1,000 Titles

Between 11:15 pm and 5:30 am, I thought of 1,000 different titles for this post but none of them stuck. Please don't mind any misspellings or other grammatical errors in this post. I'm running on about 3 hours of sleep! Abigail's sleep has gone from bad to worse! Last night she went to sleep fairly easily. I had to hold her legs and arms down but once I helped her quit kicking, she fell asleep. She woke again at 11:15 pm (I hadn't been asleep yet) and was restless, etc. So, I picked her up and rocked her with a paci. She was asleep almost before I sat down in the chair to rock! This cycle of rocking, putting down, me going in to bed, fussing, picking up, rocking, etc, continued until about 12:30 am. I decided to try to co-sleep with her. I went down to the guest room and took her sleep positioner, so she wouldn't roll off the other side of the bed or into me. Well, it sort of worked. I, again, had to help her quit squirming, but she eventually fell asleep beside me. She woke up again (and woke me up) at 3:00 am. I nursed her in bed. I couldn't get her back to sleep! Finally, frustrated, I carried her swing upstairs and rocked her for a bit and then put her in the swing. She fell asleep in there (by this time it's almost 4 am) but only slept until 5 am!!!!!

Andrew got up with her at 5:00 am and rocked her and put her back in her crib. She miraculously slept in there until about 6:15 am. Unfortunately, I did not fall back asleep after 5 am!

I am almost 100% sure that the problem with her interrupted sleep is due to itching. Her rash is worse and she is constantly scratching her head, chest, and rubbing her back on the bed when we lay her down. She seems to be comforted by holding and rocking. I'm not sure why I thought it would be a good idea to sleep next to a squirming infant, but I did at the time!

I think that there is a small possibility that she just can't settle herself down without our help. If that is the case, I'm not looking forward to the night of crying that we'll have to endure to solve that problem! However, it seems weird to me that last Monday she would just suddenly start to wake up frequently and not be able to settle herself, without another cause.

So, when I say that I got 3 hours of sleep last night, that is being generous! It makes me feel very nervous when I hear that eczema, sometimes, cannot be cured or it takes up to 3 weeks!

I hear about others not getting sleep with infants and it sounds so trivial but it is NOT when it is happening to you! We have been praying about this so much and no answers have come yet. I guess this is a patience building exercise! It is a great comfort to me to know that my God is much bigger than sleep, eczema, babies, or weariness! He has overcome the greatest battle so He can overcome what trials/annoyances are upon my family right now!

What a difference!

I suppose you read the title and thought Abigail's sleeping had improved last night but that is not the case. . . Still a rough night. The difference is however, that I had a little attitute change at about 2:00 am. I have definitely had a "poor me" attitude lately regarding sleep and our whole situation. At 2:00 am I just thought that I can't keep doing this to myself . . . thinking about what could be. I simply thought, "I am so lucky to be able to have this extra 1/2 hour to spend with my daughter, even though it is at 2:00 am!" Oh, I'm sure she'll love to read this in a few years, but she pooped twice during the night, so that may explain some of the waking and restlessness!

I'm pretty sure that her teeth are bothering her. Abigail's babysitter is also a breastfeeding mom and has worked with a lot of kids over the years. She told me that most babies find breastfeeding very comforting while teething, so that would explain the constant waking in order to eat at night. She also recommended today (as did my mother-in-law) some homeopathic teething tablets, which I will look for today. Isn't Abigail so lucky to have such wonderful people taking care of her? We are lucky and blessed too!

In other news: my husband is going to be a professor! He tells me that his actual title is going to be instructor, but still. I have learned some lessons over the years about blogging too much personal information (and avoiding negativity, if possible) so I won't put where he is teaching. It will be his third job. I keep encouraging him to take it easy with all the working but he assured me last night that he is not a work-a-holic and he will make his family a priority. He keeps repeating, "Live like no one else . . . " All you Ramsey plan people know what I'm talking about! I definitely love the damage that we're doing to his student loans! :)

Same Topic . . . again . . . sleep!

