Bink-pocalypse

So for the past three months or so, (but seems waaaay longer) Payton will wake up in the middle of the night. I know this is normal for a lot of babies. But she'll wake up wanting her binky, which I know is also normal. The not-so-normal part is I have to momentarily get up, stealthly walk into her room, give her her binky, then quickly exit. Now you might be saying to yourself "Can't she reach for her own stupid binky?" Yes, I suppose she can considering most times it's laying right next to her head.

But here's the problem, and if she's anything like Heath it's true. I'm guessing she sleeps so soundly that she has no idea what the eff is going on when she wakes up in the night, let alone know she could simply get her binky herself. Other times the bink gets knocked out of her crib and the poor thing wouldn't be able to find it even if she tried! Once she gets it back, she's immediately out like a light. This happens anywhere from 1-3 times a night, and I'm stuck being the one having to wake up to give it to her.

Now, you maybe asking "Idiot, why not wake up your husband once in awhile and make him do it?" To which I say "What?! That's a great idea! I wonder why I never thought of that before!" Uh HELLO, have you ever tried waking up Heath? It's like trying to wake the dead. And when he does wake up from a deep sleep, he couldn't even spell his name he's so out of it. So by the time he would be fully awake, Payton would be too and then we're all awake and there's no sleep to be had. So since I'm awakened by her easier than it is to wake him, I do it.

Well last night I hit my breaking point, the last straw. As I was walking around the foot of the bed I rammed my leg on the corner of the bed frame, thus shaking the entire bed and putting me in pain. Do you think Heath woke up for that? Nope, not even a stirring! He was still blissfully in slumberland.

I need advice, from all mothers out there, how can I get Payton to soothe herself back to sleep? Do I just let her whine until she finds her bink or her thumb herself? Which, by the way, we've done a GREAT job at getting her to NOT suck her thumb so we would hate to resort to that. Or do I let her whine a bit before going in her room and then somehow getting her back to sleep by gently placing a hand on her tummy, or something like that? I don't want to wake her up more than she already is, but I also don't want to have to endure the wrath of our bed frame again. Is it best to do something like this over a weekend so I'm not a zombie for work the next day? Help, what do I do?!

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Here, There, Everywhere!

Alright, It's been a couple of months since my last post & there rewally is no excuse for it other than I'm lazy. But the last two months have been amazing! To show just how much Payton has accomplished, here's a list:

-She's finished eating through fruits like a champ! She loves them, even prunes. Which by the way are seriously amazing if your baby is ever constipated. Pretty sure I've heard they work for adults, too, who knew! ;)

-She's starting to move onto meats, although she hasn't had any yet. I browned some turkey for her that we're going to try in a veggie parfait, I'm pretty excited about it. I feel pretty proud of myself that I make 99% of her meals myself with my amazing Baby Bullet. It's sooo much cheaper than buying jarred food each week.

-She's also eating finger foods, she's especially partial to Cherrios.

-She can hold her own bottle AND drink from a sippy cup!

-She's learned to play pattycake. Cutest.thing.ever. The smile on her face when she does it is rewarding enough.

-She loves playing peekaboo, but we call it "Where's Payton?" and instead of covering our face, we put a burp cloth on her head and say "where's Payton?" She rips that cloth off her head & looks at you with a smile, as if to say "I'm right here, silly!" Heath and I love laughing when she laughs. (It's the simple things that entertain us!)

Ready for the BIG milestones?
-She's crawling! She skipped army crawling, she skipped rocking back & forth on her hands and knees! She is full blown crawling! Sure she would lay on her stomach and scoot herself backwards and get uber pissed because she backed herself into a corner. Hell, I'd be pissed to if I felt like a cornered turtle on Super Mario Brothers. It's fairly comical to watch her crawl on the hardwood floor when she's wearing pants. It's too slippery for her and she looks like she's crawling in place. Whenever I see this the Dumb & Dumber line always pops into my head "I'm running at an incredible rate, Harry!" After about 30 seconds of this she gets mad, flattens out on her stomach in a Bambi-on-ice sort of fashion and whines. She then tries to scoot backwards towards the carpet to regain traction to sit up & try again. I know she's thinking in her head "Stop laughing at me! I'll get my revenge when I put you in a home in your old age!" Maybe so, Payton but for now you're stuck with us...just like you're stuck on the floor! She tries chasing the dogs, poor thing. She doesn't catch Allie since she's constantly on the lookout. But Champ, poor Champ. She catches him, mainly because he's laying on the floor and is too lazy to move. She grabs his collar and likes to make it jingle by jerking it somewhat harshly, or she will grab one of his ears and pull. She has occassionally poked him in the eye or inadvertantly put a finger in his nose, gripped and pulled (her hand was thoroughly washed, of course) and the dog just sits there and takes it. Guess his name suits him cause he takes it like a champ.

-Payton is getting closer everyday to pulling herself up completely with the aide of furniture or our legs. She gets to her knees, but can't seem to figure out how to lift her whole leg to get in a kneeling/crouching position. I don't think it'll be long until she's walking, but then again I said the same thing about her teeth when she started teething and she's still a toothless wonder...at nine months.

-She seems to LOVE bath time. She never wants to get out! It's super cute when she turns around in her little tub and tries to grip the running water coming out of the faucet. She looks at me with a "wtf" look and tries again. Poor thing, hate to tell her that sometimes in life she's going to be trying to grip/chase things that sometimes aren't attainable. Her dad & I have tried numerous times to attain millions by taking part in "get rich quick" schemes a.k.a. the lottery and/or powerball, and it just isn't workin' out.

All of these wonderful beginnings Heath & I have so excitedly anticipated. I personally enjoy not having to lug the entire carseat around when we go to a store. So much easier that I can just put her in the seat of the cart, but not without my cart-cover of course. I don't trust the anti-bacterial wipes that are readily available when you walk into a store, ICK! It's also very handy, or so I've heard, when using on a highchair in a restaurant. Wish I would've had this gem the last time we were eating out. I was seriously grossed out by Payton licking the highchair. She didn't seem to mind, but I on the other hand was vomiting in my mouth. Wonder what month 10 will bring!!!

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6 months!!

In the last month Payton has gone from yellow solid foods to green solid foods.   The only snag I think we've hit so far is with butternut squash.  The diaherra spoke for itself.  Poor baby bad a horrible diaper rash. :(  I think in the next couple of weeks we'll be able to start her on fruit!  I'm so excited for fruit I can't stand it!  I think it's because I enjoy it so much, and I want her to enjoy it too.  Who wants to eat just peas for dinner anyway?  I'd totally take banana's or peaches over peas any day!

Milestons she has hit:  She can roll over from her tummy to her back, and from her back to her tummy!!!  BUT, the little turkey is super stubborn about it!  She has only done it twice and practically refuses to do it again!  She gets to her side and flips that one leg over, but she won't finish the task of back to tummy.  It's almost as if she thinks "No prob, I just wanted to see if I can do it, and now that I know I can I don't need to do it again."  We have dangled toys, stood behind her so she has to crank her neck to look at us and nothing!  But I have noticed that if we leave a few toys around her and leave her be, she is more apt to try a little harder.  She has no problem with tummy time and just chills out, but she refuses to rollover from that position again, too.   Any ideas out there mothers?

She has gotten TONS better on sitting up!  She can, for the most part, sit unsupported, playing with her toys.  She does get cranky if she sits for longer than what seems about 20-30 minutes.  It's then she begins to lean on the boppy pillow a little bit more and throws this look at you as if "please, I just want to lay down!"  But the boppy pillow is just there should she fall over.  Normally she doesn't usually need to lean against it to sit.  So proud!

