Getting Out

Filed Under Clothes, Firsts, Newborn- Taylor, Outings, Shopping, Two and a half years old | Leave a Comment

Today I managed to take both kids to the mall. I was dying to get up to Gymboree and pick up the Popsicle Party stuff I had on hold. Plus, I wanted to show Taylor to my manager and say hello. I am honestly looking forward to getting back to work (just once a week) and I even talked to her about putting me on the schedule two weeks from now for just a short shift!

I will say that it is more effort to get both kids out of the house. I am kind of thankful Taylor is a boy, because at least I don’t have to worry about fixing his hair or finding accessories to match his outfit. Or putting his earrings in. So he’s pretty quick to get ready, but I have to make sure he has eaten well before leaving. I also travel a LOT lighter than I did when Bailey was this age. I just bring the small black diaper bag from the hospital, for BOTH of them. He is breastfeeding so we don’t need any food related items. Basically I bring diapers for him, an extra outfit, and a burp cloth and then for her I just bring a diaper. I usually throw a binkie in his carseat just in case, and a blanket- which can double as a nursing coverup.

It takes longer to get the kids in and out of the car now, because I use the stroller for his carseat if we are walking any distance at all. We have a rule that Bailey has a choice, she can either hold my hand or hold on to the stroller. She usually “helps” push the stroller. She has done really well with this rule.

So we got our shopping done yesterday at Gymboree, and then I got brave and went to Motherhood to get a new nursing br@. While we were there, I let her play with the toys in the kid area and I sat in a fitting room with the curtain open (so I could see her) and fed the baby. Then we headed home. I was pretty pleased at how it went with both of them.

Here is a sneak peek of one of her new outfits!

First Days at Home with Taylor

Filed Under Being a Mom, Firsts, Newborn- Taylor, Siblings, Two and a half years old | 1 Comment

I have to say that the first two days at home were really rough. Taylor did NOT want to be put down. Big Sister did NOT want to leave him alone. She also kept jumping and climbing right next to him, and I was constantly having Jonathon or my mom take her somewhere else so she wouldn’t smush him. Yeah, it was rough. But he also got so many kisses from his sister, and she “helped” with so many diaper changes, and watched him as he slept, and talked to him, and showed him her toys. It was really rough on all of us, but looking back, it was a priceless time growing together as a family of four.

Here are a few pictures from those first few days.

NICU Day Six- Going Home!

Filed Under Big Sister, Breastfeeding, Firsts, Home Sweet Home, NICU, Newborn- Taylor, Siblings, Two and a half years old | 2 Comments

On Tuesday morning, I knew that Taylor wouldn’t be going home. I left Jonathon at home with Bailey and went up to the hospital by myself to be there to feed him. After his first feeding, guess what his nurse came over and told me? His bilirubin levels had dropped to 12-point-something overnight and he would be going home! What? She said he needed to continue phototherapy the rest of the day and then he could leave, and be monitored by his own pediatrician for the next two weeks.

I called Jonathon and told him I was coming home to get him. We had my dad come over and watch Bailey, and we went by Target and went to get lunch. When we got back up to the hospital, we changed him into some snuggly fleece NEWBORN size jammies. Which were clearly about eight sizes too big.

I love this picture with me holding him!

And one with Daddy-

I love the “drunk on milk” baby pictures. And this baby sure does like to eat!

We kept telling him that the carseat was a good thing- that it was time to go home. He wasn’t easily convinced.

One last family picture in the NICU. It was bittersweet leaving, honestly. It was the only home my baby had known. The place where I spent hours and held him and watched him get better. And cried thousands of tears. The nurses were so loving, the other moms were so supportive. I can’t quite explain but it was strange to leave.

We were welcome home by one very excited big sister, though!

Here she is holding Taylor for the first time. With help.

NICU Days Two and Three

Filed Under Being a Mom, Breastfeeding, Daddy, Difficult Stuff, Firsts, NICU, Newborn- Taylor, Siblings, Two and a half years old | 1 Comment

On Friday morning when I woke up (after a NOT good night of sleep, thanks to all the nurses coming in my room all night long) my OB came to visit. She said she heard Taylor had been moved, and asked how he was doing. Right after that, I went straight down the hall to visit my baby. Each time I went to the NICU, I had to call in from the phone outside the door and they would unlock it for me. They also had the foaming hand sanitizer everywhere to use. I can’t even tell you how raw my hands and knuckles were from washing them over and over every day.