Where oh where did my good sleeper go? Here is last night's breakdown:

6:30 pm - Bedtime Routine
7:00 pm - Nursed, read a book (amazing that she sat still and didn't cry), rocked a little
7:15 pm - Down in bed awake
8:00 pm - Asleep (I'm not exactly sure of the time, but I just let her cry/fuss, since it didn't sound serious).
12:20 am - Awake and fussing - Nursed, changed and back to sleep
2:20 am - Awake and fussing - put her paci back in, patted, and back to bed
3:30 am - Awake and fussing - Nursed, changed and back to sleep
5:30 am - I heard her fussing but I was just going to let her cry it out for 1/2 hour, since I didn't think she could possibly be hungry. Andrew got up for the day.
5:50 am - Still fussing so I got her and put her in bed with me - nursed and she fell asleep
7:10 am - I woke her to get her dressed for the day and fed her AGAIN.

I was so spoiled by her only waking up once or not at all. I hope that whatever is disturbing her will pass quickly, so we can all get some sleep! Andrew seems to think he can feel a little tooth but I'm not sure. I don't doubt that they can bother her for a long time before coming through.

I'm looking forward to the weekend so I will feel like I can ask for help from the other parent in the house, since she doesn't always need to be fed. I know I can wake him up if I NEED to, but where is that line? He is working SO hard for us right now that I just don't want to bother him with anything else. He will be gone until 10 pm tonight at an orientation for his teaching job which will start in August.

Fashion Advice

I finally decided it would make sense to actually show you all what the clothes I bought look like . . . before I take them back. So, here are the clothes that Andrew said make me look like an old lady.

The second one fits better, I think. Anyway, his advice to me was to wear dark solid colors. Then when I wore all black on Sunday and then said I was hot, he said, "Well, why did you wear all black?" I don't understand men!




Speaking of: Here is a picture of my hard working man. He is working on some websites for his old company in the evenings.

And, of course, I can't put pictures on a blog without posting one of our darling. I have some funny pictures taken of ways that she sleeps but I'll do those another time.

She was on the changing table getting ready for the day! Smiles at 6 am! Amazing!

And the last post leads me to a new blog . . .

I found a bunch of great blogs yesterday. This one is a lady who helps other people look good. I NEED her! Anyway, I'm just going to read the blog for a while and hope that it all soaks in!

http://sharibraendel.blogspot.com/

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Sleep update:
Last night - 6/23/2008
7 pm - started bedtime routine
7:20 pm - Nursing (cranky, fussy, squirmy and didn't eat much)
7:30 pm - Down in crib (cranky, fussy, squirmy, and CRYING)
I patted her occasionally while putting away clothes in her room.
8:00 pm - Still crying so I rocked her - very drowsy
8:10 pm - down in crib - suddenly awake again and crying
8:15 pm - rocking again and back down - calm but rolling around in crib so I left to work in my bedroom
8:20 pm - I heard her SCREAM from my room while I was folding clothes.
8:21 pm - Crying, screaming and sobbing, so I rocked her with a paci
8:30 pm - She actually fell asleep on me (very rare) and I managed to transfer her calmly to her crib.
11:30 pm - Awake and making noise (no crying really) so I fed her.
2:30 am - Awake and restless - I did not want to get her used to me feeding her all night long, so I tried the paci in her crib but she wouldn't settle down, so I rocked her. She fell asleep and I put her down. 2 minutes later, awake again! Ah! I am wishing that I could wake Andrew to do this, since it doesn't involve feeding, but he has such a difficult time sleeping anyway. Rocked and comforted for 30 minutes. Laid her back down. Finally at 3:00 am I head back to bed, lay on top of the covers with my glasses on because I fully expect to get up in 5 minutes. She (and I) slept until 6 am.

Teeth? I don't know.
Itchy rash? I don't know.
Crazy/sweet baby trying to make her mom go insane? yes!

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I know she could be SOOOO much worse. The problem is is that I am so spoiled by only getting up once a night! It also makes a HUGE difference when Andrew is home in the evening, even when he doesn't do anything to help put her to sleep. It's amazing how much better I feel just knowing I have backup! He was at Bible study last night.

Being frugal without looking 80 years old!