I am also proud of her learning how to make raspberries with her tongue!  It's especially fun when we're feeding her.  But I can't be mad at her for it because she looks so dang cute when she's doing it.

Also, within the month we had Payton's 6 month pictures taken by a fantastic photographer.  Sucks that we had to take them on one of the hottest days of the year, but we didn't know that would be the case when we made the appointment.  To take a gander at just a few of these pictures, please visit this link  Implusive Works Photography {Payton 6 months}
I highly recommend Kristy Burrows for your next event photographer.  She does amazing work, and I promise you won't be disappointed.

Long Time Comin'

Clearly I haven't kept with the nature of the title of my blog. It's been roughly a month or so since my last post, but we've been so busy that I haven't had time to vacuum the floor let alone blog! Here is a quick rundown of the activities we've had in the last month: (WARNING: Grab a beverage and some food. This is going to be a long one)

--Being ill at the end of May/beginning of June

--Payton started solids (we're making her own baby food courtesy of the Baby Bullet, which is amazing! I would post a picture of it, but I can't figure out how to do that from my Blogger app on my phone :( )

--Daycare was closed for a week because of VBS (vacation bible school) so Heath & I both got to stay home with our amazing bundle of joy!

--My friend's bachelorette party

--Said friend's wedding in Lincoln the following Friday

--My cousin's wedding the next day in Beatrice

--Heath's first Father's Day!!!

--Numerous tasks to be done around the house to try & get done after work that we don't have time to do otherwise. Example, mowing the lawn. Per Heath's quote "you know your grass is long when is sways in the wind" Sorry neighbors for making you look at our unsightly yard! Thank G-d they can't see our unvacuumed carpet & dirty bathroom! Pooey!

We've had a lot! As I finally started to feel better at the beginning of the month we hit a milestone, Payton started solids! She started on single grain rice, and she didn't know what the hell to think about that! "What is this object you're sticking into my mouth that has this crud all over it?!" She was less than impressed. But as time went on she couldn't get enough! She was on cereal for two weeks, and then it was time for actual vegetables...mixed in with the cereal of course.

The discussion of what her first vegetable should be was a big deal to me. Heath was set on sweet potato, that's final! I, however, was looking at the nutritional and fundemental aspects like: what's easier to digest, what has the highest amount of pesticide residue, etc. I finally said screw it and agreed with Heath, sweet potato it is! And at the time it seemed like the easiest, less worrisome to prepare. So I bought a decent sized yam, scrubbed it, sliced it up, boiled it, stuck it in the Baby Bullet w/ a little bit of formula and WHAMMO! Instant baby food. Stick it in the freezer in appropriate portion sizes & it's good for a month. It's that easy folks. I'm sure my sister and I will get to do it all over again for our parents in about 40 years ;) Just kidding mom & dad.....sort of. :)

The best part, Payton loves it! She even grabs my hand trying to shove the spoon into her mouth. And when she wants it, don't mess around, boy. We have since moved on to yellow squash & she loves that too! Hopefully she'll continue on the path of loving what we give her & not throw a fit, but I'm sure I just jinxed that idea.

On to the bachelorette party. We had a good time! It started at a winery, which I've never been to a bachelorette party at a winery before so I wasn't quite sure how it would work, but it was actually pretty awesome. From there we went to a couple of small town bars (one of my favorite things to do) and somehow ended at our house partying in the driveway. Don't worry readers, Payton was safe at grandma & grandpa Vogt's house for the night. The wedding, as I mentioned was the following Friday, and it was beautiful. The reception was so much fun. Congrats Matt & Lisa!

The next day we had to travel to Beatrice for my cousin Jes's wedding. I'm so bummed out that we didn't get to stay at the reception longer. I had cousin's from Philidelphia and Minnesota that I haven't seen in quite some time, but when you have a tired, teething baby what can you do? It's adorable because my Philly cousin, the matron of honor and I, in that order, all have fairly new babies. And it's even cuter because us girls are in that order as well (Tara - Philly cousin-oldest, Jen - MoH - 2nd oldest, and me - youngest). We made sure to get a picture. Ladies, I'll get one out to you. And my Minnesota cousin & her husband are about two months away from having their baby. I'd also like to thank Heather, again, for the adorable outfit she gave Payton. An actual thank you card is on it's way, I promise!

Where are we? Ah Father's Day! Heath's father's day gift was a combined anniversary (June 6th) father's day gift. I like to pride myself on getting amazing gifts for my husband, I set the bar pretty high for myself. And I always feel like I need to get him a better gift than the last time I gave him one. So, I got him an electric smoker with a digital display, auto shut off, a new digital themometer and cover...jackpot! We have yet to try it out (see above schedule), but once we do, rest assured I'll blog about it!

So, that's been our life for the past month. I will be posting pictures, not from my phone, later so for now you'll just have to use your imagination. :) Later blog-heads!

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Outside the bubble

This past week, I've been rethinking a lot of things in my life.  Mainly telling myself not to take things for granted, and to also admit when you're wrong.  Both of these actions have required a lot of tears on my part.  All week I've been obsessing about baby Aria.  She has a group on facebook Prayers for Baby Aria and I can't help but check it multiple times a day.  She is a three month old baby who was involved in a horrible car accident last week.  Her carseat became detached from it's base when their car was hit, and was showing symptoms of severe shaken baby syndrome.  She had a massive stroke on the right side of her brain, and wasn't given a very good prognosis.  Each daily improvment she made, i.e. showing her gag reflex, reacting to someone tickling the bottom of her foot, blinking, moving her arms and legs, pooping and peeing.  As I read her daily updates and read about her progressing, albeit slowly, I couldn't help but appreciate the fact that Payton is a healthy baby.  I couldn't begin to understand the impatient feeling of waiting to find out what the MRI or CT scan said whether or not my baby was going to survive.  After I would read each update, I would start bawling and just hold my baby cherishing every moment I have with her, and that everything she's doing right now is a major accoplishment.  Thank God baby Aria is going to survive.  It's unknown what her disabilities will be, or how severe they will be, but she has already defied the odds.  *Note* if anyone is wanting to donate money to Aria and her family, there has been an account set up at Union Bank in David City.  It explains this on the facebook page mentioned above as well as on her CaringBridge website.

Along with baby Aria, I've also been keeping tabs on a friend I've known since kindergarten.  It was learned that her mom died this week.  Another friend losing their mother within a two and a half month time span, what the heck is going on?!  What exactly determines a persons "time to go" so to speak?  Is it God?  Is it the way a person lives their life?  Both?  I used to be horribly afraid of dying.  Not to the point to where I would have night terrors about it, but enough that it would give me awful anxiety whenever I would think about it.  I just couldn't bear the thought of leaving all of my loved ones, and how guilty I would feel for leaving them.  I've learned to deal with it a little bit better, after all, it may be out of my control.  But now that I have a child of my own I can't stand the thought.  I hate the stories of parents dying and leaving a small child, especially an infant behind.  I damn near burst into tears everytime I read a story like that.  I attribute these types of emotional outbursts to becoming a mom.  Sure I would be sad whenever reading a story like this, but not to the point to where I felt genuine concern and sorrow for the family affected. 

