Thanksgiving in Georgia

I had every intention of blogging during our trip to Georgia, but things just got busy and I didn't.  So, I'll just recap the trip and throw in a few pictures.

Saturday Evening/Sunday
I had been so nervous for this road trip for weeks. I really had no idea how Annelise would do traveling that far in the car. We decided to leave when Drew got home from work and drive overnight. I hoped that she would sleep all night, making every one's travels much easier.

When Drew got home from work, we packed up the car and headed out. We got on the road right before 8 PM. About five minutes down the road, Annelise was sound asleep. Drew started off driving and I napped off and on. We made it to Metropolis before we needed gas. And boy, did we need gas. I'm pretty sure our car was running on fumes at that point.

Annelise woke up while we were getting gas, so I feed her a bottle, she played in her car seat for about half an hour, then fell back to sleep again.

Drew made it to just past Nashville, about 4 AM before he got tired and needed to switch. That means that I drove through the mountains. That's a little scary doing that for the first time at night and while tired.

We made it to Jess and Eric's house shortly after 8 AM, which means we got down there in just over 11 hours. Not too shabby!! And, Annelise slept practically the whole time!

We spent the majority of the day hanging out around the house and visiting. We went to dinner at Uncle Maddio's. It's a pizza restaurant that has a bunch of specialty pizzas. Drew had a steak and blue cheese pizza, and I had a turkey panini. After dinner, we went grocery shopping for the week.

Monday
Eric had to work, and Jess had a dentist appointment and some other things to take care of, so Drew and I made plans to go visit with some friends of ours.  Ryan and Rachel used to live near us, but moved down to Georgia a couple of years ago to be near her family.  We went over to their house for lunch and to visit.  Jackson, their son, is seriously adorable!  He loved Annelise and kept wanting to bring her toys.  He really wanted to hold her too.  So sweet!

Rachel sells Scentsy, which I really didn't know much about, so she started showing us some stuff and giving us her little sales pitch.  During this time, Annelise started to get fussy and I thought she was just tired and ready for a nap.  So, I tried to snuggle and rock her in the hopes of putting her to sleep.  I was sitting on their couch and Annelise threw up all over me.  I mean, she really threw up.  My child has never puked like that.  It was all over her, me, their couch, their floor.  I felt awful!  And I looked and smelled pretty awful too.  I always have an extra outfit packed for Annelise, but Rachel had to give me some clothes to change into.  I was so embarrassed.  She acted fine afterwards and didn't seem off at all after that.  Weird!

After we visited with them for a while, we went back to Jess and Eric's and ordered chinese food for dinner.

Tuesday
Eric had to work at home and Jess and I went and did some shopping.  They have a consignment shop near them, Once Upon A Child, that has a TON of clothes, especially girl clothes.  I've been waiting to get Annelise's 12 month sized wardrobe until we went down there because I knew that I could get a ton of clothes for very little.  Jess and I had a ball picking out clothes for her.  I managed to get 29 items and paid a little over $150.  I seriously love everything we got for her, and some of the stuff still had the original tags on it.

Drew, Jen, and Emma arrived that night from North Carolina and we visited for a little bit before all heading to bed.  Emma has gotten so big!  It's crazy how much these kids grow in between times seeing them.

Wednesday
Jess asked me to take some family photos for them for their Christmas cards, so we all went to Stone Mountain.  We went to a couple of different spots to take pictures, then went inside to take advantage of some of the stuff that is offered there.  By the time we went into the attraction part of it, it was starting to get dark.  They did a lighted parade, which was neat to see.  We took the train around the mountain, but since it was dark you couldn't see it anything, which made it pretty lame.  We stopped at a place called Spiced Right that my friend Whitney recommended.  Unfortunately, by the time we got there, they were out of ribs, brisket, and some sides.  It's hard to judge a BBQ place that is out of some of the main staples of BBQ.  What we had was pretty good though.

Thursday
Ahhhhh, Thanksgiving.  We decided to eat more towards lunch because then all the kids could participate.  That was all fine and dandy except that my child would not take a morning nap and then was cranky all morning.  I finally got her to sleep, and then the food was ready.  I was so bummed that Annelise missed out eating her first Thanksgiving meal.  I seriously had to fight back tears.  I know that she won't remember it, but I want the memories and pictures for me and to show her when she gets older.

After she woke up, I put her in her special Thanksgiving outfit and took a bunch of pictures.

The onesie basically says it all.  I am so thankful for my precious little girl.  God has blessed us so much with the gift of her.

Jess wanted to get one of Wes's Christmas presents that was a Black Friday special at Walmart.  So, Jess, Jen, and I went to Walmart around 7 to get ready for the sale that started at 8.  I've never been Black Friday shopping.  Before Drew and I got married, I worked in retail and always had to work that morning, and last year I was pregnant and tired.  I was amazed at how psychotic people get about it!  Jess got the present she was looking for and we were home in record time.  Drew and Drew went to Dick's at midnight to get some ammo to go shooting the next day.  And my Drew got a new pair of tennis shoes.

Friday
The guys woke up bright and early and went shooting.  Earlier in the week, Jess made a cute fleece blanket for Wes for a Christmas present and I really wanted to make one for Annelise too.  So, Jess and I left all the kids with Jen and went to JoAnn's to get the fleece.  We found some super cute patterns, stood in the fabric cut line forever, and then came home.  I made one blanket that night and it came out really cute.

