Because I'm a Kung-Fu Fighter

As I have talked about before, part of my job includes traveling onto a Military base. I do it every week and am used to the game of explaining to the gate guards why I am there, they will then send me through vehicle inspection, more questions, and then scan my info

Well today... I drove upto the (rent-a-cop) gate guard, handed him my license and explained my reason for entering the base...Sometimes the guards will just say "O.K. enjoy your day" and let me proceed through...Nope not today... He motioned for me to drive around through vehicle inspection, so I did.

I pulled up, they said I looked familiar, (im sure I did, I usually bring them baked goods, or coffee on my way onto the base THANK YOU U.S. MILITARY FOR YOUR DEDICATION TO OUR COUNTRY) handed over my info, and as usual opened all of my doors, my hood, and trunk. On any given day they would just walk around and say ok looks good...

NOT TODAY

I was standing in the BITTER cold waiting while they did their walk around..  all of the sudden I see them call for another guard with dogs... are ya freakin' kiddin' me with this. One of the men then asked me what plans I had for the "Clubs" in my backseat... What the H....


Then I remembered due to my husbands injury and the amount of time he will be off, he had to turn in his patrol car... and he cleaned out some of his police "tools" and some went in my car but didnt make it in the house.... and by some I mean the "clubs".... or really batons...If those rent-a-cops knew anything.. he would have known they were called batons and not clubs..
I started thinking up all of the things I should have said regarding my "plans"...for this..."club"..
"I earned it at my graduation for becoming a Kung-fu Fighter"
"Try breaking into my car I will show you what my PLAN is"
"Child discipline methods"
.....
The list could have went on and on... Because we all know sarcasm is my second language...

But I realized this is his job, and well... his dogs looked mean.. real mean...


 So, I quickly explained to him my husband is police officer and he put some of his stuff in my car.. his baton, traffic control light stick, combat type boots, and come court papers.... apparently I look like a liar because they asked for more proof to my story.... Really people.. really... shouldnt you be looking for middle age men with extreme amounts of facial hair and a a head wrap.... not a girl.. with a coach bag, and a chicco carseat base in the backseat. But no... he needed more then my explanation... 

Thank goodness I had a copy of my husbands police I.D. in my wallet which I showed him,  then he said I would need to put all of my "weapons" in the trunk of my car... First of all... its not illegal to carry a wooden baton in my car...I could understand if I would have had his glock, and handcuffs in the glovebox.. but seriously that stick is is few toothpicks away from being a baseball bat.But whatever I put them in the trunk, and shut it, got in my car... and was about to head off.. when another guard approached my (battleship) vehicle.. pointed to the crack in my windshield and asked "what happened"...  I thought to myself..."Why?... are you concerned if the glass gives way I could use the shards as a shank?????" ....I really was not in the mood... so I smiled and replied... "hmmmm looks to me like it's cracked", gave him a quick wink.. and got the heck out of their.

I mean come on.... do I really look Dangerous.... or do they just have NOTHING to do with their time, we were literally out in the 20 degree weather.. discussing the uses of a Louisville slugger.. I was freezing.
Honestly, I kind of feel bad for them.. because....well, there not even real cops... more like glorified security guards.

(my apologies to anyone reading this who is a "gate guard" or related to one.... I am very thankful to all of our service men/women.... but these guys.. well they sorta got on my last nerve)

Add that to the menu

We added prunes into the mix

Not because we wanted to, but because we HAD to if you know what I mean.

She did great with them, at first she made the ewww yucky poo face, but then she decided they were not that bad....
in fact she loved them, I couldnt get them in her mouth fast enough.

And well,,,, Im sure you were wondering.... YES they did do the job!

There is no time

So I just realized that I have 8 pending blog awards..... they all have rules, and participation regulations... there is just no time... not with a baby to run around after and a husband about to go under the knife, and trying to get everything that needs to be done before he goes........

So THANK YOU VERY MUCH to everyone who has passed awards along to me... But theres no way I will get to them anytime soon....

Bullets

Because my brain only works in bullet style right now

• Found out my husbands injury is worse then we thought, he will be scheduling surgery soon, and most likely off of work until Easter
• Sleep Training is going really well
• We had a huge winter storm blow through here and took out our power for a whole day... the temp in the house was dropping, I had a load of boobie juice in the freezer and two full batched of homeade baby food, so we house hopped trying to et heat.. it was no fun with a 5 month old, but we did it.
• watched how I met your mother, drank a beer(woodchuck) and went to bed at 8pm last night.. dont judge
• listed a ton of stuff on ebay today... hope I get lots of bids.

