Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans. -John Lennon
Life has certainly happened. Maria is now 10 months old and is doing all sorts of baby things like crawling and "talking" she also likes to "sing" and trying to find her place in the world. She still has no teeth and is dealing with her second cold in a little over 6 weeks. Her misery is my misery because I hate to see my baby sick. I know however this too shall pass and we will be on to our next great big adventure called finding out feet. She already stands on her own so long as she doesn't think about it. I think steps for her are eminent.
Maria and I have also found a wonderful mommy support group called For Babies Sake. They have helped us not just with new friends and trying to live a more natural life but helped me through a bad bought of mastitis when I forgot my pump one day. I was surprised at how well this group has fit into our life routine even if it does mean we are away from home one more night a week. These ladies and their children have come to mean so much to us. It's nice to know you aren't alone out there and you have an awesome support network to help you when things are going sideways.
Along with Maria growing and changing so to is my favorite son, David (I know he's my only son but that doesn't make him any less of my favorite). David is navigating through his first year of high school. He is taking golf and French this year along with all the other regular subjects and is in two orchestras at high school and one with the Fort Worth Youth Orchestra. He is busy but I think happy. He is growing (he's over 6' tall now!) and growing up so fast. It seems like it was just yesterday that I was helping him put on his shoes. Now he is helping his sister with hers.
Donnie is doing amazing things being super dad. He works, he cooks, he cleans, all while keeping Maria happy and growing and getting David to all of his activities. I couldn't ask for a more helpful helpmeet who is so supportive regardless of what my crazy idea is.
And me, little old me. I am busier than ever at work and i think it is only going to get busier. I do however find myself slowly returning to things that I love like my glass and books but not with the same passion I once had. I don't sit down and spend all day with my glass or a book but I have taught two classes and have read a couple of books. I don't know if this is a break much like I took until David was in school or if this feeling will be here forever. It makes me a little sad to think my passion has gone away from glass or reading but I look at Maria and realize I have a whole new joy.
I do have a new obsession with hair ribbons (who knew they could be so much fun) and Facebook auctions (really want to blog about them) and my best new found passion is our church. I was never one to go to church but over the past two months I have found my way not back per se but well back to God. Maybe what I mean is I have found my way back to the bible and what God really means to me. This new church that we are attending has left me thirsting for more. More knowledge about God and more fellowship with Christians. Now we eagerly (not just me but all of us) look forward to church on Sundays and learning more about our chosen faith. I was really surprised at that. That David too would look forward to the fellowship he finds with the other kids in his youth group but he has.
So life is what has happened...and life is happening still its almost time for the holidays and visiting families and babies growing up hopefully it won't be so long before I can write again.
And to end on a high note a very happy birthday to a special little girl who is turning 1 oops next week for those that saw this earlier. My phone was wrong and so I must say mea culpa. Happy Birthday Elise next week! While Elise still has biliary atresia and will need a transplant one day she is growing and thriving. If you would like to know more about this special little girl you can find it out here at www.cotaforeliseb.com
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Monday, April 30, 2012
Busy weekend...Mommy time... Google
So we have been so busy lately and this weekend was no exception. I finally got one of the four awaiting projects for Maria done. I made her a melted crayon art picture. It took some time but was well worth it. I can't wait to hang it on her wall.
Donnie has gone into house hunting mode again and we have been looking at lots and homes again (we did this about a year ago). I don't want to go into all the nitty gritty details but lets just say last time we went so far as to rent storage for our belongings and actually put things into it before we stopped. We haven't made it that far yet but I am expecting to get to that phase soon especially if the price comes back where Donnie wants it. What stopped us last time is the first thing we checked this time. The number of foreclosures in our neighborhood. They have drastically reduced to 1! Yay. This time however other than a few things that we don't want out (like my glass heaven forbid someone cut themselves on it or break it) we aren't putting things into storage.
David had an audition this past weekend for the Fort Worth Youth Symphony. It has been postponed until this coming weekend because of lack of time/notice. I didn't notice the auditions were coming up and David didn't have the time to learn the required audition piece in 1 week. So good luck to him I hope he makes it in!