Saturday
Drew, Jen, and Emma went to visit some of her family for the day.  I made the other blanket while they were gone.  We all didn't really do much and just hung and visited.

Sunday
Drew, Jen, and Emma left late morning to go visit some more family and head home.  Drew and I took our time getting packed up and ready to leave.  Eric and Jess bought a new dishwasher, and after a huge fiasco of getting it delivered, it finally arrived and Drew helped Eric install it.  We got on the road around 3 PM to go visit a friend of mine in Knoxville.  I'll save that visit for another post.

The drive back home was pretty uneventful, and we were so happy to back home.  Traveling with a baby is hard work and I think that we were all glad to be able to get back into our routine.

Oh Mr. Sandman

While I was pregnant, I'm pretty sure that I prayed everyday that I would get a good sleeper.  I mean, I really, really prayed that my baby would sleep and wouldn't fight me about it.  My prayers weren't exactly answered the way that I would have liked them to be, but Annelise isn't too terrible and she's getting better.  Sometimes.

When we first brought Annelise home, she slept next to our bed in her Rock N Play.  She loved it, she slept well, and us parents were pretty happy.  When she turned four months, I knew that it was time to start working on transitioning to her room and to her crib.  And this is where I blame every single one of my parent friends for not knocking some sense into me.  Why didn't anybody tell me what a bitch transitioning to the crib is?  Huh???  Why didn't anybody tell me that I should work hard on having her sleep in her crib from day one?  Huh???  I mean, I'm not saying that I would have listened, and that she would have been in her crib full time from the start, but a little warning might have been nice y'all!

But, Drew and I trudged on.  We managed to get her sleeping in her room in her Rock N Play.  That was actually pretty easy.  Then, I worked on transitioning to her crib for naps.  That was a challenge, but we (read - I) did it.  Then, came nights in her crib.  O.M.G!  That has been a battle.  She still doesn't sleep all night every night, but we're getting better.  We had to trial and error a bunch of different things to figure out what would work.  We eventually landed on swaddling and a sound machine as the magic combination.

Now, we're working on breaking her of the swaddle, and putting herself back to sleep.  Now that she's starting to become more mobile, and her hands are out of the swaddle, she's starting to sleep in some of the cutest positions.  I seriously have been waiting for this time!  I love when babies sleep in cute ways. I mean, really love it!

Here you can just barely see the bottom half of her.  I'm pretty sure her head must have been right up against the rails.  Not sure how that is comfortable, but she slept like that.

As soon as I lay her in her crib, she turns on her side, and then later, she'll roll onto her belly.  I'd also like to point out that my child thinks she's pretty slick.  In the 7 1/2 months that she has been alive, she has never once rolled from her back to her belly.  I know that that is a pretty tough task because she has to use a lot of effort and momentum to swing herself over, and I never really pushed it too hard.  The first time she rolled from back to belly, was in her crib.  Drew watched it on the monitor.  She also did it a bunch of times afterwards, but only ever in her crib.  Silly girl would never do it while I was watching her.  She finally did last night for me.  She'll push up on her knees in her crib too.  If she crawls for the first time in her crib and I have to watch it over the monitor, I might just be a little bitter about that.  Girl just needs to crawl for me!

Swingin'

Today was probably the last warm day until next year.  It got into the mid-60s, and I couldn't let today go by without taking Annelise outside one more time.  I packed her up in the stroller, put Maya on her leash, and we set off to the park.

Annelise got to swing on a swing for the first time today, and she had a great time!  She was all smiles and was giggling like crazy.

It was pretty windy while we were there, and she tried to catch the wind with her tongue.  So cute!

I can't wait until spring is here again.

Seven Months

Dear Annelise,

We have had so much fun this month!  You are blossoming into this smart, funny, affectionate, adorable little girl.  I get so excited to wake up every day with you because I never know what new thing you're going to do.

Currently, I'm waiting for you to crawl.  You have been pushing up on your knees for a whole month, and I was so sure that you'd be crawling by now.  Nope, not yet!  I can tell that you want to; I see your little brain thinking about and trying to figure it out when you've pushed up on your knees.  You get so frustrated because you want to move, but can't yet.  You are rolling from your belly to your back a lot more, but still not rolling from your back to your belly.  Once you are on your back, you do a little "baby crunch" and wait for me to pull you up.  You get so mad if I don't pull you up fast enough.  I know that you will be so much happier when you figure out how to make these movements on your own.

You have really started to enjoy sitting on the floor on your blanket and playing with your toys.  I used to pull out three or four toys, which I rotated around, and let you play with those, but one day, I pulled those out and then left your toy bin on the floor with you.  I played with you for a while, but then went in the kitchen for a minute.  When I came back, you had dumped your toy bin over and were digging around in it.  So, ever since then I've just put your toy bin on the floor and dumped it on its side for you.  You really like being able to dig through it and pick out the toys that you want to play with.