When I went in the NICU they told me that they were getting ready to move Taylor off the CPAP because he was doing better! That was great news. He had been wearing a hat to hold the tube in place, so he got the hat off. I was finally able to rub his fuzzy little head! At this point he was on high humidity oxygen instead. Oh, you don’t know how good it is to feel your baby’s head until you haven’t been able to.

I was also SO jealous of the moms who had babies in the regular nursery who weren’t even holding them. It really made me mad to see those cribs parked in the nursery. Some of them even had signs “only feed every three hours” or “no pacifier please.” I just wanted to scream at those moms and say, “You can hold your child whenever you want to! Don’t be so selfish!” but yet when Bailey was in the regular nursery I know I left her there so I could nap, etc. Funny how perspective changes.

Jonathon came up after lunch and we went back down together to see Taylor. At this point he still did not want to hold him. I think honestly he was intimidated by all the tubes and wires. He kept saying that it was more important for me to hold him but I think that was an excuse. Up until this point I had also been pumping at least every three hours all day and night. I think when you can’t be with your baby it feels like the only thing you can do to help… By that evening his nurse told me she thought he was ready to try a bottle feeding. They knew I planned to breastfeed but they said we had to start trying with the bottle first. He had been too sick to nurse after his birth (although we didn’t know then why he wouldn’t). So his first feeding was at about 34 hours old. They used a syringe to put pumped milk into just the nipple of a bottle and we got to hold it in his mouth. He drank it right away and we were so happy. They had warned us that a lot of preemies (they were calling him a “late preemie” since he was born between 34-37 weeks, although he was also technically full term but exhibited a lot of preemie characteristics…) can’t coordinate their sucking and swallowing yet so this was great news.

Saturday was the day I was supposed to go home. My day nurse was awesome, though. She told me first that I could stay through dinner and then came back later to tell me she had arranged for me to be discharged after dinner but keep my room for another day.

Sometime early afternoon on Saturday, Taylor got off his oxygen and moved to forced room air. Then later that day he got taken off that too! This was my first glimpse of him without his nasal cannula. I kept saying, “He looks like a regular baby now!”

His poor little face was so sore from all the tape, though.

Jonathon finally held him for the first time since he was admitted to the NICU!

That evening, Jonathon brought Bailey up for a visit. Our nurse Kathy did a great job hiding all his wires and everything inside the blankets. I didn’t know if she would be concerned or even notice them but we didn’t want him to look “sick.”

She also enjoyed playing “This Little Piggy” with his toes… so cute…

That evening, my parents came up to visit. I brought my mom in to see him and the nurse surprised me by asking if I wanted to try nursing! He did great. I couldn’t believe it, he latched on correctly with the first try and just ate. So unlike his sissy, who took DAYS to figure out how to eat. It was so frustrating with her… so easy with him.

My Little Flower Girl

Filed Under Congratulations, Firsts, Friends, Posing for Pictures, This Rocks, Travel, Two and a half years old, Weddings | 3 Comments

Yes, she was the best flower girl ever. I was so, so proud of her. I was laughing AND had tears in my eyes as she walked down the aisle. These first few were taken before the ceremony. I will be ordering some of the professional pics from during the ceremony so that I can remember the way she looked forever!

Getting Ready

Reception

(Clapping as the bride and groom are introduced)

Can you tell she was getting really tired?

Here she was about two minutes into the car ride home and already falling asleep!

We enjoyed a Wendy’s stop on the way home. I miss Wendy’s since all of them around here closed

Congratulations and Best Wishes to Faith and Bryan. It was so good to see you guys. And Bailey has been playing “wedding” since we got home, with my bouquet and her flower basket. It usually starts out, “Mom, let’s play wedding! You’re Uncle Bryan and I’m Aunt Faith!”