A little twist

Since I am unable to consume any dairy at the moment, and my husband does not like true gravy.. I decided to put a twist on a classic recipe.

Beef Cubes

Egg Noodles

teriyaki sauce

1/4 C. water

2 Tbsp flour

1/2 C Beef broth

2 Tbsp diced onions.

Cook beef cubes until they are they way you prefer, we like medium rare. Mix flour into water until there are no chunks, pour broth over beef, and mix in flour/water mix stir over medium heat, mix in teriyaki, and onions.. the sauce will begin to thicken. Cool for a few minutes then pour over egg noodles.

I served this with sauted green beans mixed with a dash of teriyaki sauce, lemon & pepper, and EVOO.

Im back to being a Nurse again...

For my husband that is....thank goodness Im not going back to real work... however, Im sure you have heard of the MAN COLD... well the "MAN INJURIES" are much worse....

I shouldn't complain though, instead I should be thankful, that my husbands injury was not more serious...especially considering it was a line of duty injury.

Let me back the truck up just a bit.... Since my husband was about 16 he has had 5 Major knee surgeries. He has torn his ACL,  Meniscus, and had a partial knee replacement. I have been around for the past two... one of which, while under the knife the doctors decided that couldnt fix things like they had planned so they decided to drill a series of 80-100 pin holes into his bone to let the marrow leak out thus creating new cartilage. That landed him flat on his back for 8 weeks... NON weight bearing for almost 10...

Back to present day...

My husband as most of you know is a midnight police officer. He works a pretty rough neighborhood, however I know he is very well trained and has some great side partners to back him up... But I still worry... who wouldnt right????

Two nights ago I woke up to a txt saying he would be late coming home in the morning (we have a deal.. in this line of work.. if you dont plan to walk in the door at normal time... there better be a txt, or I end up thinking every sorta crazy thought in the book)... So I didnt worry much usually that means that he had a late lock up, or tased someone.. so there is alot of paper work.

We he did come home I could tell by the way he was walking an the look on his face he was hurt... I asked him what happened? Long story short:

He was trying to put a guy in cuffs the guy was resisting and thought he would outsmart the officers by pulling his hands into his chest and laying down on the ground (like nobody ever tried that before).. well my husband stood over him to grab one arm out to bring it behind his back to be cuffed, and the guy quickly grabbed my husbands knee (with the previous history) and pulled him down using all of his weight, with my husband buckling on top of it.

So the past few as well as the next few day have been & are filled with doctors appointments, MRI's, evals, and paperwork. Poor guy, he still hasnt closed out his workmans comp case from his previous line of duty injury in which he tore his tricep. 

He goes to see the orthopedic specialist on thursday and I am praying they will not need to do surgery, as I could not handle him not being able to walk for 6 weeks, with a 5 month old baby at home.. not to mention when he is out on injury he only recieves base pay....not the usual 25 hours a paycheck of OT... its gonna be TIGHT... 

They think he most likely did cartilage damage... so now Im back to being a nurse again... without the fancy paycheck... and ortho is not my specialty.... but I do have one of the best looking patients around. 

Free..... Baby Slings!!!!!

www.sevenslings.com is running a promotion where you can 100% off any of their baby slings. How exciting is that!!!!!! Some people think this offer is to good to be true, however I redeemed a promo code like this to both sevenslings, and their sister company udder covers... for a nursing cover and it turned out great.

Just use promo code "BABIES"

Go to www.sevenslings.com, make sure you check out the sizing chart, then click on "Shop Now", choose the baby sling you would like to add  to your cart.. below the area where you enter your billing and shipping information is a box to enter the code "babies"! Type in "babies" and it will bring your product total to $0!

This promo code gives you 1 baby sling for $0 + S&H with the option of 1 gift set for $5 + S&H instead! 

These slings are great for newborn through 12 months, and will also make great baby shower gifts. The Gift sets come with a pair of baby legs!!!!!

Silent Sunday

Tellin' Secrets

Before I was a MOM

Before I was a Mom,

I never tripped over toys

or forgot words to a lullaby.

I didn't worry whether or not

my plants were poisonous.

I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom

I had never been puked on

Pooped on.

Chewed on.

Peed on.