Well, a monthly letter can't go by without me talking about your sleep.  Little lady, I really do think that you're out to kill me some nights.  Thankfully, you are now sleeping in your crib all the time.  However, you refuse to sleep through the night.  I know that you can because you used to do it.  So, why won't you sleep through the night anymore?  What happened to my sweet baby who slept all night?  Naps are still going well.  Occasionally there will be a small hiccup, but you usually get right back on track.  Daddy and I are working so hard on getting you to sleep well at night.  We've started putting you to bed at 7 PM and we've noticed a small difference in the earlier bedtime.  As of right now, Dad is in charge of bedtime.  He changes you, puts your jammies on, and then sits in your chair with you and lets you drink your bottle.  Once you are finished with your bottle, he swaddles you up and rocks you to sleep.  We've decided that he is going to try to put you back to sleep when you wake up in the middle of the night.  I think that seeing me gets you more worked up and harder to put back to sleep.  On the nights that Dad came in, you fell asleep easier and faster.  So far it's been going better.  We just need to teach you how to put yourself to sleep.  I know that you can, but we need to teach you to do it consistently.

The most exciting thing that has happened this month is that you've started eating solids.  You have had pickle, lemon, avocado, cucumber, zucchini, banana, raspberries, chicken, mashed potatoes, green apple, pancakes, peaches, plums, green beans, carrots, and pork.  The only things that you didn't really like were avocado and raspberries.  I think that the avocado was too mushy and the raspberries were too citrus-y for you.  Other than that, you LOVE being able to eat.  If I sit down to eat something, you always want some.  You act like a little bird opening your mouth wide for me to put something in it.  If I'm eating a sandwich, I'll pull off little pieces of my bread and give it to you.  I've started giving you puffs and you do the bird mouth with those.  You even make an "mmmm" sound!  So cute!  Daddy gets very anxious when you eat with us.  Sometimes you bite off more than you can handle and you gag on it.  Dad freaks out!  He gets so worried that you're going to choke.  I've had to explain to him that gagging is normal and that you're ok.  It's cute how he worries so much.  We both love you so much and don't want anything to happen to you.

I love how excited you get when Dad comes home from work.  When you see him, you start smiling and scrunching your nose and kicking your legs.  You love him so much.  I know that it's only a matter of time before you are glued to his side when he comes home.

You have become attached to your pacifier.  You can go without it, but you do like having it.  I miss being able to hear you chatter as often, so I try to pull it out if I can.  You go to sleep with it, but spit it out during your time sleeping.  You have gotten very good with playing with it in your hands, chewing on it, and putting it back in your mouth.

You love it when I toss you in the air.  Lately, I've even added a spin to it and you love that even more. Dad will balance you on his hand in the air and you get the biggest smile on your face.  We've started singing the "Hokey Pokey" song to you as we dress you or put you in your sleep sack.  You grin when we shake your body to it.  You also "dance" by rocking your upper body from side to side.  When we notice you doing that, we sing, "Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, yeah"  You smile at that too!

The biggest sound that you make is still some variation of "mom".  You'll say "ma", "mom", "mama".  Sometimes you'll say "na" or "da".  It's still just a lot of shrieks and deep "monster sounds" as I call them.

You are wearing 6-9 months clothes and a size 3 diaper.  Occasionally, I'll put you in a 12 month outfit.  You'll be transitioning to those soon.  My guess is that you weigh slightly more than 17 pounds.

I love you so much!  You are so much fun to be with, and everyday is a new adventure.  There have been challenges, but everything is worth it for you.  I give everything to you so that I can see your beautiful smile.  Nothing makes me happier than when you grin at me!

Love you always,
Mommy

Happy Halloween

Any holiday as a first time mom is a big deal, and Halloween is no different.  I've had Annelise's costume stashed in her closet for a month now, and she finally got to wear it today.  I didn't want to go too crazy because she is still young, and we planned on just staying at home.  But, I couldn't let the day go by without dressing her up and taking scads of pictures.  May I present to you, my cute little dino!

After we took a bunch of pictures outside, the trick-or-treaters started showing up, so we came back in the house to hand out candy.  Annelise just sat by the door and watched.

She was over the hat about two seconds after I plopped it on her head.  She was gracious enough to let me get a few pictures of it though.

The little dino feet slippers were the best part of the costume to me.  Adorable!!

We have a ton of candy left over!  I really anticipated that we would have a lot more trick-or-treaters than we did.  Guess we'll be eating leftover candy for a while.  I'm sure Drew is sad!  Ha!

Four Years

Another married year has flown and Drew and I celebrated our four year anniversary today.  So hard to believe!  The traditional fourth anniversary gift is fruit or flowers.  Since I knew Drew wouldn't really appreciate flowers, I had an Edible Arrangement sent to his work.  Him and his coworkers happily munched on that all afternoon.  It was pretty much destroyed by the time he got home.

Drew brought home some gorgeous flowers for me.

I can't believe that we've been married for four years.  We've been through a lot in that short amount of time.  I'm excited to see what the future has in store for us!

Fall Traditions

You can't let the fall season go by without at least one trip to Edward's Apple Orchard.  My mother-in-law, Debbie, called me this afternoon and asked if Annelise and I wanted to go out there with her.  I jumped at the chance because I've been wanting to take Annelise.  And who can turn down apple cider donuts??

I decided to wear Annelise while we were there.  I'll tell you what, I love being able to wear her places.  It makes it so easy to move around and I don't have to worry about navigating the stroller in tight places.  Plus, since they were busy today, I would have had to take her out of the stroller when we went into the store anyway.  Then, I would have had to carry her in my arms.  Baby wearing is definitely where it's at!

I gave Annelise a slice of an apple while we were there and she happily gnawed on it while Debbie and I shopped around.

I hope that we'll be able to squeeze in a trip to the Pumpkin Patch before it gets too cold outside.  I love fall and all of the fall stuff that goes with it!