We had a crazy whirl wind weekend! :) I went shopping on Saturday afternoon, with Abigail, to buy Andrew some new clothes. His old company gave him many company logoed shirts to wear (23 to be exact) so needless to say, he needed some new shirts to wear! I found two great shirts and a pair of pants for him.

Here is a little background to help you understand the rest of this story: Andrew and I are following the Dave Ramsey plan. We are currently paying off debt (all we have is school loans) and so I'm trying to live as cheaply as possible. One thing that I made a committment to do was to not purchase any NEW clothes for one whole year. There are a few exceptions to this rule. 1) I can buy new underwear and a swimming suit, 2) I can buy new clothes if the money is a gift from someone. So, Andrew decided to "gift" me about $50 (from his bonus) so I could buy some new clothes for myself. My wardrobe is pretty scarce!

So, I went to JcPenneys. I only need a few new shirts. I found some shirts that fit great. The best part was that they were buy one for $6.95 and get a second one for $1! Yeah! I didn't particularly like the pattern but there wasn't much to choose from. So, I took them home and when I showed Andrew he immediately said, "Well, those look a little old lady-ish." See, that is a problem for me. I go for convenience and cheapness and don't think about style. So, I can't wear the shirts. They have to be returned. So much for new clothes! We decided that I am going to buy Andrew's clothes and he is going to buy mine. I'm a bit frightened by this. He will buy me stylish clothes, but can I fit into them? That is the question!

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On a separate note:
Abigail is still a bear to get to sleep! It makes me hurt to see her struggling so much with sleep because there is not much I can do to help her. In the past week, she seriously only went down for one nap (with me) peacefully. The rest of the time she is crying, fussy, screaming even, and it takes a LONG time to get her to go to sleep. Part of me dreads nap and bedtime, but I KNOW that my baby needs her rest and she is cranky if she doesn't sleep enough, so I have to press on. For example, on Saturday morning, I tried everything to get her to sleep: bouncy chair, swing, crib, rocking with pacifier, and even nursing her to sleep. Nothing worked! Aunt Carol finally got her to sleep (in the afternoon) in her car seat. I'm looking for advice again. Everything I have read says that you should be consistent with nap times and well . . . we just can't do that, since she has a new schedule each day! Any other tips on getting her to sleep peacefully? Perhaps it is just her thing. She is a very happy baby otherwise. Perhaps she will just be hard baby to put to sleep (she usually sleeps great once she is down).

Bathroom Conversations

Scene: Bathroom at Work with preschool kids from summer camp coming in to use the facilities. Abigail is getting a diaper change on the Koala Bear changing station.

Little Girl: Cute Baby!
Me: Thanks!
LG: I have a little baby sister who is younger than your baby.
Me: Oh really? How old is your sister?
LG: 8 months.
Me: Well, this baby is actually 4 months old.
LG: Wow, really? She's huge!
Me: Yes, she's a big baby.
LG: What's her name?
Me: Abigail.
LG: Wow, that's pretty!

I'm taking the "she's huge" comment as a compliment! :) Yes, I'm not sure how we did it but we grew a huge baby and purposefully named her a beautiful name! :)

P.S. We're fighting a diaper rash right now. Any moms out there have any tried and true cures? I've tried several "normal" remedies (desitin) and several "natural" approaches too (cloth diapers and silver) and it seems to be hanging on. This weekend, I'm going to spend a lot of time airing her bottom out. I set up a station last night (trash bag flat with a blanket and towel, just in case) and let her go without a diaper for 30 minutes but it needs to be longer than that. Poor baby. Any advice is welcome!

Thoughts on Fathers

I realize that I'm a few days late for Father's Day but better late than never. I've been thinking about fathers lately. I have been unbelievably blessed by the "fathers" in my life and I'd like to share a little bit about them.

