prick her heel and fill 5 areas of a special piece of paper. Wooo boy did that make her angry. She cried so hard.

So that was her appointment. Nothing too bad. Everything was answered. Her next appointment is July 7, 2009 at 2 PM. She'll be getting her first set of shots.

Two weeks old already

2009-05-22T10:17:00.003-05:00

I can't believe she's been here for two weeks already. She's such a good baby, doesn't fuss much and when she does it's really easy to calm her. She loves being held, and will go to sleep on your chest/in your arms easily. She's a grunter though, so no light sleepers are safe in our house.

Cloth diapering is going well. We do diaper laundry about every other day. We also sun out any stains after the diapers get washed. It's so cool how the sun just bleaches the stains away by itself. Lizzy hates diaper changes. If it was up to her, she'd stay in a dirty diaper forever. It's great at waking her up to eat though.

Breastfeeding is going really well also. The first day after she was born was really easy, then we hit a rough patch. I had to start using a nipple shield to help her latch on. Once she got used to latching, I was able to get rid of the shield. We probably used it maybe four days total. Now she latches on like a champ. It's funny, the other day I was taking a nap and Steve tried to give her a bottle of pumped milk. She wouldn't take it. Seems like she's spoiled on the boob :)

I've used my Moby Wrap a couple times now. Lizzy really seems to like it. She goes right to sleep as soon as we put her in it. I need to wear it more around the house, but never think about it until the day is gone and it's bedtime. After she gets her shots (or starts them) I'll be wearing her more, since it's easier than bringing the stroller in the car.

Mom O'Donnell is having lots of fun with her. She keeps suggesting that Steve and I have a date night again (we had one last weekend) so she can babysit. I have a feeling she'll go through withdrawal when she heads back to Houston next week.

Everything is going well otherwise. Hopefully I can get an update in here every week if not more. This way everyone can know how everything is going.

Time to get back to my baby girl!