Both of these occurrances have made me stop to realize how petty some of the crap we experience in our daily lives is exactly that, petty.  All in all, does it really matter if you or your spouse didn't get the dishes done and the dishwasher has to be started in the morning rather than the night before?  Does it really matter that the bathroom didn't get cleaned right at that moment, the lawn didn't get mowed or the trash taken out?  In case you were wondering, the answer to all of these is no.  There are far more important things to worry about and do, such as spending time with our child and not miss a moment of her growing up.  Making sure she has everything she needs to survive from material goods for her development, to emotional and physical support.  Or knowing that I have some of the best friends I could ask for, knowing that they're going to tell me what I need to hear and not what I want to hear.  And if the result of hearing something I don't want to is me rethinking the way that I mentally process things, then good!  It means that they've done their job.  Life is too precious to waste, especially when children are involved.  Cherish it all, whether you're a parent, or childless because one day you'll look back and be sorry you didn't.

Pet peeves

The past few days I've had a couple of pet peeves that have really gotten to me.  For starters, when people are merging into a turning lane that is NOT at a stop light MERGE ALL THE WAY!  Don't merge 3/4 of the way causing me to have to slow down and/or swerve to get past you.  This is a hazard for the people in the lane next to me.  I would consider this the "lazy merger" or "the merger who doesn't care if they get side-swiped"

Pet peeve number two, public restrooms.  Let me be more specific.  It bothers me when I'm in a public restroom and people are lingering around chatting while I'm trying to do my business, specifically something that causes a little more noise.   I have a slight bit of anxiety about it, which one would think that I shouldn't since I lived in a college dorm.  In a dorm bathroom you hear people puking on any given day so any anxiety kind of disappears.  Don't linger around people.  Respect those who are in there and give them some privacy, despite being a public bathroom.

Pet peeve number three.  When I'm out with my daughter, I don't care for people asking how old she is.  What bugs me is after I tell them they respond back with "Oh...she's small for her age."  Really, you're commenting on my daughter's size while you appear to be single and/or over-weight for YOUR age?  You don't know me or my family.  And just because you work at a daycare does not make you an authority on what size an infant should be at certain ages.  My daughter is over average in all of her percentiles thank you very much.  And those are my pet peeves.....for now.

Mother's Day

First of all, I'd like to thank everyone for a wonderful Mother's Day!  My first mother's day was perfect.  We didn't have to be herded like cattle by eating at a restaurant that had atleast an hour wait.  We had breakfast at Heath's brother and sister in law's house with the rest of his family, and then my parents came to our house for burgers on the grill.  Like I said, perfect.  At daycare, Payton made me an impression of her hand in clay.  That was my first gift of the weekend when I came home from work Friday night.  That night Heath took me to dinner at Firebirds in Omaha.  It was an easy way to avoid the busy Mother's Day crowds, and a way for Heath and I to enjoy the day as a family.

Saturday Payton and I hung out while Heath was at work til noon.  Then I had to go into work for a bit at 4:00 to upgrade a bank's software and was there for about five and a half hours.  So I'm glad we went out to eat Friday night.

Sunday Heath gave me the rest of my gift which consisted a card from Payton with the new Jason Aldean and The Band Perry cd's and  wonderful pair earrings to match my mother's necklace Heath gave me when Payton was born.  Like I said, perfect. :)

The horror!!

Tonight I came to the realization that working out needs to be an everynight event, and not every other night.  Alright, who am I kidding.  It needs to change from once a week.  The change is the result of my horrific reaction to trying on a dress that I need to wear in a friend's wedding in October.  In my defense the dress runs about two sizes too small to begin with, but that's no excuse.  I have a feeling that I wouldn't have been able to fit in it pre-pregnancy either.   Which tells me all the more that I was in need of losing weight long ago.  Question:  How much weight do I need to loose in five months?   Answer:  Somewhere in the nature of 30 lbs.  That seems like so much, 30 lbs in 5 months?!  Looks like it's nothing but salads, chicken, vegetables, fruit and water for the next few months.  I have a pretty strong sweet tooth so the true testament will be if I can cut those goodies out, or at the very least cut back significantly.  I don't consider myself to gorge on food.  I don't normally go back for seconds at meals, and I typically try and eat a typical serving size.  Guess that's what age and a slow down of my metabolism.  If I can get down 30 lbs, I'll be at the weight I was when Heath and I first started dating.

We happen to have a pretty decent treadmill in the basement along with a tv so it doesn't seem like a complete chore to workout down there, but my plan is to buy a bike and alternate between the two so I don't get bored with just one option.  This way I can ride my bike around the town, which will probably take 5-10 minutes given the size of our town.  So I may ride around it a couple of times.   It may take some retraining on the ol' bike since I haven't ridden one in about 10 years.  Unfortunately, mine was stolen while it was chained to the bike rack at the dorms while I was a freshman in college.  How does one steal a chained bike you ask?  Well, the chain was actually a horseshoe lock, and the lock might have been slightly broken.  I'm sure some homeless guy is enjoying riding around Lincoln on a free bike that has a Grand Island registration sticker on it from when I was in fifth grade from the bike derby.  Thanks homeless man for contributing to my weight gain, I hope you're happy!

30 lbs in five months, wish me luck!!!

Easter Weekend

Our weekend was definitely full of activities.  Friday night we stayed home to help gear up for the holiday weekend.  Saturday and Sunday were days full of family.  My parents were in town for the day Saturday.  And since I had to work the late shift all last week, it helped contribute to my first failed holiday as a mother.  Since I didn't get off work until 8:00 pm all last week, I wouldn't get home until almost 9:00 leaving me minimal time to see Payton.  She was already asleep when I got home so I only got to see her before I went to work.  This means that I couldn't get to the store to get Payton's Easter basket until Saturday afternoon.  So my mom and I went to Lincoln to get supplies.  Here's what Heath and I gave her.

There's four outfits, new socks, two sleepers, sunscreen for summer and a toy bar for her carrier.

My parents also came equipped with an Easter basket for Payton:

Five dresses, an embroidered tote bag, a toy hammer (to bang on our table when she gets older...thanks mom & dad) and a plush toy cell phone.

Greg & Joyce's Easter basket for Payton packed a good punch too!

She got a swim shirt, activity balls, a swimsuit (adorable!) a pink Husker onesie and a cute summer outfit!  Totally excited about the swimsuit.  I have searched for one but the smallest I could find was for 12 months.  It's the perfect companion to the sunscreen we bought for her!

Here are the adorable shoes aunt Cassie got for Payton.

My sister got Payton this adorable dress and headband!  I'm starting to love the tu-tu dresses!

Here's Payton in her adorable Easter dress!  She was so tuckered out after church that I didn't get a picture of her awake in her dress.  She looked adorable and wore it like a champ!

I think with all the Easter clothes she got, added to all the summer clothes she already had, Payton is well prepared for summer!  Thanks everybody for all of the Easter gifts!  I can't wait until it gets warm enough to start dressing her in these clothes!  She's already growing so fast.  Today she wore a six month outfit that fit just about right!  We keep a Rubbermaid tub in her room and every few weeks I go through all of her clothes and put whatever she has outgrown inside.  It's filling up quickly!

Hello again!

So it's been awhile since I last posted.  We've been busy little bees at our house and it feels like I haven't had much time to myself or to just relax lately.  The past couple of weeks I've been getting used to being back at work and being away from Payton all day.  It's gotten easier, so I have to agree with what everyone's been telling me.