I had complete control of my mind

and my thoughts.

I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom

I never held down a screaming child

so doctors could do tests.

Or give shots.

I never looked into teary eyes and cried.

I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.

I never sat up late hours at night

watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom

I never held a sleeping baby just because

I didn't want to put him down.

I never felt my heart break into a million pieces

when I couldn't stop the hurt.

I never knew something so small

could affect my life so much.

I never knew I could love someone so much.

Before I was a Mom

I didn't know the feeling of

having my heart outside my body.

I didn't know how special it could feel

to feed a hungry baby.

I didn't know that bond

between a mother and her child.

I didn't know that something so small

could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom,

I had never gotten up in the middle of the night

every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.

I had never known the warmth,

the joy,

the ache,

the heartache,

the wonderment

or satisfaction of being a Mom.

I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much,

Before I was a Mom...

-Author unknown

less then 24 hours...

Thats how quick my diapers.com order came in.. no seriously it did. I placed my order on tuesday around 2:30, and it was on my doorstep at 8:30a on wednesday... How amazing is that? I dont know about you but.. now having a baby I HATE packing up and heading to 30 different stores to get what I need.. not to mention then I have all the bags, and the cart, and then getting the stuff in my house.. NOPE not anymore..

Now I just order from the comfort of my couch... while watching real housewives. As if that wasnt enough reason to start ordering from Diapers.com heres a few more.. How about the fact that there is free delivery??? thats right if you spend $49 or more (like thats hard to do??) then your order ships free... nextday... however a friend (AP.. who also has a savings code you can use) shared a secret with me.... and now I will share it with you... if you purchase something from soap.com their sister company.. then your order ships free at $25....even if its only chapstick....I also just found out that i can mail them my coupons and they will credit my account... They also offer CASH BACK... thats right people you heard me right CASH BACK.. on your diaper purchases.. and.... if you use the code below (as well as on my sidebar) then you will get 15% off your first order...

give it a try even if it's just for the 15% off.. that your doing it.. try it out... I think Im hooked.... between that and ordering my groceries from peapod I may never have to leave the house again... Im kidding.. no really I am.

Use my Mrs.stethoscope... discount code below today.. and have your order tomorrow..

MRSS0149

(or click on the link on my sidebar)

Mommy thoughts...

I'm making my first HOMEMADE batch of babyfood

If your child has not pooped for a day or so... when they do.. watchout...I learned this today.

no matter how many times you ask your crazy neighbor (who's house and your house share a wall)...if they could keep it down just a bit.... they will still wake your baby

EVERY.SINGLE.NIGHT. about an hour after she falls asleep. Seriously?!?!

I think it gross when strangers try to touch my child... or when "crazy lady" in chickfila asked if she could hold her... ummmm... how many ways can I say this.. NO!!!!

Why in the world doesnt the baby monitor have enough battery life to make it through the night?

My incredible husband who other then him sleeping in the spare bedroom of my

house (no he's not sleeping in there cuz he's in the doghouse or anything, he would sleep in our bedroom but her sleeps during the day since he works at night, then I wouldnt be able to go in our bedroom)I have not seen in a week.. left me momma & baby roses on the kitchen table to wake up to.

as sweet as it is... the days following my mother babysitting E, she expects me to rock her

to sleep for her naps like gammy did all day... and well.. I dont do that.. hence the sleep training/learning how to fall asleep on your own bit.

I ordered Valentines day cards with pics of my sweet girl on them.

Sweetpea is going to be one of 100 babies to be professionally photographed to be in a "angel baby" calendar sold worldwide!!!!!

Even though I do really miss my husband since I dont see him that much... since I sleep by myself in our bed for 6 nights straight then he comes home for 3, then gone

again for 6 (you get the picture) I have a hard time falling asleep when he is there cuz Im not used to it... sharing the bed that is... I kinda feel a little cramped... 'Just sayin ~love ya babe

Recently found a new "favorite Cheap wine".. Funf 5 Reisling... love it.. and at $6/bottle I can love it alittle more often.

Just bought baby sweetpea a "baby's 1st valentines day outfit".. complete with a pink tutu!

I feel like I may be saying these words shortly " Hi my name is Mrs. Stethoscope, and I have takinphotosofmychild addiction"... just as soon as I find a "meeting" to go to.. hey they say admitting it is the first step right?

Speaking of photos....