Meeting New Friends

During my infertility struggle, I joined a message board that dealt specifically with infertility.  After being a member of this board for quite a few months, a bunch of us girls decided to make a group on Facebook and get to know one another better.  We created a bond that is priceless.  It made something that is so incredibly difficult to go through, a little bit easier knowing that there were others that "got it".  They knew what to say, and more importantly, what NOT to say.  These girls even sent me an incredible care package when I went through the miscarriage.

One girl in the group actually grew up here in my town.  She lives about two hours from her now, but her family still lives here.  It is amazing what we have in common and shows just how "little" this world is.  Her daughter, Anya, was conceived through IVF and was a frozen transfer, just like Annelise.

Heather and I finally met each other and got our little girls together to play today.  We had such a great time visiting.  Anya and Annelise weren't too sure what to do with each other quite yet, but I'm sure that after a few more play dates that they'll be inseparable.

I'm looking forward to getting together again.  It's a bummer that it's starting to get cold here, but I definitely foresee many summer outings!

Six Months

Dear Annelise,

Oh my girl, you have changed so much this month!  I feel like you are at the point in your life where there is a lot of learning and changing, both physically and mentally, happening, and it's not going to stop for quite a few months.  It is so exciting to watch you learn and discover new things every day.  Every day is different with you and I love waking up and not knowing what you will surprise me with.

You sit all on your own now!  Last month, you were just starting to work on sitting alone, and now it's something that you've mastered.  You still bobble and fall over from time to time, but I think that's because you get so interested in what else you are doing that you forget to balance.  You really enjoy being able to sit and play with your toys.  I will spread a blanket on the floor and give you some toys and you love it.  It is so fun for me to watch you play with each different toy.  You inspect it and manipulate it in your hands.  Sometimes, you get so into it that you topple forwards or backwards.  If you go forwards, you will play on your tummy some.  If you go backwards, you usually start fussing to sit back up.  You do a little "baby crunch" and wait for me to pull you back up.

You have started to push up on your knees.  You have been scooting yourself backwards, no forward crawling yet, but I can see your little brain trying to figure out how to do it.  You have gone from just pushing up on your knees a tiny bit, to pushing all the way on them and wanting to move them.  I have a feeling that you will be crawling by the end of this month!  Time to start baby proofing!

If I thought that you loved Maya before, you definitely think that she is the greatest thing ever now!  Any time that she is around you, you have the biggest smile on your face.  You start laughing at her and giggle even more when she plays or comes to kiss you.

Sleep.  Oh sleep.  We have a love/hate relationship with sleep.  First of all, Daddy and I moved your Rock N Play to your room for you to sleep in there.  You have done great sleeping in your room all on your own.  We have been trying to transition you to sleeping in your crib.  We have good days and bad days.  I started off by having you nap in your crib, and then I thought that once we established good naps that we would move to nights in your crib.  Sounds like a good plan, right?  Well, you thought differently.  I have started a routine with you when it's nap time.  We go into your room and I shut the blinds so that it's nice and dark in there.  I swaddle you, turn on ocean on your sound machine, and sit down to nurse and rock you to sleep.  After you are asleep, I, oh so very carefully, get up and put you in your crib.  Most of the time it works, you stay asleep, and sleep anywhere from one to three hours.  We had such a good routine going with naps, that I decided to start trying to have you sleep overnight in your crib.  You decided that you hated me putting you to bed and fought every time I tried to put you in your crib.  You did much better when Daddy laid you down.  We had one good night of crib sleeping, and then you went through a Wonder Week.  Basically, you have been waking up once in the middle of the night.  Sometimes you eat and go right back to sleep and sometimes you want to play.  Let me tell you, little lady, 4 AM is NOT an appropriate playtime!  I will remember this when you are a teenager and want to sleep!!  Ha!!  So, we are back to working on getting good naps in your crib and then we will try nights again.  I know that you'll get it, I just need to be patient.

We are doing Baby Led Weaning (BLW) with you for solids.  I had every intention of waiting until your six month birthday to start, but you have shown us that you are ready to be an eater.  I put your high chair together a couple of weeks ago and let you try it out.  You loved it!  The other day, I took a pickle spear out of the jar for me to eat.  You started eyeballing me, so I gave you a taste.  You made a funny face, then reached for more.  After that taste, you grabbed onto my hand and would not let it go.  You wanted that pickle!  So, I put you in your high chair, gave you the pickle spear, and let you have fun.  You had the best time!  You moved it from hand to hand, sucked on it, pushed it around your tray, squished it with your fingers; you had so much fun with it.  I had so much fun watching you!  Since then, we've given you lemon, which you loved, avocado, which you weren't crazy about, cucumber, you loved, and zucchini, which you loved.  You ate the zucchini in your high chair and had such a great time exploring it.  Daddy is a little worried when you gag, and I explained to him that it's normal, but it still makes us nervous.  I have no doubts that you will love a lot more food as we begin the journey with solids.  You are so ready for it!

You do a lot of screeching!  I love it when you're vocal.  However, I don't really hear many definite sounds.  You do say "ma" or "mom" very clearly, but everything else is really just screeches.  Sometimes there will be a "yayaya" sound.  I'm curious how this will play out.  I talk to you a lot, and I can see you listening to me, but you don't really "conversate" back yet.

Right now, you are wearing size 6-9 month clothes, and are in a size 3 diaper.  It is crazy to me how big you've gotten!