First of all, my dad. . . growing up, I was known to be a daddy's girl and proud of it. I loved having Dad read me a bed time story, give me a bath, play outside, and do farm stuff with. My dad always worked so hard on the farm to support us and as a teenager, I got to join him in this. I took a tractor safety class and became an employee of Fairchild Farms. :) I have such fond memories of that summer and of growing up on the farm in general. I loved riding in the combine and tractor with Dad. I have learned a lot from my dad over the years but one of the most important lessons is that of hard work and dedication. Being a farmer is never easy, lots of sweat, pain, and unpleasant things (like pulling calves) but my dad is always out there working hard. I spent many hours of my life watching my dad's sport teams play and taking stats. As much as I may joke about hating it, it was fun to be the coach's daughter and as I enjoy being organized and record keeping, keeping stats was right up my alley. I love my dad very much and I am SO excited for the future when Abigail gets to hang out on the farm and learn from her grandpa. I admire my dad's hard work and dedication!

My Grandpa Walter. . . he is now gone from this world, but what a wonderful person he was! I have such fond memories of going out on coffee breaks, fishing, visiting his welding shop, crushing cans (ha ha), and many more in Downs, Kansas. My grandpa never knew a stranger and was always inviting people to church . . . and making sure they had a ride! His positive attitude in life is something that will always stick with me. Even when his kidney's were failing and he didn't feel well, he would say "Oh, I have a cold drink and my nice warm fire, so I'm ok." If only I could have that positive attitude!

My Grandpa Fairchild. . . he also passed along the legacy of hard work and dedication to me! He is a behind-the-scenes kind of man but if he sees something to be done, then he is there, especially when it comes to things needing done at church. He was always in our lives supporting us and making sure that we knew how much we were loved! This is now passed along to my daughter. It brought an immense amount of joy to my heart to see my grandparents play with and enjoy my daughter. I admire my grandpa's quiet strength and strong love!

My father-in-law . . . what a loyal family man and hard worker he is! He is another wonderful example of what a godly father and husband looks like. I can see in his life that he really is walking the walk and not just talking the talk. He is understanding, fun to be around, a hard worker, helpful around the house (an amazing trait), and he can fix anything! I'm serious! He is also a laundry expert (so I've heard) and builds the most beautiful furniture I have ever seen. He is very dedicated to God, his family, his job and now his granddaughter. It has also been a joy for me to watch be a loving grandfather to Abigail!

And last but not least, my loving wonderful husband! I never had a doubt in my mind that he would be the worlds most terrific father (he had a good example). He is patient, loving, funny (this comes in very handy when Abigail is screaming), calm and relaxed, ready to discipline if necessary (this hasn't come yet), willing to get up at night, a fabulous diaper changer, the best bath giver, and a wonderful provider for us! He is excited for Abigail to grow up so he can do bonding things with her. She is absolutely the luckiest girl in the world to have such a loving and attentive daddy. His best quality trait, however, is that he loves the Lord. He wants to raise our daughter to love Him too and that is the best gift ever!

I could seriously go on and on (and include my husband's grandfathers in this too) but I'm out of time and my husband says people stop reading after the first paragraph. :) I hope you have gotten just a little glimpse of how lucky I am to know or have known all of these terrific fathers. Like I have said, the best quality in all of them is that they love the Lord and desire to live lives that glorify Him!

A Link to our Amazing Friends!!!

I want to give a shout out to our friends, the Munafos. They are serving as missionaries in Nigeria and they are awesome! I love you guys! Anyway, I know Emilee reads this and I want to link to her site and the new interns website (for the summer). Emilee (and Jason), please keep us up-to-date and let us know how we can help.

We're back from Hocking Hills

We had a nice weekend at Hocking Hills for the Schechter Family reunion. We enjoyed a nice hike and a dip in the pool on Saturday (intersperced with naps and eating). We had a good time with family and it was fun to have Abigail meet her new 2nd cousin, Graham. We shared a cottage and it actually worked out well. The babies didn't seem to disturb each other and the parents took turns on baby watch for various reasons (showers, campfire sing-a-longs, etc).