A Snowy Day

Filed Under Firsts, Outside, Play, Two and a half years old | Leave a Comment

I think there is a book called A Snowy Day or something like that… a board book. We read it at Bailey’s “school” a few weeks ago. We had our first snowy day of the year while Jonathon was off work for the holidays. Last year Bailey got to play in the snow just a little bit but this is the first year she’s had boots and snowpants.

She loved putting her snow clothes on and getting ready to go outside. She LOVES her princess boots. In fact she keeps wanting to wear them everywhere we go.

Experimenting with snowballs…

She enjoyed her first ride in her new sled. She wanted to pull Daddy in the sled too but didn’t understand why it wasn’t going to work out.

I think she really liked playing in the snow. It was just so ridiculously cold and, well, my coat does not close in front anymore!

Freezing cold and time to go inside!

Coloring and Carving Pumpkins

Filed Under Firsts, Halloween, Sensory Stuff, Two and a half years old | 3 Comments

This is the first year Bailey has helped to decorate pumpkins. Last year and the year before I either did it by myself or put out a premade pumpkin. This year since we went to the pumpkin patch, I knew she would be really excited about decorating her own pumpkin.

We gave her washable markers and let her color all over the smaller one. She took her job very seriously. She told us the designs on the pumpkin include a pig, a cow, a face, and some letters. She colored on it for about twenty minutes which is a LONG time for a two year old to work on a project! At least for my child, anyway.

She helped me scoop out the pumpkin guts from the big pumpkin. She didn’t like it though and lost interest quickly. I don’t really like doing that either, so I can’t blame her. I carved it by myself and she watched and colored while I did it.

All lit up and ready for Halloween! She thought it was pretty cool.

So this week has been fun…

Filed Under Allergies, Are you kidding me?, Asthma, Difficult Stuff, Doctor Stuff, Firsts, Sick, Two Years Old | 8 Comments

We started out with a visit to the pediatrician on Monday because Bailey had trouble breathing during the night. Once again, her lungs were fine, ears were fine, nose was fine, etc and no explanation for the breathing or chronic coughing. They assume it’s her allergies again. Meanwhile I am getting much less sleep than I need to be.

Tuesday her coughing seemed to be getting worse. Then Tuesday night she fell and busted her head open… resulting in an ambulance ride and a night at the hospital. The reason we called the ambulance- other than the massive bleeding- was because she started falling asleep right away. I actually sat on my front porch to make sure the ambulance could find us. It’s funny the things you do when you panic. I had the sense to change my shirt and grab my phone and charger on the way out the door too. The police and firetruck showed up first because the ambulance came from another district. She started calming down right away because she was excited about all the sirens and lights. Silly girl. We rode with the lights on but not the siren because they didn’t want to scare her. She had to sit on my lap on the stretcher- the other option was them strapping her down alone which was just not going to happen.

They were able to use glue instead of stitches or staples on her injury. I was glad because it is supposed to scar less. The worst part was holding her down to get it washed out- it took the doctor, two nurses, and Jonathon and me to do it. Then after we were released she started throwing up so we had to spend the night at the hospital. Several drugs, an IV, and a ct-scan later, we were released. Her results were all normal and we were told to keep her head dry for a few days, limit her activity, and don’t let her bump anything. That was Wednesday morning so my mom picked her up and let Jonathon and I sleep and get stuff done around the house.

By the way if anyone knows how to get blood out of your carpet, please let me know. Of course it’s right at the top of our stairs near the entryway. I have gotten it to fade but not a whole lot. I have been looking for something also to pad our doorway with. She needs some kind of fall protection or corner guards. The spot where she hit her head was in the doorway to our kitchen. It’s one of those cut out doorways that doesn’t have a door frame in it- basically drywall with metal in the corners or something. Probably the hardest place she could possibly have hit her head of course. So we need to fix that. The things that you don’t think of babyproofing until your child gets hurt…

Wednesday she seemed to be recovering from the head injury but she started coughing until she threw up. Back to the pediatrician on Thursday morning about the coughing (again) and to get her head checked. Her ped ran a test and had us do a chest x ray. The conclusion is that she most likely has cough-variant asthma which would explain why she coughs all night long for weeks at a time. We are borrowing a nebulizer for two weeks and if that stops the coughing then we will talk about a preventative treatment plan and visit a specialist. They think it is allergy-induced because it’s much much worse in spring and fall, and seems to come along with a runny nose. Yesterday we did her breathing treatments every four hours, once during the night, and today we have spaced them back to every six hours. She has only coughed a handful of times (even in the night) since starting them. So I think this is working!