We have been trying to stick to eating at home more and so we have been doing meal plans and grocery shopping every weekend. Unfortunately we have found we can only really buy one weeks worth of grocery's at a time otherwise we forget and or don't use them and they go to waste (or forgotten land). So other than a few staple purchases that we can buy in bulk and use over time we have been going to the store every week. This is helping us out a lot in our pocket book and even more in my waistline. While we still really enjoy eating out it truly is a treat now and not a necessity because we don't have something in the house to eat or we are too tired to cook. I admit we are doing this in preparation for feeding Maria solids. We only want her to have organic foods for now and plan on making our own. So for now we try to limit it to twice a week (usually a lunch for Donnie and I and a dinner with all of us).
So Saturday and Sunday were spent doing things like going to the grocery store, me getting my manicure and pedicure (I was 2 weeks over due) Donnie and David getting haircuts (which they desperately needed) and me doing something fun and finding some "child" nail polish and painting Maria's toes (which I loved and will hate it when I can't do it because she puts her feet in her mouth). Donnie also "pre-ordered" his most anticipated purchase in a long time (he has been talking about it for 2 years now) he got Diablo III. I am interested in seeing what it is all about but since I literally have had Skyrim since Christmas and only last weekend got to play it (and that about 30 minutes worth) I am not too interested in trying to get involved. My time is precious.
And to that I have found that while I love Maria I completely forgot how much of my time is gone with an infant. Hot meal yeah maybe in another 3 or 4 months...shower longer than 10 minutes without interruptions....ha I say maybe in 3 years! Needless to say, to all the people in the nail salon on Sunday I am so deeply sorry that you had to listen to Maria yell for a good 5 minutes before I could get her calmed down. And to my nail guy thank you for your infinite patience while I held her and tried to take care of her next time I promise I will have my cell phone in a much handier location so I can call Donnie to come and get her. Here too is hoping next time she sleeps/is asleep through the whole thing.
Finally Google...
I do the majority of my information gatherings through three sources Yahoo news(not my only but definitely my first), Wikipedia, and Google. My goal at the end of the day to gather up all my Google searches (and other information gathers) and post them here...
04-30-12
How to undo in notes on iPhone (accidentally erased something in my notes turns out I cut it and just had to re paste it back in but I did however learn how to undo in notes!)
play a piece of music (I meant sheet music)
play a piece of music from a picture (I took a picture of David's audition music since there was no title on it to see if there was some software out there that could look at it and either identify it or play it. I wanted him to hear it before he had to audition it no success).
what should you do with a 5 month old baby (really wanted to know what types of activities we should do with Maria. Found lots of good info and began working on that with her tonight!)
iCloud
and then iCloud Photo Stream (I wanted to just download the pictures I needed from the internet without having to stress over putting iCloud on my computer so I could post them to the blog I however found a happy work around)
Finally last but not least my husband
Donnie I just wanted to say thank you for all you do, you are awesome. I hear you now washing the dishes so I will have my pump parts for tomorrow. You are the most wonderful husband a woman could ask for I love you xoxoxo.
Donnie has gone into house hunting mode again and we have been looking at lots and homes again (we did this about a year ago). I don't want to go into all the nitty gritty details but lets just say last time we went so far as to rent storage for our belongings and actually put things into it before we stopped. We haven't made it that far yet but I am expecting to get to that phase soon especially if the price comes back where Donnie wants it. What stopped us last time is the first thing we checked this time. The number of foreclosures in our neighborhood. They have drastically reduced to 1! Yay. This time however other than a few things that we don't want out (like my glass heaven forbid someone cut themselves on it or break it) we aren't putting things into storage.
David had an audition this past weekend for the Fort Worth Youth Symphony. It has been postponed until this coming weekend because of lack of time/notice. I didn't notice the auditions were coming up and David didn't have the time to learn the required audition piece in 1 week. So good luck to him I hope he makes it in!