We headed back yesterday morning to gather ourselves again before another full work week. Abigail did a pretty good job of napping while we were there. She really didn't fight being put to sleep and actually took 1 - 3 hour nap! Amazing! This was all fine and dandy until we got home! I'm not sure what set her off but she was acting tired around 2:30 pm so we tried getting her to sleep. I headed out to mow and left Andrew to tempt her into sleep. I came back over an hour later to find her still fighting it. So, after my shower, I tried. Nothing! Finally when Andrew left to go to the grocery store at 6:00 pm (he is awesome!) I wrestled (just a term, no wrestling was involved) her into sleep for about 45 minutes. She woke up at 6:45 pm and was still tired and cranky for bed at 7:15 pm so off we went. She fought her bedtime like a bear too. Lots of crying and screaming (she screamed and I cried) and she finally fell asleep at 8:30 pm. The good news from this whole story is that she slept peacefully in her crib until 6:30 am! Through the night. Yeah! It's a good thing because I was too busy watching the Tony's to go to bed before 11:00 pm! She is silly!

Today I have her at work all day. She had a nice 1 hour nap already this morning and I just put her back down for another try and she slipped easily off into la-la land with NO FUSSING! I wish I knew what I did differently between the times she is fussy, whinning, and screaming for hours, vs 1 minute pacifier fix into blissful sleep! Ah babies!

I will post some wonderful pictures we got at Hocking Hills at some point. Probably not today as Andrew is working at PCC a few hours tonight, so I'm going solo on the bedtime routine.

Truly a post from the road!

We are headed to Hocking Hills state park this weekend for a family reunion. I am literally blogging from the road!! I am using Andrew's new phone which has internet capabilities. This is so cool!!! We are actually driving up 71 right now. Anyway I don't have much to say except this is really cool! I am thankful my husband is willing to drive and share is cool phone!

Andrew in the news!

http://www.gbbn.com/About/News/In_The_Press/In4_Names_Schechter_Business_Analyst/

I'm so proud of my wonderful husband. I took the picture in this press release. I'm quite proud of how it looks! :)

Choices!

This morning was the first time I caught Abigail actually sleeping on her stomach. I thought she was just rolling over right when she woke up and then cries when she can't get back to sleep that way. She was a little fussy around 11:00 pm (when we were going to bed) so I peeked in on her to find her, once again, on her tummy. I thought I'd try putting her back to sleep without nursing, and it worked! I just put her on her back with a paci and she slept until 1:30 am. Then from 2 am to 6:15! Yeah! She was sleeping on her tummy when I got up at 6 am. I can't believe our girl is old enough to actually make a choice now! She can choose whether to sleep on her back or her stomach. We have now started putting the crib side all the way up. I have also cleared all the junk (ok stuffed toys) out of her crib, since she can end up anywhere in the morning, instead of just right where I left her! She has been a good baby to have at work this week. I have several pictures of her "helping" mom in the office. Thanks Maggie for letting me use your camera!!

Also, my friend Lisa is starting a photography business. I linked to her blog over on the right, so check her site out. She is a wonderful photographer! She took the pictures of Abigail and of us when Abigail was 8 days old.

Seriously, what's up with all the posts?

I've been a blogging fool lately. Perhaps I've been spurred on by the fact that many of my friends have just started blogs. Perhaps I just have a lot to say. I have no idea!

The main focus of my life right now is Abigail's naps. Isn't that weird how I never thought about babies naps before having a baby? I never knew how important they would be to a happy health baby! We had one rough weekend with Abigail. She woke up several extra times on Friday night and the fought her naps Saturday with everything that she had! She lived up to her silly nickname "Crabbygail" on Saturday. Crazy girl! I held her off at bedtime (my art of baby distraction is becoming very refined) until 7:30 pm. Sunday was a little better. She relaxed and slept during church but really fought her nap while we were lunching at Andrew's grandparents. She finally fell asleep but only stayed down for an hour. She still needs two or three naps a day (with about 5 hours sleeping time between them). When we got home she napped after nursing for about 20 minutes. She was still so cranky, so off to bed we went. She slept from 8:00 pm until (ugh!) 5:15 am! I love it that she can sleep that long but 5:15 am is a killer since my alarm goes off at 6 am.

However, I do have good news to report. She is back to her cheerful self today! Since my MIL is away on vacation, I took her to work with me this morning. She has been an absolute angel. She slept for almost two hours (8 am to 10 am) and she just went back down for a nap at 11:30 am. She's still asleep. Perhaps she is making up for the weekend. I don't know! Hopefully she is good for Aunt Jennie this afternoon.