Payton has been growing like a weed!  She has definitely found her voice.  She is "talking" more and more everyday.  Her hand-eye coordination is amazing!  She's reaching for things and can follow things with her eyes without such jerky movements anymore.  Her stamina on tummy time has grown so much.  I can't wait until the moment she rolls over!  She's started giggling, and we've only gotten her to do it when she's really excited.  It's the sweetest sound in the world.  She has her 4 month doctor's appointment coming up and I can't wait to see waht she weighs. 

I never thought I would be so concerned about poop as a mom.  Heath and I have been so worried about Payton's poop the past two weeks.  We've tried everything we know to make her not constipated.  I went out and bought an army of remedies.

And that's only to add to the number of things we've already tried such as apply juice, warm baths, massaging her tummy, taking her temperature and resorting to glycerin suppositories, which I don't think we used the last option long enough.  The night I was driving home from the store after buying these remedies, Heath called me to tell me that she had pooped and it wasn't a constipated poo!  But, we are definitely prepared for the next instance!

Along with being a mommy comes the responsibility of learning how to make mommy things like cakes and cupcakes.  I already consider myself as an average baker, but I'm hoping to change that.  My goal is to be known as the lady around town who knows how to make exceptional baked goods.  So I started my goal tonight by making Red Velvet Cupcakes with homemade cream cheese frosting.  They turned out great!  Granted the cupcake mix was from a box, but I didn't have time to make it from scratch tonight.  One reason being because I also made homemade hamburger and pepperoni pizza with cream cheese for supper which also turned out awesome!  But the frosting turned out wonderful!  I'm sensing a cream cheese pattern here.  One thing's for sure, cream cheese frosting isn't the healthiest thing in the world.  Here's a picture of some of the finished product.

They passed Heath's taste test, which is enough for me!  I was perfectly content with eating the remaining frosting, but I also don't need to weigh 400 lbs.  Not sure what my next project will be, but I'll let you know when it happens!

Yesterday, Heath and I chaparoned the Elmwood-Murdock Junior/Senior prom at the Lancaster Events Center.  We weren't too sure what we were supposed to be doing other than keep kids from sneaking into the bathroom or spiking the lemonade!  Apparently there was once instance where some kids were dancing too close, but we didn't have to be the bad guy.  *Small sidenote, it's so so weird for me to see my brother-n-law Derick 17, going on 18 at his junior prom.  I still think of him as the 13 year old kid I met when Heath and I started dating.*  During the middle of it we went to Linc Care.  I've had this nagging cold for a month.  Background story, I went to the doctor a month ago because I thought I had a sinus infection.  He diagnosed me with allergies and gave me nasal spray and decongestants.  Well, surprise surprise last night the doc gave me antibiotics because I had what???  A sinus infection!  Seriously, I think I know my own body, I get a sinus infections about every year.  Ugh.  Thank you practioners of modern medicine! 

Finally!

It only took me 11 months, but I finally finished decorating Payton's room!  For months we had some very nice wall hangings, but either haven't had the time to hang them, or kept forgetting about hanging them.  It's amazing what you can get done when you put it on a to-do list.  Here's our progress:

On the shelf, the left wood shape says Smile and the right wood shape says Dream.  The middle are ABC blocks.

 

The wall hanging on the left was made by a close friend of mine.  It's of the ABC's.  The "O" is comprised of an owl.

This wall hanging was made by my MIL.  It's a deorative birth announcement.  It lists Payton's name, birth weight, length, birthday and time born.

I'm sorry for the crappy photo quality.  I took the pictures with my phone.  We all know I'm too lazy to take the pictures with my camera, hook my camera up to my computer and then upload.  This was way easier.

Wedding!!!

Last week was my first week back to work.  It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, or as it could be.  Definitely glad that we took Pays to daycare the week before.  I think if we didn't do that, it would have been a hell of a lot harder to part with her last Monday morning.  Each day it got a little easier.  Whenever I would get sad from being away from her, I would just look at her picture I have on my desk.  It sits next to the sonogram picture I still have from when I was pregnant.  It's weird to think that the fetus in the sonogram was/is Payton.  Kind of a before and after shot.

My work week was a little lighter since I took Friday off.  It made my first week back at work easier I think.  But I didn't take it off to hang out with Payton, although that would have been amazing!  We took her to my parents house so they could bask in the glory of having Miss Payton.  This last weekend was Heath's brother Brent and his fiance Saranne's wedding in Cozad, and what a beautiful wedding it was!  Saranne made a beautiful bride, and Brent made a handsome groom!  Congrats to the two of you on the beginning of married life together! 

Friday night while we were in Cozad we went to Big E's bar.  Best. Bar!  I had a beer this size:

This thing was huge!  I tried to do a size comparison by standing the sunglasses next to it.  Heath thought it was equvalent to three tall boys, I think it was a little more.  Your arm definitely gets a work out carrying that thing around.  Apparently Friday was arms and back!  We only had time for one beer so I made the most of it!  While we were at Big E's I also noticed this:

Yes, that's a dog...in the kennel.  What kind of place is this?!  In the back behind a closed door was a rotwieller.  Apparently, later that night there was another dog walking around the bar.  Maybe it doubles as a bar/dog shelter.  We had a great time this weekend.  Congrats again Brent & Saranne!!

I decided to take today off so that I could spend the day with Payton since I didn't get to see her all weekend.  Too bad Heath couldn't take the day off, too.  But he spent all last evening with her on his own and bonded with her while I unpacked and did some things around the house.

This last Saturday was also my grandpa's 82nd birthday.  Happy Birthday Grandpa!!!  I'm glad Payton got to spend it with you!



Happiness is...

The Beatles were wrong.  Happiness is not a warm gun, it's your 11 week old giving you a big smile as you pick her up from her first day of daycare.  All week I was wishing I could stop time so that I didn't have to go back to work, and keep Pays at home all day.  I was wishing the days to go by slower and slower, but it wouldn't work.  Or if I had a DeLorean so I could back in time.  But I couldn't make that happen either.  I've slept pretty crappy all week; not being able to get to sleep thinking about being seperated from her for a *gasp* a whole five hours.

Last night I was gathering up everything for Heath so he could take her to daycare this morning.  I wrote her name on her formula container, diapers, wipes and water jug.  Made sure there was an extra outfit in the diaper bag, wrote out a schedule to use as a rough guideline so that they knew when she did her napping, eating, basic routine, etc.  As we were crawling into bed last night, the damn burst and it seemed that almost instantly a box of tissues were gone.  I felt like such a moron, after all, it was only going to be for five hours, but me being me, I thought of how they don't know her mannerisms and worse case scenarios started to pop into my head.  Scenarios that would probably never happen.  Who thinks of dogs running rampant through a daycare center?  These last three months I kept telling myself that I know what happens at a daycare, and it won't be THAT hard, but then I began to realize that I only know what happens at my mom's daycare.  Not all daycares are the same.

As Heath left with Payton, I did probably what every mother has done, and watched him through the window as he loaded her up in the truck and drove away.  I began thinking of what I was going to do until I had to pick her up at noon, but falling asleep thinking about it, I decided to go back to bed and sleep it off just like an alcoholic sleeps it off the day after St. Patricks Day, or....everyday.  I didn't think it was going to be possible to fall asleep with the house so quiet but 10 minutes after I started watching Regis and Kelly, which has become my morning routine for the last 90 days, I drifted off to la la land and woke up at 11!  I quickly showered, and got ready doing hair and make up, probably the fastest I have ever done so, and was ready by 11:30. 