My heart is so full of love for you.  These past six months have been some of the best months of my life.  You bring me so much joy and I love watching the person you are becoming.

Love you always,
Mommy

Fall Weekend

This weekend was such a perfect fall weekend.  The leaves are changing and are absolutely gorgeous.  I love this time when some trees are starting to turn and are gorgeous shades of reds and yellows and oranges, and some trees are still in their full green splendor.  Saturday was close to 80 degrees and today was close to 70 degrees.  Just perfect!

Yesterday, Drew and I took Annelise over to a nearby park to shoot her 6 month pictures.  She did very well and I got so many cute images.  Here's a little sneak peak.

I literally squealed when I saw this one.  How cute is my baby?!?!

After pictures, we took my mom out to dinner for her birthday.  We went to Old Chicago.  Annelise tried some lemon (loved), avocado (not a fan), and cucumber (loved).

Today, Drew and I did a few things around the house this morning.  The guy who has been doing some work on our house, Jim, has a horse, so we met him and his daughter at the stables where he boards the horse, and took turns riding him.

Annelise wasn't quite sure what to think about it.  I do love exposing her to all these new things though.

After horseback riding, we took a quick trip to a friend's house, then home.  We grilled out for dinner and Annelise got her first taste of zucchini.

She seemed to really like it.  It was so cute to watch her suck the fleshy part from the rind part of it.  I am starting to really like feeding her solids, and she seems to really be enjoying it.  She loves to explore the new foods that I'm giving her and she does really well with moving them in her hands and to her mouth.

I'm sad that the weekend is already over.  Can you believe that it's October already?  There will be so many fun things happening this month!

Unglued

You may remember the Proverbs 31 Bible study that I did back in the beginning of summer.  When that one finished, I began looking for another one to do.  Around that time, there was a lot of buzz around blogs and twitter about Unglued by Lysa TerKeurst.  After reading the summary of the book, I knew that I had found my next Bible study, this time with Melissa Taylor.

Unglued talks about "making wise choices in the midst of raw emotions".  I think that Lysa wrote this book exactly for me!  I'm a redhead, in every sense of the word.  I have a quick, fiery temper and it does not take much to set me off.  And you know what?  I hate being that way!  I want to be in control of my emotions.  I don't want to become unglued at the smallest little thing.  I am not a freak-out woman!  Or at least, I certainly don't want to be and I am going to focus on not being one.

So far, I've read the first two chapters.  Chapter 1 - An Invitation to Imperfect Progress talks about just that, imperfect progress.  Lysa says, "Imperfect changes are slow steps of progress wrapped in grace . . . imperfect progress."  It's important to focus on making progress and understanding that a change may not come overnight.  I will have days where I succeed and days where I fall flat on my face.  The importance is to get back up and begin again, more forward.

Lysa also discusses how it's important to not focus on the past, but to "bow to the One who holds out hope for a better future".  If I have a bad moment, or a bad day, I need to learn to leave that in the past and ask God for guidance for tomorrow.

Chapter 2 - I Am Not a Freak-Out Woman is all about perspective.  One of the biggest messages is that I can face things that are out of my control and not act out of control.  It's also about learning to trust Him and that he might be giving us one challenge to prepare us for another.

During my infertility struggles, I had an epiphany one day.  I had spent so many days crying and asking God why I couldn't be blessed with a child.  Why did I have to struggle so much when I knew that I would be a good mom and knew that we deserved a child?  I begged and pleaded, screamed and cried. Then, it hit me.  If infertility was the cross that I was meant to carry, then that's really not the worst thing to happen to me.  There are people who are fighting to live every single day; people who wake up and don't know if they will have see another day.  I was alive.  I have endometriosis, but it's not killing me.  As bad as things could be for me, infertility wasn't the worst.

I have met so many fantastic women during my infertility struggle.  I think that God gave me the infertility struggle so that I could meet these women and share the journey.  I just couldn't see it in the beginning.

I am really excited to read more of Unglued.  I really think that this book and study is going to be good for me and is going to help me learn how to not be a freak-out woman.

Wonder Weeks

Sleep around here has been few and far between lately.  We have been working on transitioning Annelise to her crib.  And y'all, I think that it's going to be the death of me!

Ever since we brought her home, she has slept at night in the Rock N Play in our bedroom.  Naps were taken in her swing in the living room, with the occasional nap in the RNP.  We started off the transition by first moving her RNP to her bedroom.  That went pretty well, with no major problems.

Then, I decided that I would work on getting her to nap well in her crib.  That had its rough spots, but for the most part, went decently well.  We have developed a routine of swaddling her, turning ocean on her sound machine, and nursing and rocking her to sleep.  Once she is asleep, I lay her in her crib, and she'll nap anywhere from an hour to three.  Not too shabby!

Last week, I decided that it was time to take the leap to putting her in her crib overnight.  Oh. Em. Gee!  Frustration does not even begin to describe what goes on in this house every night.  I managed to get one good night of a six and a half hour stretch.  Usually, we follow the same routine as nap time and I can get her down ok.  However, Annelise will wake up shortly after and start screaming.  I refuse to Cry It Out (CIO), so I usually go in to get her and try to do the routine all over again.  Everything goes fine and dandy until I try to lay her in her crib.  That's when all hell breaks loose.  As soon as I begin the descent into her crib, her little eyes fly open and she starts fussing and trying to sit up.  The other night, I tried putting her into her crib six times before I gave up and made Drew take over.  SIX TIMES!!!  Each time she is sound asleep in my arms.  Naps over the weekend were just as rough.  We eventually gave up with the crib and put her back in her RNP.