We have been trying to stick to eating at home more and so we have been doing meal plans and grocery shopping every weekend. Unfortunately we have found we can only really buy one weeks worth of grocery's at a time otherwise we forget and or don't use them and they go to waste (or forgotten land). So other than a few staple purchases that we can buy in bulk and use over time we have been going to the store every week. This is helping us out a lot in our pocket book and even more in my waistline. While we still really enjoy eating out it truly is a treat now and not a necessity because we don't have something in the house to eat or we are too tired to cook. I admit we are doing this in preparation for feeding Maria solids. We only want her to have organic foods for now and plan on making our own. So for now we try to limit it to twice a week (usually a lunch for Donnie and I and a dinner with all of us).
So Saturday and Sunday were spent doing things like going to the grocery store, me getting my manicure and pedicure (I was 2 weeks over due) Donnie and David getting haircuts (which they desperately needed) and me doing something fun and finding some "child" nail polish and painting Maria's toes (which I loved and will hate it when I can't do it because she puts her feet in her mouth). Donnie also "pre-ordered" his most anticipated purchase in a long time (he has been talking about it for 2 years now) he got Diablo III. I am interested in seeing what it is all about but since I literally have had Skyrim since Christmas and only last weekend got to play it (and that about 30 minutes worth) I am not too interested in trying to get involved. My time is precious.
And to that I have found that while I love Maria I completely forgot how much of my time is gone with an infant. Hot meal yeah maybe in another 3 or 4 months...shower longer than 10 minutes without interruptions....ha I say maybe in 3 years! Needless to say, to all the people in the nail salon on Sunday I am so deeply sorry that you had to listen to Maria yell for a good 5 minutes before I could get her calmed down. And to my nail guy thank you for your infinite patience while I held her and tried to take care of her next time I promise I will have my cell phone in a much handier location so I can call Donnie to come and get her. Here too is hoping next time she sleeps/is asleep through the whole thing.
Finally Google...
I do the majority of my information gatherings through three sources Yahoo news(not my only but definitely my first), Wikipedia, and Google. My goal at the end of the day to gather up all my Google searches (and other information gathers) and post them here...
04-30-12
How to undo in notes on iPhone (accidentally erased something in my notes turns out I cut it and just had to re paste it back in but I did however learn how to undo in notes!)
play a piece of music (I meant sheet music)
play a piece of music from a picture (I took a picture of David's audition music since there was no title on it to see if there was some software out there that could look at it and either identify it or play it. I wanted him to hear it before he had to audition it no success).
what should you do with a 5 month old baby (really wanted to know what types of activities we should do with Maria. Found lots of good info and began working on that with her tonight!)
iCloud
and then iCloud Photo Stream (I wanted to just download the pictures I needed from the internet without having to stress over putting iCloud on my computer so I could post them to the blog I however found a happy work around)
Finally last but not least my husband
Donnie I just wanted to say thank you for all you do, you are awesome. I hear you now washing the dishes so I will have my pump parts for tomorrow. You are the most wonderful husband a woman could ask for I love you xoxoxo.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Learn From My Fail...
I love failblog.org it is a humorous site that can sometimes have me in tears of laughter. There is a section called learn from my fail. Tonight I should have learned from my fail. So I decided that with the way Maria has been eating lately tonight would be a good night to do our "unscientific only slightly more accurate than trying to make her sit on the scale" weight. This means before we take our shower I stand with her on the scale, then without her, both of us nekkid so we can just go straight to the shower after. The last time I tried this Maria had a boo boo and went potty on me. No big deal I thought it was because the shower was running. So tonight no shower running and boo boo again she potties on me. Again. No big deal she is after all a baby and accidents happen. We get in the shower wash up and Donnie cleans up Maria's accident but we still didn't get her weight. So I weigh myself and then pick her up step on the scale again and yes she potties on me for the second time tonight, third time on the scale. At least this time we get her weight (15 lbs) and I jump in the shower with her again. At this point I don't know if she potties because she thinks it will help her feel skinny, I squeeze her to make sure she doesn't fall, or she is amused by peeing on me. All I do know is I have the Dave Chappell song of him mocking R Kelly with the "I Pee on You" running through my head now. 