As much as I hate for my child to have asthma- it could be SO much worse. I know someone whose three year old just got diagnosed with CF, and I kept thinking of all the crazy things that could be causing the coughing. I am thankful to have an answer and that it is getting better now.

The first few treatments, she hated it. Now she will hold the mask herself if I let her sit in front of the tv while we do it. That’s a small price to pay to avoid two of us holding her down for the entire treatment!

WHY?

Filed Under Firsts, Milestones, Talking, Two Years Old | 3 Comments

I knew it was coming. Today for the first time Bailey asked “why?” Then proceeded to ask about a lot of things I told her to do or tried to explain to her. It’s so fun to see her mind working but seriously, I don’t know why to everything. Sometimes it’s just because I said so!

Just a few randoms

Filed Under Firsts, Outings, Parents as Teachers, St. Louis, Two Years Old | 1 Comment

Last week at the Transportation Museum with Grampa- who(m?) Bailey still calls “Popock”… I had a little misunderstanding with the weatherman and dressed my child waaaay too warm weather-ish. Bailey enjoyed riding the train so I got a few pictures of us in front of the train… until we got too cold and had to get moving!

Ready for nap the other day, she was singing a cute song and I just love her in t-shirts, she looks so cuddly and sweet!

First day of summer camp through our school district- the parents stay and play, and it was lots of fun. We made a birdfeeder, did water play, free time, play dough, and got to go outside!

Oh and a picture from Gabe’s birthday party back in February- I just found this!

Have a great weekend!

Bailey’s First Easter Egg Hunt

Filed Under Easter, Firsts, Outings, Shopping, Twenty-three Months | 2 Comments

We went to an egg hunt at a local outlet mall last week. Casey and I rode up there together with the girls. I figured that they would be fine with their carseats next to each to each other because they get along so well. Um, no. Bailey turned into that friend. You know, the one who doesn’t give you any room to breathe. She’s like the friend who calls a little too often. In her defense, she was SO EXCITED to have Addison in the car that she wouldn’t leave her alone. Addison looked like she wanted to crawl back in bed. So it was not a good combination. I thought they were holding hands when I took this picture (I swear we weren’t on the highway at the time) but looking back later, Bailey is definitely just hanging on to Addison’s sweater.

Once we got to the mall, we registered for the egg hunt. We also had a chance to join some sort of kids club but it sounded like it wasn’t even worth the $5. So we got a free stuffed bunny and got to find a few Easter eggs. But we had to wait a few minutes so we (by we I probably mean me) stood outside the Gymbore outlet and tried to decide what I was going to buy!

I was wondering if Bailey would understand the concept of hunting for eggs. Although she is pretty good if I ask her to find her shoes, or her sippy cup, or something else that she misplaced. Well, she would pick up one or two eggs but then put them down because she found different ones, or she would re-hide the ones she already had… but she definitely had fun anyway! Here she is with her friends Kaylee and Addison. Kaitlynn was there too but they got there a little later and did the egg hunt after us.

While we were at the mall, we got to do a little bit of outlet shopping. We got some seriously cute stuff at the Gymboree store. They are doing Gymbucks (earning) right now so we had to spend enough to earn Gymbucks. That is how I justify it. Then we went to Carter’s and just got a shirt, although Casey got a lot of super cute stuff for Addison. Children’s Place, we didn’t have quite as much luck but I managed to get her some jammies for $1.99 and a pair of shoes and something else but I forget what. I was bummed to find out that they closed the Nautica Kids outlet. In the past I had gotten some really good deals there for Bailey. I kind of wish we live closer. BUT I am kind of excited that Casey needs to return a few things to Carter’s because I want to go back with her. (You like how I invited myself?)

And then on the way home… Addison fell asleep and Bailey was STILL going crazy. She kept putting her foot on Addison to try to get her attention. She really gets a little over excited and over-stimulated sometimes and it is hard to get her settled down again.