19 weeks

It's gonna be alright

It's crazy to think where we have come in such a short time... I think back to the first 2-3 weeks home from the hospital...AHHHH... There was very little sleep, accompanied by this new baby that just wanted to have boobie time all day I had no idea what to do with.. she screamed all the time, was always projectile vomiting, and very gassy ( we later found out that she suffered with GERD). Theres a ton of emotions going up and down, paired with hormones that are sooo out of whack, its a wonder they don't have some kind of social worker from a mental institute come to your house to make sure your ready to re-enter the world without putting anybody's life in jeopardy. Its a good thing you don't remember much of those first few days or theres a possibility the population would end.

I had a horrible time with nursing, starting in the hospital as my very first Lactation consultant was a total moron not well educated and im pretty sure she never even breastfed her own child. That first night was a total FAIL.. I was in so much pain, they took my baby out for some testing and I thought to myself "O my gosh this is nothing like I thought it would be, its so painful, maybe they will just give her a bottle while she is there and she will like it so much I will just have to give up nursing".. who was I kidding. A few hours earlier I had fallen asleep from exhaustion (after 38 hrs of labor) while nursing and well she wasnt really latched right, just kinda wanted to suck, and I got awarded with what pretty much looked like a giant hickey on my right breast. They wheeled her back and the nurse said " I think she's pretty hungry why dont you feed her." Seriously?!?!,... I thought to myself.. I would rather slide down a razor and into a pool of alchohol then put that baby on my boob again. I was ready to ask for the formula... but then I remember my good friend Amanda telling me " Listen girl, in the beginning that shit hurts, but push past the first two weeks of hell and you will be so thankful you did".... (and she was right) .I had mastitis, engorgement that would make Pamela Anderson jealous, it was so bad I now look like a roadmap (sexy huh?), and 2 clogged ducts. I had to nurse with a breast shield and was convinced I would never be able to do it without one, as the pain was horrendous. I remember friends coming over telling me just hang in there eventually you will nurse pain free and enjoy it. I thought..No way, there is no way in hell I will ever enjoy this, have you tried it????? Well we are now at about 20 weeks postpartum.. and they were right... there is no pain, and I actually do enjoy it.. so much so that I have decided to nurse until 10-12 months instead of my original plan of 6. I have become very passionate about nursing, and am the first one to recommend it to a new mom, and am getting pretty good at nursing in public.... with a nursing cover people.. come on this isnt National Geographic

Having a baby with severe reflux is hard, but having a first baby with reflux... well I think that pretty much makes you a saint or at least allows you to have a few extra drinks. Just so you understand some of the struggles with a reflux baby let me explain some of the hurdles we have overcome. We found out that Em has reflux right around the 4 week mark, she was projectile vomiting at least three feedings... I'm telling you if the girl ate 2oz somehow 4 would come up. She would scream violently when she spit up, or burped, and you could hear the acid in her throat.. it sounded like opening a bottle of soda. The acid was coming up so often that it was burning the esophageal lining and creating nose bleeds. The pediatrician said she sees alot of infants with this condition and it is most likely caused by an immature digestive system and an overactive production of pepcid (stomach acid). She gave us a script for Zantac, we gave it to her and that night I went to change her after feeding her and she vomited all of the feeding and there was blood. Let me tell you something.... if there is ever a moment in a first time moms life when you literaly freak out and think What the #%@& is that... its then. it was later confirmed the bleeding was caused by the zantac so we tried prilosec, and prevacid, along with gripe water, mylicon, and gaviscon (liquid version of tums).

This was a VERY hard time for us, with lots of tears. It was difficult to watch your baby in pain all the time, crying every time she eats. I can truly say there were many nights when I would begin sobbing telling my husband "I cannot do this anymore". Until you have tried to nurse a baby who has uncontrolled reflux and is crying because her little belly is hungry, while turning her head and refusing the breast or a bottle because she knows that it will burn her throat, you just cant understand the pain that causes a mom. We have actually traveled down that road many times. Reflux for us has been like a roller coaster some days are great, and others.. well its only by the grace of God that we made it through them. There were days we spent in the ER because she went to many hours without drinking, I have learned all the tricks in the book for getting a reflux baby to eat... Sometimes we turn on the vaccume, I nurse her standing up, with her body on an angle kind of dangling, while I rock back and forth, I have to trick her into eating sometimes.. giving her her nuk first and then popping it out and replacing it with a boob. I have nursed her while she is sleeping, or in the bathroom with the water running... if you cant get your baby to eat I'm sure I can come up with a solution to get him/her to nurse. Theres some days where all she would drink was pedialyte, just so she would stay hydrated. I have fed her milk with a spoon, from a cup, a medicine dropper, a syringe, and about a bazillion different kind of bottles. It was around 3.5 months that it really peaked and we made about 3 emergency trips in one week due to dehydration. I have spent hours up at night praying for God to take the pain away so she could sleep peacefully.