Monday, March 5, 2012
Sick baby
February 28, 2012
I hate it when anyone in my family is sick. They getting sick usually means I get sick and I hate being sick. When we go to Louisiana we are almost guarenteed that one of us is going to bring something home. For whatever reason our nephews are always sick when we go down. Always. They always get us sick. Always. Well this time they got Mrs. Lorraine sick and she got Donnie sick who has gotten me sick but not before Maria got sick. She sounds so bad with a sniffly nose and a laryngitus sounding cry. She is going to the doctor and I hate it that she is sick. I hate that I feel like I have to call the doctor when she is sick but I am so scared that it is going to be something very serious one day and that phone call is going to save her life. I hope one day I won't feel like that anymore.
10:30AM
Well after our doctor visit I am glad I went. She only has a cold but this is enough to deal with. It could have been worse like RSV or croup so glad it isn't!
3-5-12
Maria is much better now I was afraid she would be going back to the docs.
I hate it when anyone in my family is sick. They getting sick usually means I get sick and I hate being sick. When we go to Louisiana we are almost guarenteed that one of us is going to bring something home. For whatever reason our nephews are always sick when we go down. Always. They always get us sick. Always. Well this time they got Mrs. Lorraine sick and she got Donnie sick who has gotten me sick but not before Maria got sick. She sounds so bad with a sniffly nose and a laryngitus sounding cry. She is going to the doctor and I hate it that she is sick. I hate that I feel like I have to call the doctor when she is sick but I am so scared that it is going to be something very serious one day and that phone call is going to save her life. I hope one day I won't feel like that anymore.
10:30AM
Well after our doctor visit I am glad I went. She only has a cold but this is enough to deal with. It could have been worse like RSV or croup so glad it isn't!
3-5-12
Maria is much better now I was afraid she would be going back to the docs.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
A scary night
February 24, 2012 (posted late because it took me forever to finish the Mardi Gras post)
Maria reminded me last night of just how new she is. She did something she hadn’t done since she was several weeks old; she stopped breathing and then started again stuttering her breath and crying. It scared me badly. I wound up staying up most of the night holding her hand feeling her breath beside me. It doesn’t seem like she is only 11 weeks old it feels like we have always had her and she has always been a part of our family.
Maria reminded me last night of just how new she is. She did something she hadn’t done since she was several weeks old; she stopped breathing and then started again stuttering her breath and crying. It scared me badly. I wound up staying up most of the night holding her hand feeling her breath beside me. It doesn’t seem like she is only 11 weeks old it feels like we have always had her and she has always been a part of our family.
On a side note David is participating in the orchestra UIL’s for his school and last night was his first pre-UIL practice session. Good luck David on the sight reading portion I hope you do better during the real UIL! He did say he made it half way thru the sight reading before he lost his place.
Mardi Gras...What a wild weekend!
February 20, 2012 (Yes it took me 8 days to finish writing this!)
Last week I didn't have any blog posts because first nothing much had happened during the week and second because we were getting prepared for Maria's first long car trip to go see Mama and Papa Jeffery as well as Maw Dave (Great-gran). We were also happy to go since it would also be her first Mardi Gras. We had planned this trip about 2 weeks after she was born and we were really looking forward to our little mini vacation.
We were going to leave on Friday as soon as David got out of school. I made a list of things to pack and a list of things to do before we left. We, for the first time in our entire traveling career, didn't forget a single thing!
Friday morning Donnie and I slept in until 10 it was so nice of Maria to let's us sleep (or in my case go back to sleep after she got me up at 7). We got up and dressed and ready to go with our list of places to visit and things to do. Doctor for me, lunch, dogs to the groomers, get the boat, get a manicure, and go to Target for the last few little things.
While I would like to think that with all of our list preparation that we would have been able to accomplish everything and get out of town on time it was a sad state of affairs. While we do own two cars the car that has the baby seat holder in it and consequently is driven by who ever has Maria is also the car that pulls the boat. With that knowledge in mind since I had three things to do all within a 2 mile radius of the house and all within the same shopping complex we decided I would in fact stay with the stroller at the shopping complex with Maria while Donnie picked up the boat and he would pick us up after he was done getting the boat and by that time I should be done too. It was a nice day, perfect for Maria and I to test out her stroller.