This weekend we are heading off to Hocking Hills State Park for a family reunion (Schechters). I am in the midst of a mental debate over what baby equipment I should bring. I always try to be a minimalist when packing but perhaps I should consider what might make the weekend a little easier on Abigail! We're staying in a cabin with the other new baby in the family so hopefully that will be the quiet cabin so the babies can nap when they need to!

Seriously, naps make my world go round! :)

Blogging

Several of my friends have joined the blogging world recently. Yeah! I love blogging and even more so - I love reading other people's blogs (which motivates me to write on my own). See the links to the right for some of my favorite reads. There are several new ones.

Abigail has had a rough day. She woke up 5 to 7 times last night. So I bet she slept less than I did! :) Anyway, she woke up tired, wasn't satisfied by any of her 20 minute naps. I finally got her to sleep in her swing, where she stayed for almost 2 hours. She still was pretty cranky by 6:30 - 7:00 pm. She's growing up and exploring things (rolling like crazy) and she doesn't want to miss anything! Andrew is on baby watch right now (she's falling asleep) so I can have a break and do stuff down stairs . . . like balance the checkbook and check the budget!

We have mobility! and Reverse Anorexia

Abigail has really taken off with her rolling. She has been able to roll from stomach to back for a few weeks now and went from back to stomach on Memorial Day for the first time. Lately, she has become a rolling fool! :) I had her on her play mat at work this week and within 1/2 hour, she had rolled over 2 times. Last night, I put her on her back on a blanket and she rolled over probably 5 or 6 times to her stomach. Then, when I got up to feel her at 1:30 am (she was crying), I walked in to find her on her stomach! Ah! We'll have to start raising the side of the crib that is adjustable. I no longer feel safe leaving her up on our bed alone for fear she might roll or scoot off (while I'm getting ready), so I put a blanket on the floor and she was a happy camper playing down there. I have a feeling it won't be too long before she is able to really move around on her own!

One of my new favorite things to do with Abigail is to sit in our closet (it's a huge walk in) and play in front of our big mirror. Abigail LOVES to see herself. She can be in the worst mood, tired and crabby, but she will instantly start laughing and giggling at herself if I put her in front of that mirror. My husband and several of his family members have what they call "reverse anorexia". It is where they think they look really good, while in reality, they may have a few trouble spots (as small as they might be) to work on. I do believe that my daughter has inherited this trait from her father, as she loves to look at herself in the mirror (I know all babies do!).

Plans Explained

Our plan for solid food for Abigail is to wait. This article explains my reasons way better than I can, so I am linking to it. It will be nice and simple when we travel to Hawaii to only have her on breastmilk (she'll turn 6 months while we're there). We'll do a lot of hanging out together! :)

http://www.breastfeed-essentials.com/solidfood.html

I especially like the part where they say you are substituting a inferior food (rice cereal or veggies) for a superior food (breastmilk). Abigail is obviously not hurting for food. In her checkup yesterday, she weighed 17 pounds, was 25 1/2 inches long, and her head size was 17 inches. She was over 90% for all categories and was in the 97+% for weight. I wonder if she will be tall like her dad.

We had a bit of weather excitement last night. Around 10:00 pm the tornado sirens by us started to go off. When you're from Kansas, tornado sirens mean serious business (like someone has seen one), and so you're supposed to go to the basement. Andrew looked at an online radar and showed the path of a funnel cloud and storm headed straight for us. Also, Dewey was barking up a storm (pun intended) because of the sirens, so we all headed downstairs. Abigail actually stayed asleep in my arms for 10 or 15 minutes before finally waking up and discovering that she was NOT in her bed. She wasn't a happy camper about that! Anyway, I felt sort of silly sitting in my basement during a thunderstorm but I guess a lot of people in our area did as well (my co-worker at least) and it's better to be safe than blown away! We learned this lesson during our last trip to Kansas when we "slept" through a really bad storm only to wake up the next morning to see tornado damage about a mile from where we were staying. Oops, we should have turned on the TV at least. So, at 10:30 the sirens quit and we headed upstairs to bed. I fed Abigail once more, so she lasted until 5:30 am (why can't she sleep for 1/2 hour more when my alarm goes off; why oh why!!). That was our excitement for the night.