Because of reflux we also deal with alot of ear infections.. three so far in a four and a half month old.. holy jeez... I'm getting pretty good at realizing the symptoms of an ear infection, and after many sleepless nights with a screaming helpless baby we are thinking about tubes, or jack daniels, or something!!!!

Then there is the time we dealt with foremilk/hindmilk imbalance. Basically I was making too much milk after an engorgement episode and Baby E was not getting enough of the fatty hindmilk just filling up on the watery foremilk that is high in lactose content and it was causing inflamation in her bowels... fussy, gassy, uncomfortable... I met with a LC and was instructed to block feed, which took care of it...that and some mylicon.... o yea and a bottle of Reisling.

It was shortly after the milk imbalance that we found out that E has a milk protein allergy. That was a fun time... you would think after working in nursing, and previously seeing the bloody vomit I wouldnt freak out as much right???... WRONG... While changing her diaper (hmm all the bad things happen while changing a diaper.. maybe I should just stop doing that :-) ) I noticed it was blood streaked, again flipped out, called the pediatrician. Who said if it keeps happening bring her in. Thankfully it was bright red, as I knew that if it was dark coffee grind-ish that meant it had been digested which would have been worse. Well the doctor confirmed it was MP allergy and I had to cut all diary out of my diet.. for real... do you realize how many things milk is in.. bread, cookies, even chips are dipped in it before the flavoring.

Sweetpea is now about 4.5 months old and we have come along way in these few short months. I know so much more now, and have become so much more relaxed then I was at first. I used to be in tears, sweaty, and panicking when she would be going through a nursing strike, and now I just pump, and maybe she will drink it later maybe she wont, and we just get out the pedialyte... now that she can eat solids it makes it a little easier if ever she would not nurse at all. I have learned that she has terrible reactions to shots... so much so that we have taken her off of the CDC recommended schedule and she gets one shot at a time, and when she doesn't handle it well I dont get uptight anymore, I give her tylenol every four hours, and as many baths (the girl loves her baths) as I can in a day to soothe her.

I now understand more then ever what my mother meant when she would tell me as a child, "I wish I could take the ______ (ear infection, virus, etc) for you and you wouldn't have to go through it"... There is nothing worse then watching your child in pain and knowing there is nothing left for you to do they are in the hands of God now, and only he can relieve the pain.

But we made it, and everybody was right ... once you hit the 4 month mark, it all feels easier. While it may never be "EASY"... I cannot believe how much easier it has become. I feel like now I can enjoy all of this. Yes there is a part of me that wishes the early baby days were more enjoyable, and I had fonder memories of them, but life didnt deal me that hand... However it could have been worse.. my baby never spent time in the NICU, she wasn't born with life threatening abnormalities, and while she did deal with' failure to thrive' for a bit she didnt fail and she is thriving.

So while im sure there are going to be hard days ahead as a parent, I have these times to look back on and think.... He brought us through that, and he will bring us through this....

"It's gonna be alright"

Here we go again..

All these nights, that just seem to be getting worse the ones with no sleep.. and a screaming baby are hopefully coming to an end. This morning my girl got up after another rough nite and was not acting herself at all. I tried to feed her and she wouldnt eat however she was acting hungry. With all that we have dealt with regarding her reflux.. not eating is something I am very familiar with.. so I tried all the tricks that I know of and nothing was working.. I started to put my mommy knowledge and nursing knowledge together and thought I better make a pedi appt and see is she has an ear infection,...

Well, I did and she does.......a DOUBLE.

I knew it.. two days ago the thought crossed me mind and I should have taken her then but she was acting much differently then the last ear infection she had. Most likely because she is older now.

Im sure your wondering why she has had so many ear infections especially since she does not go to daycare and is breastfed... well thats just another perk of having a reflux baby... they are prone to ear infections.. which is why we may be looking into tubes.

Im starting her on ABX today along with ear drops and tylenol every 4 hours.. praying that tonight is different and tomorrow is better.