I have been wracking my brain to figure out what the heck the problem could be.  Then, all of a sudden, I had an epiphany.  She is going through a Wonder Week.  A wonder week is a leap in mental development.  This, of course, is affecting her mood and sleeping.  Annelise must be in Wonder Week 26, which begins around 23 weeks, peaks at 26 weeks, and lasts for one to five weeks.  Usually new skills can also appear.  In her case, she has been working on mastering sitting.  Annelise just so happened to hit 25 weeks today.

Let's just all pray that this passes quickly.  Mama needs her sleep, and honestly, so does baby!

Fixin'

It's been awhile since I last posted and we have had a lot going on.  More home improvement projects are well under way.

The top picture is the microlam being put into our attic area.  Basically, the roof over our garage was being supported by 3 2x4s.  Major bad news.  It was only a matter of time, or a snowfall, before roof crashed in and created a decent sized disaster.  So, microlams were bought, along with some other lumber, and lots of additional support has been added to our roof.  The guy who inspected our house when we bought it?  Yeah, he needs to find a new job.  He overlooked something major, and had we known about it, we probably would not have bought the house.

The bottom picture is a shipment of goodies for the exterior.  Our front porch has been jacked up to where it should be, and new posts have been installed.  Drew has also removed all the awesome green turf that was on the porch and has stripped the glue off of the concrete.  I'll have to post a picture of the progress soon.

For now, here's a before shot of the front of the house.

Five Months

Dear Annelise,

This is the first month that I feel hasn't flown by in the blink of an eye.  I don't remember it any better than the rest, but it's nice that I feel like I could treasure this time with you a little more.  I really enjoy being able to stay home with you.  I love that I am able to watch you grow and learn and catch all of your new little moments.

You most definitely have said your first word - MOM!  I'm not the only one who has heard it either -   Dad, Grandpa, Aunt Rachel, Grandma - they've all heard it too.  So, I'm not crazy!  Sometimes it comes out like "mom" and sometimes it's just "ma".  You really only say it when you're fussing and you want me.  I don't know if you really understand the connection between the word and me, but I like to think that you do.  You say the word if you want me, like if you're fussing in  your swing, or if someone else is holding you.  You never say it when I am actually holding you or engaging with you.

Earlier this month, you had your first trip to a fair.  I carried you in the Moby wrap and you really seemed to like it.  You loved to be held, and I liked being able to hold you close to me with all of those people around.  Once you started to get tired, I bounced you a little bit and you fell right to sleep.

You really are not a fan of just laying on the ground and playing.  You would much rather be sitting up, able to see things, and play that way.  If I sit you on the floor, I'll place your Boppy behind you and you are able to sit up well that way.  You still need to work on your balance some.  If I sit you on a soft surface, such as the couch or the bed, you can sit for a short length of time without any assistance.  Again, it's really just the balance that you need to work on.  It won't be long before you are a full time sitter.

You upped the shriek volume this month!  You had a period of a week or two where you were quite vocal.  You've backed off some in the past week or so, but you still do get loud at times.  I love to hear you shriek with joy while you're playing.

Lately, your favorite activity when I put you on the changing table and change you, is to grab your feet and suck on your toes.  Seriously, it is so adorable to me!  I have quite a few pictures of you doing it, and I'm sure that there will be many more.

You have gotten so good at grabbing things with your hands.  Everything still goes in your mouth.  New things get inspected for a little bit longer than the things that you already know.  You have gotten very interested in the remote control and my phone.  The other day, we were over at some friend's house playing poker, and I handed you a poker chip to play with.  You did very well with grabbing it!

Maya is so exciting to you.  You just love her to pieces.  I watch your face light up when you notice her around you.  If she comes over, you turn your face towards her and open your mouth for a kiss.  That kind of grosses me out, but you really seem to love it!  We definitely need to work on petting her gently.  So far, you've just grabbed her fur.  Maya is NOT a fan of that!

You are always moving, and I know that this is just the beginning.  You are such a little wiggle worm.  I love when I hold you on my hip and you get excited and start kicking your legs.  You are always craning your neck around to see things.  You are such an observant little thing!

I want to start transitioning you to sleeping in your crib.  Right now, you sleep at night in the Rock N Play in Mom and Dad's room, and you nap in your swing.  I thought that the problem was you sleeping flat on your back instead of cocooned by those different things.  However, that doesn't appear to be the problem because I've nursed you to sleep in the mornings and you've slept for a couple of hours in the big bed.  You have even woken up and fallen back to sleep.  So, now I realize that the problem is the "drop" into the open space of your crib.  I'm still trying to work out a solution to that.

You weigh about 15 pounds, wear 3-6 month clothes, and you are still wearing a size 2 diaper.  We'll probably start transitioning you to 6-9 month clothes and size 3 diapers soon.

I love you more than words can say.  Annelise, I love watching all of the new things that you are learning and seeing the beautiful girl that you are growing into.  I thank God so much for you.  You are truly an answer to so many prayers!

Love you forever,
Mommy

I Used To Be So Smart

Before I got pregnant, and I heard the term "pregnancy brain", I used to scoff at that idea.  "Pfffft, I don't understand how you can forget so many things just because you're pregnant."