I picked Payton up around noon and when they handed her to me, she gave me the biggest smile!  I looked around the infant room and realized that she was just fine and the daycare does a great job.  I know there's nothing for me to worry about when we leave her there and I have the upmost faith in the daycare and their employees.  It's just hard being seperated.  But knowing what I'll have to come home to will be the biggest and best highlight of my day, to see that wonderful smile on Payton's face as I walk in the door. 

The 11th week

Today Payton is 11 weeks old.  That means that next Monday is my first day back at work.  I'm pretty much not looking forward to not being able to spend all day everyday with my little girl.  I've been watching her, and watching all of the new things that she discovers; discovering her tongue and sticking it out, realizing she can bat at objects, her cute squeals when laying on her playmat, holding and talking to her after she eats looking like she's desperately trying to have an adult conversation with me.  I'm finally to the point to where I can leave her alone with mine and Heath's parents and my sister and be okay with it.  Now I have to get used to leaving her with people who've never met her, hoping she gets the attention she needs in the 10 hours a day she'll be at daycare.  I am put a little at ease since we know the people who work at the daycare center, atleast they're not strangers to Heath and I.  I know as the week progresses, it'll be more difficult for me to come to the realization that I am going back to work, but it has to happen.  There's no way that I could stay home with only one income for our family, but if I could I would.  Who can leave this face:

Our day

I have to go back to work in about two and a half weeks, and I'm not really looking forward to it.  I love spending time with Payton all day!  If I could be a full time mom, I would do it in a heartbeat.  But that's not to say that taking care of her is stress free.  Taking care of her is a full time job.  This is a rough outline of our daily routine:

6:30 am - 7:00 am:  Diaper change and Payton eats.  Now depending on her mood, she will either go back to sleep for another two and half to three hours or she'll stay awake.  My hopes is she'll go back to sleep so that I can either catch a cat nap or get some things done around the house.

Should she go back to sleep:  8:30/9:00-ish-9:30:  Diaper change and Payton eats.  The more awake she is to eat, sometimes it takes her longer to eat.  After scarfing down two ounces she sometimes starts to daudle and will smile or play around and push the bottle out with her tongue.  After playing around for about five minutes, then she's hungry again. 

Should she not go back to sleep: We both stay up and play. Well, she plays on her playmat and I will wash bottles, play with the dogs, then her and I hang out.


10:00 am - 10:05 am:  Payton and I have tummy time.  This is where I place her on her tummy so she can strengthen her arm, neck and stomach muscles so she can work on holding her own head up.  And it aides in the process to help her roll over some day soon.


11:00 am - 1:00 pm  Diaper change and Payton eats.  After she's done eating she'll play on her playmat.  She usually starts to fall asleep on her playmat around 11:30, so I'll move her into her crib and lay her down for a nap.  The morning nap usually lasts about an hour, if she decides to stay asleep.  Heath is also home for lunch during this time.  If she wakes up, she'll eat around noon.  So as Heath is eating, Payton is too.  Then when Heath is done, he takes over feeding Payton so that I can eat.

12:30 pm - 1:00 pm:  Payton will play on her playmat and then get pretty drowsy. 

1:15 pm - 1:30 pm:  I lay Payton down for her afternoon nap.  Sometimes she sleeps for an hour, sometimes she sleeps for two to three hours.  During this nap is when I try to get the bulk of my housework done.  I'll do a few loads of laundry, wash bottles (again), sweep the floors (albeit that happens about once a week), give the dogs some attention, put the clean dishes in the dishwasher away, think of something to have for supper, etc.

3:00/4:00:  Payton wakes up from her nap and decides she wants to eat and needs a diaper change.

6:30-7:00 pm:  Payton eats, again.

8:30 Depending on the day, Payton gets a bath

9:30/10:00:  Payton eats for the last time before she goes down for the night.  Then at 6:30 am we start the process all over again.  Atleast she's still sleeping through the night.  With her teething she's starting to get a little fussy during the day.  Either that or she's trying to poop.  Anyway, that is our day, full of fun and excitement and stress. :)

This and that

It never ceases to amaze me how much laundry a two month old child can accumulate in the course of a week, especially when more often than not we have "pajama day".  Everytime we see my parents (or when they send a package), or see Heath's parents Payton gets atleast two new outfits.  I must admit, Heath's mom bought Payton the cutest dress to wear for Heath's brother and his fiancee's wedding.  Unfortunately, Payton won't be attending.  She's staying with my parents that weekend.  Here's the dress.  Sorry about the link, but it wouldn't let me just save the picture and post:
http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStore/kids/baby/infantgirlsapparel/PRD~761779/Youngland+Organza+Heart+Dress+and+Knit+Cardigan+Set++Infant.jsp

But I'm sure after spending a weekend with my parents, Payton will come home with numerous new outfits.

Lately our little bundle of joy has started cooing more when we talk to her.  It's really adorable.  It's even cute right before she screams her head off.  And she does this little whine when she's tired.  It's oh......so......just precious (enter sarcasm).  She's been doing that a lot lately because of these new teeth she has coming in.  Atleast she's sleeping through the night still.  I hope that continues through the teething stage.   I hear rubbing whiskey on a baby's gums will help with the pain.  Maybe putting it with coke in a glass will help me after hearing her fuss all day! ;)

Two Months!

Yesterday we took Payton for her two month check up, and I'm happy to report that she's healthy!  She weighs 10 lbs & 13.5 oz, and is 22.25 in long!  I was a little surprised that she had only gained a pound and six and a half ounces since her last appt.  She seems so much heavier than that.  And her hemangioma on her chest has also gotten smaller.  When she was born it was 3 cm, and now it's 2 1/4 cm.  Since she looks so good the doc said we don't have to wake her up in the middle of the night to eat anymore!  We can wait for her to wake us up!  I can't wait until she starts sleeping for eight hours at a time!  Although I shouldn't complain since she sleeps for six most of the time.

As we were there I casually mentioned she seemed a little fussy during the day for no reason, and that I knew it was a little early to start cutting teeth but...  So the doc put on a rubber glove and checked her bottom gums and lo and behold she can feel her two bottom chompers starting to poke up!  Time to put the teething rings in the freezer!

The worst part of the visit was that since she's two months, she had to get shots.  :(  Once in each thigh, poor baby.  I hate it when she get those, but I know it's for her health and we want her to be heathly.

Canadian trenchcoat mafia

So I ran across this article on fox news.


http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/02/17/michigan-woman-upset-photo-posted-people-walmart-website/?intcmp=obnetwork



I've seen, and frequently visit the website People of Walmart and find it hilarious.  Should my picture, god forbid, ever end up on that site for whatever reason I would like to think I would have a sense of humor about it.  I particularly like the woman's argument:

"The thing is, if you take a picture of someone in public, they're in public," Wheeler said. "My argument is you're in a Walmart. We have no privacy shopping? So, I could go into any store and take a picture of anybody or their children and put it up on a web page."

Hello, McFly, Walmart IS in public!  As long as you're in public, and shopping is one of those public activities, you're fair game.  Apparently she thinks that once those sliding glass doors close as you enter the giant shopping center, that a protective bubble forms around you and no one can touch or see you.  Sweet Jesus.

Nap, yes please!