We left for lunch and forgot the dogs (the first of many misadventures) and had to turn around and go get them. My doctors office had an hour and a half wait so while I was on call ahead waiting we figured enough time to eat lunch and Donnie to leave to get the boat which would allow us to finish at the same time. No sooner had we dropped off the dogs after going back for them did we get a call from my doctors office they were ready to see me. Grrrr. Okay can they wait until after we eat? Yes. Great so lunch together at Chilies with Donnie and if I finished before him I could either wait for him to get done or walk home no big deal. We pulled the stroller out and Donnie left from Chilies and Maria and I walked to the doctors office. They got me in right away and determined I needed a kicker to go with my blood pressure medicine I was currently on so a new prescription for me. Target should be able to fill it (they couldn't and I had to have it filled in Louisiana but it wasn't a big deal).
I then walked over to the nail salon to get my nails done, and boy was it time! While I was at the salon Donnie called me he drove all the way to the boat in Lewisville figured out everything that was going on with our lease (and yay we got back $90!) at the boat storage place when he realized he forgot the trailer hitch. He had to drive all the way home and get the trailer hitch. I told him no problem I was almost done with my nails if he would get the dogs I would go to Target and he could pick up Maria and I and if he got the dogs and left before Maria and I were done at Target then we would walk home.
He actually got the dogs and was back on the road before we had even made through finding our first thing at Target so Maria and I walked home. It wasn't a bad walk either, I only wish I wasn't wearing Croc's not the best thing to walk 2 miles in.
By the time all of this had happened it was almost 3:00 and I knew we wouldn't leave as soon as David got home but I had no idea it wouldn't be until 7:30PM! We got everything packed but left home some things that we thought we would need but turned out we made the right decision. For lack of space we left the playpen at home and the swing and instead we just brought Maria's bouncy seat along with just about every piece of clothing she owned :).
Leaving when we did and driving with a newborn baby while pulling a boat wasn't conducive to our normal way of travel and we didn't get to Grandma's house until after 4AM. We fell into bed exhausted and slept a good chunk of the morning away. Maria who had slept most of the car ride woke up at 5 and 8 like usual so I fed her and changed her and walked the dogs and we got up for the day. Donnie who drove the whole night slept until about 10:30. Donnie, his dad, brother, and David were supposed to go fishing on Saturday but that just wasn't going to happen with the time that we arrived so we adjusted plans and we decided to go visit Maw Dave and Donnie's Nanny instead with a quick pit-stop to Target on the way there. We would go to the parade that night and Sunday morning the boys would go fishing. Plans were set.
Well like everything else that didn't go as planned either. It was raining when we got to Target so I ran inside and got what we needed (more drinking water for the fishing trip, laundry soap for Maria's clothes, and my prescription) then we drove to Nanny's house. Nanny and Maw Dave turned out to not be home so we drove all the way back to Donnie's parents house to watch the news since the rain hadn't stopped. They had called all the parades in New Orleans for that night but they still hadn't called the one in Houma so we decided to go eat dinner and play it by ear.
Dinner was delicious seafood at a new to him resturant Mr. Rickie wanted to eat at. I am not a big seafood person. I don't like shrimp, I have never had lobster but I don't ever really want to try it, the few times I had eaten crab I didn't care for it, but I love, LOVE, LOVE crawfish and it was the one thing I was looking foward to eating while we were in Louisiana. Turned out the crawfish are small and the resturant didn't have any and all they had was crabs. Tons of crabs. All you can eat crabs. And a catfish plate and a shrimp plate. But they also had a crabcake plate. The one time I had a crabcake in Louisiana at the Green Goddess restaurant I loved it. It was so good so I thought I would try the crabcake here. Wow best decision I had ever made. I knew that seafood in Louisiana tasted different than other places and one of the biggest turn offs I have is that fishy taste the preservative that they put in seafood. I can't stand it. All the crab I had eaten had tasted like that. This tasted like a sweet morsel from heaven in my mouth. I really enjoyed it. I now know that I can eat crab but not that fake nasty stuff.