Then, it happened.

I was overtaken by "pregnancy brain".  I would forget things so easily, and I would have to write down everything.  I used to be able to have a discussion or argument with someone and be very effective with it.  I was very good at listening to what the person was saying and then responding.  Now?  I can't remember what was said three sentences ago.

And, if pregnancy brain was bad, mommy brain is even worse!  I swear that having a child has sucked every ounce of intelligence out of me.  I used to be so smart, and remember practically everything.  And now, I struggle.  If I don't write down an appointment or plans, they get forgotten quickly.  Conversations?  Usually forgotten within a matter of hours, if not minutes.

It has been difficult for me to accept this new me as normal.  I hate not being able to recall details and conversations like I used to.  I'm learning how to cope with this and make adjustments to make my and my family's life a little easier.

But, for now, I look at my beautiful daughter and know that all my forgetfulness is completely worth it when she smiles and laughs at me.  Those are moments that I will never forget!

Coming Full Circle

Today was a day that I dreamed about for a long time!  Drew and I took Annelise to meet the RE who helped to make her possible.  There were so many days where I cried so many tears because I never thought that we would be blessed with a child.  It was amazing to see Dr. H with Annelise.

He was pretty excited to meet her too.  I just kept thinking how rewarding that must be for him.

It truly is such a dream to see everything come full circle.

Construction Zone

We have had a busy two weeks of destruction and repairs around our house.  Early last week, I went with my father-in-law, Mark, and his friend, Jim, to pick out some new doors for our house, and some stuff for the bathroom.  The shower in our full bathroom upstairs has leaked practically since the day we signed the mortgage on the house.  Drew has tried on multiple occasions to fix it, without ever fixing it.  The leaking had finally gotten so bad that mold was starting to show on the wall just outside the shower, and there was water on the floor in the basement.  I knew that we couldn't put off repairing it any longer.  I was dragging my feet on it because I knew that the tile in the shower would have to come off and the drywall would have to be repaired.  Ugh!

So, Jim and Mark cut holes in the wall, fixed the plumbing, installed a new shower fixture, fixed the wall, and re-tiled the shower.  Only to find that the tub drain was leaking!  Awesome!  So, Jim fixed that also, and now, we have no more leaks in our bathroom.  The wall needs to be repainted, and some caulk put around the tile and then I can clean up that mess and have my bathroom back.  Oh, and the new shower fixture?  Might as well be heaven!

The shower head is simply divine!  I love all the water that comes out.

Then, Jim and Mark replaced a bunch of doors.  The service door in the garage was a simple wood door.  Who puts a wood door on as a service door??  We replaced that with a simple white steel one.  They also replaced the window in the garage.

The screen door that was on the front door got moved to the deck door off of our dining room.  The front door got a new screen door.  I really wanted one where the glass went all the way to the ground.

Maya really likes to look out the window and she loves being able to see out of this one without jumping up.  Leo likes it too!

Our basement patio got some new doors too.

Both doors open up like French doors and the blinds are inside the panes of glass.

Then, all the boys decided that they need to tear up some stuff and the demolished our old, dilapidated shed in the backyard.

It definitely had . . . um . . . character.  I'm sure that it was quite cute at one point of its life.  Its life came to an end though, and Drew ran into it with a tractor.

Now all that's back there is a big blank spot.  It's so weird to look out of my kitchen window and not see that big pile of crap back there.  We don't have any plans to replace it at the moment.

Next on the list is repairing and siding our house.  I feel like I'm hemorrhaging money over home repairs right now.  It's all worth it in the end, right??

Have you done any home repairs or improvements this summer?

Boone County Fair

Drew was so upset with me last year because we didn't go to a single county fair.  I was just beginning my pregnancy and morning all day sickness was plaguing me something fierce.  I had absolutely no desire to walk about and smell all of the smells and watch all of the people eat fair food.  No thank you!

I promised him that we would make up for it this year, and we sure did!

We went to the Boone County Fair today.  Drew's parents and my brother, Greg, also came with us.  The first thing we did when we got there was make a beeline for some food.  I mean, how do you go the fair and not get fair food?  I had a pork chop sandwich and everybody else had other stuff.  I'm not too sure what, I was too involved in my sandwich!

After we finished eating, Annelise was starting to get a little fussy in her stroller, so I decided to test out the Moby wrap.  I've put her in it a few times quickly at home, but never while we were out somewhere.  I figured it was worth a try to see how she did.

She loved it!!  She did so great in it and I was so surprised.  I really enjoyed having her close to me without having all that strain on my arms of holding her.  Once she started getting fussy and tired, I bounced her a little bit and she napped right on me!  She slept for an hour or two while we walked around and looked at everything.

She woke up hungry, so we all sat on some benches and I nursed her.  I decided that I was going to nurse her without my cover.  It's not fair to her to make her nurse underneath that cover when it's warm out.  It actually felt very empowering to nurse in public like that.  I feel like I'm doing my part to normalize something that is so natural.

We all sat around and rested for a little bit longer before deciding to get a few fair treats.  You know, you can't NOT get an elephant ear or kettle corn.  After that, we all left.

The Winnebago County Fair is next weekend and I'm looking forward to going to that.  Annelise did so well in the Moby that I think we might purchase an Ergo this week to try out.