Tylenol PM for babies???

While the title of this post may be just a little mommy humor... don't think last night I didn't think about, when I was up ALL. NIGHT. LONG... again.

My child had the same kinda night as the one before, with the horrible gas pains.... thankfully it I think its over, or was over as of around 4am, when she finally went to sleep peacefully.

Everytime I would get back in my bed, I would hear it.. that sound that no mommy wants to hear over the monitor... the scream, the one that means "Something is not right".. I would jump out of bed and get to her room, just to find her arching her back and thrashing again. Seriously though by the time morning was coming, there was no more jumping out of bed, it was more of a fall out of bed crawl across the floor movement.

At one point I actually woke up next to her crib on the floor (dont worry she was in her crib)... I guess I knew I would be back in there shortly why not gave a few more seconds of rest.

So as I was rocking her around 0'dark thirty I wondered why they dont just make infant tylenol PM, then I thought to myself... well its just acetaminophen and Diphenhydramine.. I know we have infant tylenol and benadryl..... I kid, I kid.

SO of course, after having barely any sleep last night, now that the house is quite and the baby sleeping.. here I am typing away... when I should be sleeping too...

Of course wondering/hoping/praying... that tonight, could possibly go a little bit better...

Winner Winner chicken dinner

While it was a very small giveaway....

that didnt go exactly as planned

there is still a winner...

SUSIE!!!!!!!

Susie... email me your address!

O but they are sooo not sweet.

Whats not sweet you ask? I would love to tell you, however its because of those sweet things that I am half asleep at 2:30 in the afternoon typing this... half asleep because I was up all night.. because of those SWEET things.

I decided to start E on "some" solids, just a few since the milkies are just not keeping up with the demand. Well of course we followed the AAP's recommendations for starting with rice cereal... and well that didnt last long she just spit it back at me... Why did I ever teach her how to do raspberries???? They were really cute until we added the food to it. Im sure when I was showing off her new (trick) to friends they were thinking "haha... just wait till your wearing those raspberries" while smiling and saying just how cute it was.

I read that there is no real research that shows starting with a grain is any better/worse then starting with a fruit or veggie, so we opted for them .... those flippin' SWEET taters...

Of course my darling girl thought they were great and ate them like a champ, and at the time we were both thinking.. sure these things are pretty sweet...

That is of course until sometime around 0'dark thirty.. when I was making my hmm maybe 23rd trip to her room after hearing her screaming out of nowhere over the baby monitor.

Once I got to her room I could tell that something was wrong, she was tossing and turning, arching her back, and SCREAMING

I tried everything, rocking, bouncing, nursing, singing... NOTHING seemed to work...She would finally fall asleep and I would put her in her crib and about 20 minutes later... more screaming.

She was pulling her legs up into her tummy.. So I figured she was gassy.. I massaged her tummy, bicycled her legs, prayed for her, put her back to sleep... only to do it all over again in another half hour, ... of course while cursing those stinkin' evil spuds.

The night seemed to go on forever.. and I started to wonder how on earth I ever pulled "all nighters" in college....seriously??? I should have bottled the energy I had then and stored it away to be used now.

Today seems to be a little bit better.. I of course started googling (since we all know google NEVER lies) my SP concern... and what would I find.. A bunch of mommies saying the same thing... screaming at night, gassy, thrashing.

Of course I know it wasn't my fault however I still get that nasty.."I'm a bad mom" feeling in the pit of my stomach....especially since the first 5 times she was crying in bed I checked on her and let her cry it out {gasp} I know I know.. at that point I thought she just didn't want to be in her bed.

Lesson learned..... those who claim to sweet, may not always be what they seemed.

A chocolate giveaway!!!!

Today is the last day to enter my giveaway

go HERE

Silent Sunday

Its a giveaway!!!!!!!!

I Was given a few of these for Christmas but since I cannot enjoy them.. due to my high maintenance baby who has a milk protein allergy.. I thought it would be fun to have a fun giveaway.

1 8.5 oz bag of

Lindt

Lindor Truffles

(assorted chocolates)

How to enter...

1-Mandatory entry.. be a public follower of this blog & come up with a fun caption for the photo of sweetpea below (2 entries)

2-Grab my button for your blog (2 entries)

3-Post about this giveaway on your blog (2 entries)

*Please leave a comment for each thing you do along with your email address..