This afternoon I consider myself a success as a mom, and even though it's only 1:50 pm, I'm probably jumping the gun.  For weeks I haven't been able to get Payton to take a nap in the afternoons.  I'd lay her down and she would cry.  Following the 10 minute rule, where you leet a baby fuss/cry for about 10 minutes before picking them up, she would always fuss longer than 10 minutes.  Her cries became a painful cry, like she had a burp.  So I would pick her up, burp her and soothe her until she would calm down and I would then lay her on her playmat, until her next feeding thus bypassing the nap.  Well, apparently, unconsciously, I was decreasing the 10 minutes.  I think my child learned my weak spot and found out that I would come to her when she would cry hard enough.  And when I'm running around the house trying to get things done, it makes time go by faster, so it seemed like I had waited 10 minutes when I was probably only waiting 3 minutes.  After talking to my mom, this afternoon I made the 10 minute rule the 15 minute rule.  

She didn't go to sleep after 15 min, but I think she tired herself enough so when i gave her her binky she fell asleep.  I managed to get 45 minutes of peace and quiet.  Let's hope I can keep this small victory going with more and longer afternoon naps in the future!!

Bar rats

Tuesday was a difficult day.  We went to the cemetary to take part in Lori's burial.  Standing around with all our friends and family (which for short I am combining the two words and calling them framily), for me, made it a little easier.  My heart goes out to the Burrows and the Ward families, again.  I know that wasn't an easy thing to go through, and I hope we all can help ease the pain of your loss.

After the burial, which took place at the Murdock cemetary at 1:00 pm, we all went to the Murdock bar for lunch and to hang out a bit.  Mind you, we had Payton with us since you can't really get a babysitter at 1:00 pm on a Tuesday.  So that day from 1:30 pm-8:30 pm we were the parents who had a baby.....in a bar.  Yup, in a bar for seven hours.  On one hand I felt like the negligant parent, but on the other hand I would think back to when my sister and I were younger and going to Phillips, NE quite often with my parents to hang out with their friends and their kids and we would often sit in the town bar, Winchesters, for hours before retreating to our friends house.  Then I didn't feel so bad.  And I'm proud to say that Payton barely said a word the entire time we were there.  Such a good little bar rat.  Apparently it means she likes the bar and wouldn't mind going back. 

With a Little Help From My Friends

The title of this blog doesn't necessarily have anything to do with me, but it encompasses the passion and love going around in our group of friends.  It's no secret that our circle of friends are more so thought of as a family.  This weekend we all came together to honor and celebrate the life of one of our family member's parents.  Last week, our friend Kristy's mom Lori passed away after a 10 year battle of cancer and Saturday was the funeral.  The past couple of months we've watched Lori battle that horrible disease, and Kristy was right there by her side comforting her, making sure she was as comfortable as she could be. 

Kristy, never being one to burden anyone with her problems, did her best to hold her head high and stomach it all.  Her concern was with her mom, not with the emotional toll it was taking on her, which is what a good person does.  They don't think about themselves in a time like that.  They perform selfless deeds for those around them, and that's exactly what Kristy did.  She spent as many hours and days as she could with her mom gaining precious moments and savoring every last minute.

The last month and a half were the hardest to watch.  Lori was moved to the nursing home in Louisville, which I can't speak for anyone else but myself, was difficult to wrap my head around.  It isn't normal for someone Lori's age to have been admitted to a nursing home.  The first time we went to visit Lori wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be.  She looked good and her attitude was exceptionally optimistic for someone with the highest stage of cancer.  Soon after Lori took a turn for the worse.  Heath and I knew we wanted to see Lori again since it would probably be the last chance we had to do so.  We debated taking Payton because 1) she's so young yet and were unsure if her immune system would be able to withstand the environment of the nursing home, and 2) we didn't know how it would affect Kristy and Lori.  After calling the nursing home to see if it was ok to take a 6 week old baby in, and after asking Kristy what she thought we ultimately decided to take Payton because we knew how much Lori loved babies, and we wanted to try and put a smile on Lori's face.  And we wanted Payton to meet Lori.  Along with us were two of our other "family members", Darin and Abbie.  Since Darin grew up across the road from Kristy, seeing this was almost as hard as it was for Kristy to go through it.  Abbie being there I think helped ease it for Darin.

As we were getting ready to leave Lori's room she stated that she wished she could hold Payton.  Since she didn't really have the ability to move her arms any more Heath, still holding Payton, placed her in Lori's arms.  I've never been so proud to call Heath my husband.  Watching him helping carry out a task like that for Lori was wonderful and heartbreaking at the same time.

During the course of this ride Heath and I both talked about why neither of us had cried.  We both felt cold-hearted and were afraid that we would come off that way to those around us.  I spoke with Lisa, another "family member", about this and discussed that the reason was because we were celebrating Lori, and thinking of the good times.  We didn't want to think about her not being here or her being in pain.

When we got the word that Lori had passed on our hearts went out to Kristy, Bj and Tom, Lori's husband.  The day she died happened to be my birthday, but celebrating my birthday was the furthest thing from my mind.  I was concerned about Kristy and her family.  We went out that night, and in my mind it was to celebrate Lori, not me.  To me, my birthday is just another day.  In my mind I was celebrating Lori's life.

Friday night after the viewing for Lori us "relatives" went to have some libations to try and deal with what we just experienced, and to gain a little bit of strength to help deal with what was to happen the next day, Lori's funeral.  While at the bar, as I was saying goodbye to Kristy I broke down.  I felt awful.  Here I was, crying my eyes out and Kristy, Abbie and Lisa were comforting me.  Talk about feeling like an ass.  I was supposed to be one of the strong ones and be there for Lori's family, not sobbing like a moron.  What ran through my mind was how difficult this must be for Kristy.  I could never imagine leaving Payton, and being a new mom, only have a slight, slight, slight feeling of how Lori must have felt leaving her daughter.  I knew I had to pull myself together and not be a blubbering idiot because the next day it wasn't going to be me, nor should it be me who people need to be comforting.  I pulled myself together to be there for Kristy, as well as the rest of the family, real and figuratively.

Saturday was difficult.  Heath and I knew we needed to be there for Kristy's family as well as our family of friends.  During the service I looked at Lisa and Abbie and noticed I wasn't alone in letting the waterworks flow.  What did it for me was the casket being wheeled down the church aisle.  It hit home for me that this was it.  Even though I've never seen Heath cry, and he still didn't, I know he had a hard time seeing that too.  Afterall, he's known Lori as long as he's known Kristy.  He considers Kristy his sister since he never had any of his own, and neither he, I, nor any of us hate seeing her in pain.  We all knew and know we need to be there for Kristy, Bj and Tom.  It's difficult for any of us to witness this happen, and we all need to be there for eachother to help us all cope.  With a little help from our friends, I think that's possible.

The times they are a changin

Today marks the 6th week of Payton's existence.  She's growing up so fast!  She's still in her 0-3 month old clothes, but some clothes are just marked 3 months and she fits in those alright, too.  However, I think her diapers are a different story.  This morning I tried putting her in a size 1 diaper to see how things work out.  Everytime she would poo in the newborn, it would leak out.  Now, I'm not sure if that was because it was a bit watery and since poo already filled the diaper there was no room for it to absorb.  Or if it's because the guidline on the newborn box is up to 10 lbs, and at her first month doctor's appt., two weeks ago, she weighed 9 lbs 7 oz.  I guess we'll find out the next time she poops!

She has recently discovered her tongue and will stick it in and out.  It's so cute.  Her facial expressions are also becoming more frequent, and she couldn't have better timing.  The other day Heath was trying to burp her, and as he was doing so he let out a big burp himself.  She heard it and gave him a disgusted face, almost as if to say "seriously dad??"  That a girl Payton. :)  I can't wait until she starts cooing.  She's starting to make little noises, but most of her sounds are grunts.  Not because she's trying to poop but because she can. 