GMG Week 13 Recap

Scripture passages for the week:

Proverbs 31 : 31 - Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.
Proverbs 14 : 23 - All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.
Proverbs 27 : 18 - The one who guards a fig tree will eat its fruit, and whoever protects their master will be honored.
Acts 13 : 22 - After removing Saul, he made David their king.  God testified concerning him: 'I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.'
Proverbs 27 : 2 - Let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth; an outsider, and not your own lips.

This is the last week of Scripture passages to read and I really feel like I've learned a lot.  I have, by no means, become the Proverbs 31 woman, and I honestly don't know if I ever will.  But, this study has given me something to strive for.  This woman is impeccable.  She rises early, goes to bed late, sees over the affairs of her household, does not eat the bread of idleness, and is called blessed by her children and praised by her husband.  She is definitely worth far more than rubies.

I have so enjoyed learning about this woman.  This study has come at a great time for me as I learn how to navigate the new role of motherhood and work on reclaiming my role as a wife.

GMG Week 12 Recap

Scripture passages for the week:

Proverbs 31 : 30 - Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
1 Peter 3 : 3-4 - Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes.  Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of grab worth in God's sight.
2 Corinthians 4 : 16 - Therefore we do not lose heart.  Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
1 Timothy 2 : 9-10 - I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.
Proverbs 15 : 33 - Wisdom's instruction is to fear the Lord, and humility comes before honor.
Proverbs 22 : 4 - Humility is the fear of the Lord; its wages are riches and honor and life.

This week talked a lot about having modestly and not focusing too much on outer beauty, but to have a heart that is full of love for God.

Four Months

Dear Annelise,

Gosh girlie, it really does seem to me like you should be so much older than what you are.  I have watched you just explode into this happy, smiley, shrieking, beautiful baby.  I honestly can't believe how much you have done this past month.  I feel like these next couple of months are sort of the "honeymoon" stage for us.  We're past all the newborn stuff, and we hopefully have a little bit longer before we throw teething pains into the mix.

You had your first big milestone this month, and you rolled from your tummy to your back!  The first time you did it to the left and then you rolled to the right a few times.  You even showed Daddy when he came home that night, which made me happy because I don't want him to miss out on too many of your milestones.  You rolled for two days in a row, and since then you've been on a rolling strike.  You almost don't even act interested in it anymore.  You most certainly do not act interested at all in rolling from your back to your belly.  I think that you'll start to like it more once you realize that all of those things mean that you can be more mobile.  You are so content to sit up and watch everything though.  You do not like to be left alone and would much prefer for me to carry you around so that you can check everything out.

Since you have such fabulous head control, I decided to set up your jumperoo.  You absolutely love it!!  From the first day that I put you in it, you have loved to play with the pieces that slide around and push the music buttons.  Sometimes, you even look like you are dancing to the music.  You have grown big enough that your feet reach the floor and you are starting to get the hang of bouncing in it.  You will typically be entertained in there for anywhere from half an hour to an hour.  Once you're done, you're done, and you let me know it too!  I love that I can put you in there and have two free hands, but I still have to watch you closely because Maya loves to get in your face and cover you in kisses.  As much as I tell her, "one kiss", she still doesn't get it.

You have gotten much more interested in Maya this month.  You like to watch her and, if you're playing on the floor, you will hold your hands out to her.  If Maya comes over and starts to sniff and lick you, you start laughing!  You were petting her the other day and did a pretty good job of it.  We just have to be careful that you don't pull her fur.  We also have to be very careful if you're on the floor because Maya doesn't understand the concept of a "personal bubble".  She has a tendency to just flop her paws around wherever she likes, and I get worried that she's going to clobber you pretty good with it one day.  So, for now, if you're on the floor, I am right next to you at all times.

Mommy and Daddy, especially Daddy, will sometimes sing to you to get you to fall asleep.  You have started to "sing" to yourself when you are trying to fall asleep.  It's this adorable little whine and it absolutely melts my heart.  I couldn't believe it the first time that I heard it.  We were riding in the car and you started to "sing" to yourself and you were asleep within a matter of minutes.  You are so precious.

 
You discovered your feet and you love to grab them now.  It doesn't matter if they are bare, or in footie pajamas, you are constantly grabbing them.  You have started bringing them to your mouth, as with everything else.

E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G goes straight into your mouth.  Your hands, my hands, your toys, your burpies, my nose if you're close enough, everything goes immediately into your mouth.  And let me tell you, when you grab my finger and shove it to the side of your mouth and start chomping, it hurts!  You've got quite the little bite chick!  We'll definitely have to break you of that habit once you get some teeth in that mouth.

I started making this "aaagghhh" sort of monster sound to you to make you laugh, and you recently started making the same sound.  It's so fun to watch you learn something and mimic it back.

 
You just got your first nasty cold and you're working on getting over it.  You were so congested and had a wet cough.  It seems to be breaking up and you don't seem as congested anymore.  I was surprised at how happy you were.  You had your fussy moments, but you still laughed and played.  I hated seeing you sick though.  I just wanted to make you better!

You are growing so well!  You weigh 13 pounds 15 ounces, and you are 24 inches tall.  You wear a size 2 diaper and we are starting to transition you to 3-6 month clothing.

I can't wait to see what this next month has in store for us.  I feel like you are going to start becoming more mobile and maybe even sit up on your own.  I love you with all of my heart.  Watching you grow and learn is such a joy to me.  I love being your mother!

Love you always,
Mommy