Winner will be chosen 1/12 using random.org

(Taken the first time in her "big girl chair")

I'm sooo thankful

This year I have decided to start incorporating the everyday little things that I am thankful for. I will begin to appreciate what I have more, the more I am thankful.. I think it will also teach me to want less once I see how much I truly do have.

I got this idea from a friends blog.. she is going to post things she is thankful for everyday and see how long it takes her to reach 1,000 check out her blog here

Today I am thankful for:

My husband... who is in the other room sleeping.. not because he likes a saturday afternoon nap but because he is a police officer who works nightshift...and has to give up his days to gain back the sleep so that I can stay home with our beautiful daughter.

CSN stores Jumperoo review

Recently I was given the chance to review the Fisher Price Rainforest Jumperoo purchased at CSNstores.com. I was very excited when the package arrived, Sweetpea was taking a nap so I opened it up and began assembling the activity center. It went together very quickly, without really needing to look at the instructions. Once the little princess woke up from her nap I put her in it, she was a bit shocked at first, but then seemed to warm up to it. It is like the old "johnny jumpers" but with a new safer twist.

It is much like an exersaucer but suspended from metal support rods, and trampoline like springs so baby can bounce up and down by pushing off the ground. The seat spins a full 360 so baby can play with all of the many activities including rattles, a teether, lights, and most importantly... noise. Thats right... every bounce activates the sound and lights which help baby interact and keep her attention... (so mommy can have a little break!)

The jumperoo is adjustable so it will grow with baby sweetpea!!!!!! We love it so far, and Im sure it will get alot of use.

Fisher-price Jumperoo

Currently it is on sale for $83.27.. and even comes with free shipping!

These are my honest opinions regarding the above mentioned product, I received no payment for what I wrote on this

blog.. I did however receive a gift certificate worth $35 off of the final sale price

for reviewing this product

growing...

We went to the pediatrician today for sweetpea's 4 month check. She did great!!! She sure is growing...

Weight 14 pounds 12 ounces

Height 24 3/4 inches

which puts her right around the 75th percentile

We discussed alot of things including:

Q- Since her reflux is diminishing so much how much longer should she stay on her meds?

A-Pedi recommends that she stay on the meds for one more month at which time if she has not had any more problems then we can begin to taper it off.

we also talked about nap schedules, introducing solids, water baby classes, and vaccine schedules.

boooo

Today my sweet girl has a 4 month pediatrician appointment

that will include a shot.. booooo

I will post her updated stats when we find them out

It was a party....

Recently I planned (along with some family members) a baby shower for our pastors wife, who will be having her third baby next week. I know it may sound strange to have a party for a third baby which is why I titled it a "diaper party"... basically the guests bring gifts that are just the necessities or disposables needed for baby, diapers, wipes, milk storage bags, etc.

The party turned out great, and it really was a suprise!!!!!!!!!!

The above diaper cake made by family members

"welcome baby SILAS"

Momma opening her gifts

4 Months

(pictured here with her uncle K)

My Baby Girl is 4 Months!

How does it go by so fast? I'm guessing it will never slow down. My sweet little girl has turned 4 months old. She has turned into a very happy baby.. her reflux has really seemed to diminish and she is doing better so long as I consume NOTHING with dairy including no casein, or lactose. She is currently in baby boot camp sleep training.... and is doing so well with just being laid in her crib still awake and going to sleep on her own, at night she still falls asleep nursing but for the nights that she doesnt she is doing great at not being rocked to sleep anymore.

I have started her on a nap schedule as well one around 9:45, another at 1:30 and a cat nap around 4:30. She then goes to sleep around 7p and wakes once around 3a to eat and then goes back to sleep until 8ish. She wakes up every morning with a huge smile on her face, and stays pretty happy until she starts to get tired.

She has been a drooling mess but still no sign of teeth. She loves when we read books, sing songs, and dance together in the living room...... But nothing makes her as happy as being with her daddy. She is truly a daddies girl.

She has not started on solids or cereal yet, I am planning to start them around 5 months. She is still exclusively breastfed.

She is such a joy, and I am so blessed to be her mommy... I am so excited to see her grow into a little person and develop a personality.

Even though we have not started her on solids yet I still put her in her highchair when we eat, or while I cooking she seems to love it.. this photo was taken the first time we put her in it!

in a big girl...chair?!?!

Thats right...

She sat in her big girl chair for the first time...

and she's just not sure how she feels about it.