I'm slowly warming up to the trials of motherhood.  We frequently have guests over when Heath is at work.  So I have to corral the dogs and kennel them before our guests walk in to save them from getting sniffed and licked to death by our ever ferocious dogs.   I often do this with Payton in my arms, and with two easily excitable dogs, that isn't always an easy task.  Allie usually senses when people are coming over since I have to unlock the front door.  She hears the lock on the door click and it's showtime for her.  The other day I noticed she was sitting, almost guarding, the front door.  Yes, we were about to have some visitors, but that's a rare place even for her to sit.  She sat there for some time with her back to me.  I was tending to Payton so I figured she was pissed at me for not paying attention to her and giving me attitude, which isn't out of the ordinary.  So I decided to see what she was up to and lo and behold the dog puked!  Of course Heath wasn't here to help with the situation.  Allie wasn't pissed at me, she was ashamed the poor thing.  So, again, with Payton in my arms I grabbed some napkins and proceeded to pick up the dog vomit.  Thank god it wasn't liquid.  Allie likes to gulp her food and when she pukes it's usually pretty solid.  I'm waiting for the day when Payton has a huge blowout, and while I'm in the middle of changing her the dog will puke and someone will come to the door.  I'm sure that will also be the time where I have something on the stove and it's in the process of boiling over at the same time my phone rings.  Ahh, the joys of motherhood. :)

1 month!

Yesterday we had Payton's first month appointment.  We're happy to report that she weighs 9 lbs 7oz!  She's growing like a weed!  She's in the 58th percentile for her weight, as well as for her height, which is 20.5 inches.  Since she was born she's grown an inch!  She's growing so fast!  What's even better is her hemangioma isn't getting bigger...yet.  The doc thought it would have grown a little by now, but not so.  It even looked a little smaller.    Doc said she was impressed with the way Payton is growing.  Pretty sure we have a perfect baby here. 

She's recently discovered her tongue and likes to gum it so it looks like she's chewing gum.  Or she'll stick it out.  Either way it's all cute.  What's not cute is when she decideds to have a major blowout.  Yesterday she went through two outfits.  The first time she had a full diaper to begin with.  As I was about to change her she started to pee.  Well, with a diaper full of poo there was no place for the pee to go except out one of her leg holes.  As it started to come out, I thought I had the problem solved by closing the gap in the leg.  Problem solved, right?  WRONG!  I forgot about the other leg hole and out came the pee and poop!  So into the washing machine went those pajama's alone with the changing pad cover.  After I got her cleaned up I put her in a super cute outfit.  Two hours later she peed right through it.  Luckily I hadn't started the washing machine yet so I threw the outfit in there with the jammie's.  I kept praying that she wouldn't go through a third outfit, especially during the doctors appointment.  I always keep a spare outfit in the diaper bag, but that would have been really messy. 

The one question we were dying to ask the doc was about taking Payton out in public.  She said that until their two years old that they're at risk.  Well my god, I'm not going to shelter my daughter until she's two!  I have a life, and she needs to get out too.  The doc gave us a hesitant "OK" to take her places before the two month mark, as long as we're smart about it.  Don't let sick people cough on her or handle her, or even breathe on her.  Restaurants without a lot of people are ok.  The grocery store is alright, as long as weird strangers don't ask to look at her.  I didn't have a problem with random people touching my stomach when I was pregnant, mainly because it didn't happen, so hopefully I don't have random people asking to see my baby.  And if they do, they might loose a finger.  Dumb strangers don't need to be looking at my baby, go look at a parenting magazing or something instead.  I'm not going to make small talk about my baby with you in the checkout line because it just gets awkward.  Just go about buying your cereal and oreo's, and I'll go about making sure my child doesn't catch whatever disease or virus it is you have.  Atleast I can take her out!

Alcohol, boobs, and you!

This last weekend was almost a gift.  It was the weekend of going out!  Friday night we visited one of my closest friend's mother who is giving it her all in her fight against cancer.  Her attitude as we were visiting was the most positive I've seen in anyone in such a long time.  I truly commend her for mustering up all of her strength for having us as visitors.  She's definitely an inspiration to anyone who maybe battling a sickness.  After seeing her, I don't want to see anyone complain with so much as a paper cut. 

After our visit, us girls decided we needed to have a girls night out at the bar.  So, along with our spouses we trekked along to the bar.  How do you have a girls night out when your husband is there?  You simply tell the boys to go to the opposite end of the bar; in earshot means they're too close.  And that's just what we did.  It was so nice to hang out with the girls.  And, I shared a milestone with them.  For the first time in 10 months, I had my first beer!  It tasted like it was sent from heaven!   Once that golden liquid started flowing from the bottle to my mouth it was as if I entered a world of euphoria.  Not only did I get to have my first beer in 10 months, I had my first buzz in 10 months.  It's surprising that after not drinking for so long that one beer can make a person a little heady.  But I did the responsible thing and also ordered a glass of water with the beer, and I drank them over the course of an hour.  Can't be all drunk and then go home to care for my newborn.  I'm sure the state would come after me if I did that.

Saturday we were supposed to hang out with pal Jacie and her hus Brandon, but due to unforseen circumstances, they were un able to make it.  I told her I understood, and then deleted her from my friends list on Facebook......Just kidding.  Jacie became an aunt this past weekend and I told her that she most definitely needed to be with her family and we would reschedule our dinner.  Best wishes to your family dear friend! :)

Seeing as how we already had a babysitter, Heath and I decided to make a night of it anyway by having a date night.  Our plan was to go to Olive Garden, however the wait for two people was 55 minutes.  It was ridiculous.  So we said screw that, and went to Grisanti's instead where the wait time was 20 minutes.  No one stands between me and food.  I decised that since we were on a date that I shouldn't hold back on the beverages so I ordered an Italian Monk.  It's basically an alcoholic milk shake.

Now, the only downside to drinking booze is that I can't nurse Payton on demand.  Which is a good thing I suppose now that I think about it since I don't need my nearly month old daughter drunk.  Friday night I made sure to do the ever so popular "pump and dump" method.  Saturday I failed to folllow through with this method, and for those of you women who haven't been blessed to experience the joy of milkful boobies, don't make this mistake.  Your boobs feel like they're full of rocks.  And apparently if you don't express your milk for hours on end they leak.....a lot.....through boob pads.....while you're sleeping.....especially when you hear your baby crying.  I woke up early Sunday morning to a milk soaked shirt.  Since I still hadn't pumped after my awesome drink at Grisanti's I promptly handed Pays off to Heath so I could go pump.  Relief was not spelled R-O-L-A-I-D-S that day, but spelled P-U-M-P.  Nonetheless, it felt great to get out of the house, and not to just get out to get groceries.  I would like to send a HUGE thank you to my in-laws for watching Pays this weekend so we could enjoy ourselves.

A day out!

Day 21 of being home with Payton.  I've been out of the house about four times.  It's a little waring being cooped up in the house all day every day  Not to mention not being able to get some of my household chores done since it's a continuous cycle of feeding, changing diapers and pumping.  I've have numerous offers from people to watch Payton if I ever need to get out of the house.  I'm very grateful for the gracious offers, but I'm just not ready to leave her with someone other than grandparents just yet.  It doesn't mean that I don't trust my friends, I trust them implicitly.  It's just hard to leave my child after being with her for so long, and the grandma's have many years of experience taking care of children.  With one set of grandparents who have raised two girls and around 20 years experience of running a daycare, and the other set who have successfully raised five boys, I feel pretty confident leaving Payton with either of them.  And since it's my friends who I'll most likely be going out with, they can't go out with me and watch my kid at the same time.