Snow Day

Filed Under Daddy, Firsts, Twenty-One Months | 3 Comments

Sunday was Bailey’s first chance to play in the snow. Well, last year Jonathon sat her outside in the snow in a pair of cotton pants and she (understandably) was pretty ticked off. Then she played with a snowball but she was mad because it was so cold. Remember this?

So Sunday, we just had a little bit of snow. It hadn’t gotten bad out yet, and Jonathon asked Bailey if she wanted to play in the snow. Well, I caught him about to take her outside in fleece pajamas and a pair of crocs. He’s a good dad, but you know how dads just don’t think like moms? Perfect example. So I got her a little more bundled- fleece pants with Babylegs underneath because we don’t have a snow suit. Two shirts, coat, hat, mittens. Shoes that actually cover her feet. Then we went outside.

Jonathon was up on the deck trying to add water or chemicals to the hot tub.

Come on, daddy! Come play with me! (She says, “Come on, pease! Wahr you, daddy?”)

Bailey and Daddy had fun playing in the snow. Which really was just a lot of running around…

And falling down…

We had lots of fun in the snow. We only stayed outside for about ten minutes because I didn’t want her to start coughing again. She also went outside for a few minutes on Monday. Today, she has not been out. I think the snow is too deep for her to actually have fun in. She would have trouble walking, and it takes so long to get all bundled up for just two minutes outside.

The best thing

Filed Under Firsts, Twenty Months | 10 Comments

Today Bailey came up to me and kissed me on the cheek. All on her own, without any prompting. It was the best thing that has happened to me in a long, long time.

2008 IN REVIEW

Filed Under Bailey's Birthday, Christmas, Cloth Diapering, Daddy, Disney Vacation, Eighteen Months, Eleven Months, Fifteen Months, Firsts, Fourteen Months, Hair, Halloween, Nineteen Months, Play, Professional Pictures, Seventeen Months, Sixteen Months, Ten Months, Thirteen Months, Twelve Months, Twenty Months | 4 Comments

We were so blessed with a wonderful year. No major catastrophes, no deaths in our families, a daughter who has stayed healthy (with the exception of a few colds) and continued to grow and learn and amaze us… Here are the highlights of our year.

January- please note her lack of hair, compared to now

February- and Bailey is walking!

March

April- happy first birthday, Bailey!

May

June

July

August

September- Jonathon and I went to Disney World

October

November

December

Happy New Year!

First Haircut

Filed Under Firsts, Hair, Seventeen Months | 8 Comments

Bailey had her first real haircut tonight (other than me attempting to trim it). We went to Snip Its. Their regular kids haircut is $18, but we had a coupon for half price. Also, they will do bangs for only $8.99 so I have a feeling we will go there in the future when her bangs need to be cut. For that price, its not even worth messing with it myself!

The place is really cute. It is super busy/overdecorated but it definitely kept Bailey’s attention during her haircut. The girl who did her hair was really fast. She created bangs for her- like actually sectioned them off so that they are defined and separate from the rest of her hair now. I had her cut them kind of short- well they ended up a little shorter than I wanted them by the time they dried- but I wanted a significant difference between where they started and stopped so I could pull her non-bang hair up easily and not have to separate it out with a comb. If that makes sense. She also trimmed about a half inch all the way around. Bailey got a toy to hold during the haircut, and then afterwards she got a ponytail and got to choose a special ribbon.

She got to put a “ticket” in a prize machine. It is a big machine that dispenses little things like rings and plastic toys. So the kids always get a reward for getting their hair cut. She also got a first haircut certificate and a little lock of her hair in a tiny ziploc attached to it. We bought some new shampoo that they said will be easier to rinse out of her hair than the Johnsons stuff. Maybe less shampoo battles now??

This was the before picture that I took, before we got out of the car. You can see how long and scraggly her bangs were.

Look at her feet. They never stop moving, ever. I’m glad I finally captured them in motion.

She was really good during her haircut. She sat still and the woman even commented on how great she did for a first haircut. I am attributing it to all the hours she has spent having her hair styled by Mommy!