Happy Birthday Mom!

This day is a very special one because it is my mom's birthday. As I continue on the wonderful and challenging path that is motherhood, I am increasingly thankful for my own mother. I want to honor her today by sharing how I want to be like my mom!

My mom the warrior! Growing up I took for granted that my mom prayed for us. As I grew into adulthood and went through some troubling times in college, this knowledge became the greatest comfort to me. The problems I faced always became managable when I remembered that my mom was praying for me, specifically and daily. I am so thankful that I can continually go to her with my problems and concerns and I know that she will take these concerns before our heavenly Father. When I went into labor, Andrew and I made the decision to only call one person (because we needed patience and calmness in the labor process) and we decided to call my mom, so that she could be praying for us as Abigail made her way into the world. I can only hope that I am as faithful of a prayer warrior to my daughter as she grows as my own mother is to me! It is a blessing to me every day!

My mom the comforter! It is widely known that I am a wimp. Yes, I did have a drug-free birth but I still don't like to feel sick at all. My mom has always been a wonderful caretaker. I was shocked when I got married that my husband didn't act like my mom when I was sick. He didn't know to automatically make me feel better by bringing me a cool wet washcloth or toast cut into four squares with tea! :) I remember feeling relieved to see my mom in the recovery room when I woke up from gallbladder surgery. I can only hope that I am as good of comforter to my daughter as my mom was and is to me!

My mom the supporter! My mom and my dad (and grandparents) rarely missed any of our events growing up. When I played tennis in High School, I remember telling them that they really didn't need to come to the far away meets. They always showed up anyway to support me. My mom was also the one who started me on my music "career". She was always there to practice with me when I was singing, and to make me practice the piano! :) While I was in college, she even drove over to play for me a time or two. I was so spoiled!

My mom the "understander"! This is one that I took for granted until I got married. I think my parents knew in the back of their minds that we would end up in Ohio. When we told them we were moving here, I'm sure the news was sad to them but they never (for one moment) made me feel guilty for moving away from them. I consider this a very unique gift from my mom and dad, as I know several friends whose parents have given them a guilt trip if they decide to move an hour away, let alone 15 hours, like we did! They continue to be this way today. They are very thankful for the time that we do get to spend with them but if we have to cut things short because of vacation time, etc, they are understanding! Amazing!

I hope you have a wonderful birthday, Mom! Thank you so much for all you have done for me. I cannot express how much your love and support has meant to me and continues to mean to me today. I hope that someday I can be as loving and supportive to my kids as you are to me!

Happy Birthday!

My 4-month-old

I cannot believe that our beautiful daughter is 4 months old today. It seems like yesterday that I was pregnant with her and that our life was still "normal". Now, I never want to go back to the way it was!! It is amazing to us, as her parents, to watch her grow and change every single day. She was started to really laugh out-loud. This sound has become a delight to our ears. She also struggled for two weeks with bedtime sleep and now suddenly the switch flipped again, and goes down easily and at times, even without a pacifier! She slept through the night on Saturday and woke up only once last night. I cannot begin to understand the ways of infants. The only thing that I read about and heard was a major developmental growth at 4 months can sometimes interrupt sleep. I hope this calm trend continues. We've also tried to be really consistent with her bedtime and bedtime routine. Perhaps that is helping. She is consistently rolling over from stomach to back and once has rolled from back to stomach. She is getting better about sitting up but isn't quite there yet.

My continued daily prayer for my daughter is this: that she be healthy and safe from harm, that she learn as she grows up to lean on her everlasting Father, and also to learn that the world won't always be fair to her but that she will always have parents to love her and support her. I am so thankful today that I have such a wonderful loving husband and that we together, have such a beautiful little girl!

*Side Note: Andrew started his new job today. He took the bus downtown and he called me at 7:40 am to say he had made it down there. I must admit that it was rather weird that he got up before I did. That has not happened since our first year of marriage, when he worked while I was in school. It will take some getting used to. I'm also jealous of him getting to ride the bus. I would LOVE for my 30 minute commute to be on a bus so I could read the whole time!*