In the beginning it was hard to leave her.  Granted it's only happened once and it was the second week of her being home.  I think I'm becoming a little more at ease with the thought of getting a babysitter.  Maybe it's the idea of having adult interaction.  Or maybe it's the thought of having enough breastmilk saved up that I can have a beer for the first time in 10 months.  I hope it's not as hard as it was the first time.  The first time consisted of Heath and I going to dinner, with me saying about five words the whole time, and Heath trying to perk me up after I broke into tears on the car ride home.  I felt so bad for him.  The poor man tried to have dinner out with his wife and I made it less than desireable.  But after changing 200-something diapers already, getting up twice a night everynight to feed Pays as well as feeding her every 2.5 hours during the day, I'm a little more up for it.  I just wish I could leave the house during the day to run errands.  We still have another month before Pays can go out in public, stupid cold & flu season.  That little girl is the light of my life though.  I just wish she would sleep longer between feedings.  But I wouldn't trade it for the world.

What has prompted this barrage of half-assed excitement to leave the house you ask?  On Saturday Heath and I are meeting up with an old friend of mine from high school and her hus in Lincoln.  I'm pretty excited about it.  To save both her and I embarassment, and because I couldn't find any other pictures that were older, this is probably the last documented picture of her and I together.  And since it's dated in 2006, that means it's been entirely too long.  Here we are......dressed to go to a rave.  We liked to think we were high rollers.

Can't wait to see you Saturday Jacie!

Dolly Parton

Payton is changing so much everyday.  She easily has to be over 8 lbs.  She's still fitting into her newborn clothes, but not for long.  Her dresser is full of clothes that I can't wait to dress her in!  I just hope she doesn't outgrow any of them before she gets to wear them.   I'm sure she will, but it's a nice thought.

Breastfeeding is going really well.  Payton has taken to it like a frog on a lilypad.  I'm still pumping after I feed her.  I don't know how much other women are able to pump out, but I'm yielding an ounce or less from each boob each time I pump.  I've read that women can pump anywhere from half an ounce to 2 ounces a pumping session.  Hopefully that's true.  I know there are some women who can produce so much and almost drown their baby.  I guess I'm not one of them, but I do have about four bags in the freezer ranging from 2-3.5 ounces per bag. 

Also, for you women out there if you're wanting a boob job simply get pregnant first rather than paying for expensive surgery.   Once your milk comes in you're easily Dolly Parton'ing it.  2 cup sizes ladies, two!

Our first two weeks with Payton!

Payton is 11 days old and the days have just flown by!  Heath had the week off when we had her so he was able to spend time with his little girl before he had to go back to work.  The first week we loved!  We had two doctor's appointments, all have been weight and color checks for Payton.  The first appointment she weighed 6 lbs 13.5 oz.  The second appt. she weighed 6 lbs 14 oz.  Granted, the two appts were two days in a row so she improved a half ounce.  We waited the weekend and had another appointment on Monday.  Payton weighed in at 7 lbs 4 oz!  Just an ounce shy of her birth weight!  The doc said she doesn't need to see Payton again until her month check up.  We're doing great!  Her color looks amazing.  Her eyes aren't yellow and her skin is perfect! 

We're still supplementing breast milk with formula.  When she drinks from the bottle she burps every ounce or so.  Now, after a breast feeding she burps after finishing each boob!  I can only gauge that she's getting an ounce out of each boob!  She still acts hungry after a breastfeeding so she gets formula.  She's been eating 3 oz of formula after a feeding.  Surely she's not getting 5 oz at each feed.  That's a lot for an 11 day old.  I'm guessing she could be getting an ounce total after a breastfeeding and is only burping after each boob because she gets laid on her back, which sometimes aides in getting out a burp, so that I can get resituated for the other side.  4 ounces seems more logical for someone her age.   Whatever it is, this kid sure can fart!  It makes her sound like she's having a major blowout, but when we open her diaper there's nary a poop.  No joke, she gives any guy a run for their money.

This week my mom has been here helping us since Heath had to go back to work.  She's been a godsend.  I'm not sure how we'll manage after she's gone.  She's been such a big help taking nighttime feedings and helping with house hold chores.  All my vaccuming got done, the floors swept, the bathrooms cleaned complete with floors being scrubbed, and the wood floors were mopped.  All her little tidbits on how to take care of babies have been EXTREMELY helpful.  I just hope I remember all of them!  Even though she's only a phone call away, it's still not the same.  I'm sure we'll be able to manage and establish a routine after she leaves, but I'm just nervous about it.  It's been so nice to have the extra help around the house, but it has to happen sometime. 

There's a brand new baby in our house!

Monday, Jan. 3 2011 will go down as one of the most memorable days of my life.  Our daughter Payton was brought into this world at 7:30 p.m. tipping the scales at 7 lbs 5 oz, and 19 inches long.  She is a beautiful baby!  It was love at first site! 

Without going into the gory details of child birth, yes it hurt, yes it took all day and yes I would do it again in a hearbeat.  I was induced at 6:30 in the morning, and my water was broken at 11:00 am.  But I didn't begin pushing until 6:00 pm.  After going through this, I've concluded that epidurals are the best thing ever invented.

Having Payton has started a whole new chapter in our lives.  We have this little person who we're responsible for, and I wouldn't have it any other way.  She's the most beautiful baby I've seen.  Many of the hospital staff told us the same thing, and I'm sure they say that to most of the parents who come through their facility, but in our case it's 100% true. :)

When people tell you that you don't get much sleep while you're in the hospital for labor & delivery, they're not lying.  I thought the reason I wasn't going to get much sleep was because I was in pain.  Boy was I wrong!  Hospital staff is constantly coming into your room to check your vitals and to give you pain pills.  The pills I loved!  The only time I was happy to see hospital staff enter my room at 4 am was so that I could feed Payton.  Heath and I kicked her out to sleep into the nursery both nights so that we could try and get a decent night's sleep.  And we did for the most part.  It was our first night home with her that was exhausting. 

We were trying to establish a routine with her, when we didn't have an idea of how to have a routine with a baby!  So far we've got the feeding schedule down, which is every three hours.  At this point we have to wake her up to eat, rather than her waking us up to eat.  She lost quite a bit of weight after she was born because my body wasn't capable of producing what she needed right away.  Atleast we  got to bring her home after a normal hospital stay.  We're on a regimine of breastfeeding what I can, Heath then feeding her about 1 to 1.5 oz of formula.  Then as he feeds her formula, I try and pump what I can.  Once my milk comes in we can say adios to the formula.  We had our first check up with the pediatrician today and we were able to maintain Payton's weight as to what it was when we left the hospital, which is good cause it means she hasn't lost any more.  We have a follow-up appointment tomorrow to see if her weight has increased within 24 hrs.  I'm hoping it has. 

Tonight we're off to a good start.  Payton has been fed and put down for bed, all before 10:30.  Much better than last night considering everytime we put her down last night she would cry.  We were afraid she was spoiled from all of her visitors holding her while we were still in the hospital.   As of right now, she's been asleep for the past hour.  Hopefully it all continues.

I leave this post with a song that pretty much sums up the feel good feeling of having Payton home. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTWsP-jynN4