While we were eating dinner (as we suspected) they called the Parade. So we went home and decided to make it an early night so the boys could go fishing tomorrow. We even stopped on the way home to get Donnie a license and a few new fishing bates. Maria had been a champ all day long not too fussy for being in a new place and not having her swing. But by the time bedtime rolled around she was gearing up for a colic fit. Sure enough she had a blow out fit. We did however discover that the bouncy seat we brought (which has a vibrate setting) is the best thing we could have asked for in a situation of no swing. She loves the bouncy seat now not just for the playtime but for the soothing vibrations. I was so happy that she was happy I jumped up and said "winner winner chicken dinner" and Donnie looked at me like I was crazy but we found a winner for Maria and it helped her calm down and not be fussy for so long.
Sunday they were going to have three parades back to back to back the two that were scheduled for that day plus the one they canceled from the night before so the boys decided to stay close to the house and fish at Bourg instead of going out to Lake Decade. They returned home about 20 minutes after they had left. The dock was shut down and they didn't have time to drive anywhere else to go fishing if we wanted to go to the parades. Crap but where was Donnie? He stayed behind to just launch the boat and run it up and down the bayou since it hadn't been run in almost 2 years. I have told him that while I love having a boat they are money pits (the first time I heard it on Pawn Stars and now I always say it) bust out another thousand! Well Donnie got home about 15 minutes after that looks like the fuel pump in the boat is bad and needs to be replaced. Fortunatly Mr. Rickie knows a guy and he will take it to him to get it fixed. So not a thousand but definitly a couple hundred.
We made it on time to the parades and had an awesome time catching beads and seeing the floats and hearing the music. Maria enjoyed her first Mardi Gras. That afternoon we visited Nanny and Ma Dave with David and Mrs. Lorraine and we really enjoyed our time spent with them.
We left on Monday at 2:30 (later than we wanted) and didn't get home until 1:30 thanks to another misadventure when we tried to stop at Heberts to buy some stuffed chickens which left us behind the parade lines in Lafayette, but we made it home and now we do have a good chicken dinner (or rather 11).
So while our weekend was wild...it wasn't because of Mardi Gras but rather the adventures of taking your first mini family vacation with a newborn.
Last week I didn't have any blog posts because first nothing much had happened during the week and second because we were getting prepared for Maria's first long car trip to go see Mama and Papa Jeffery as well as Maw Dave (Great-gran). We were also happy to go since it would also be her first Mardi Gras. We had planned this trip about 2 weeks after she was born and we were really looking forward to our little mini vacation.
We were going to leave on Friday as soon as David got out of school. I made a list of things to pack and a list of things to do before we left. We, for the first time in our entire traveling career, didn't forget a single thing!
Friday morning Donnie and I slept in until 10 it was so nice of Maria to let's us sleep (or in my case go back to sleep after she got me up at 7). We got up and dressed and ready to go with our list of places to visit and things to do. Doctor for me, lunch, dogs to the groomers, get the boat, get a manicure, and go to Target for the last few little things.
While I would like to think that with all of our list preparation that we would have been able to accomplish everything and get out of town on time it was a sad state of affairs. While we do own two cars the car that has the baby seat holder in it and consequently is driven by who ever has Maria is also the car that pulls the boat. With that knowledge in mind since I had three things to do all within a 2 mile radius of the house and all within the same shopping complex we decided I would in fact stay with the stroller at the shopping complex with Maria while Donnie picked up the boat and he would pick us up after he was done getting the boat and by that time I should be done too. It was a nice day, perfect for Maria and I to test out her stroller.
We left for lunch and forgot the dogs (the first of many misadventures) and had to turn around and go get them. My doctors office had an hour and a half wait so while I was on call ahead waiting we figured enough time to eat lunch and Donnie to leave to get the boat which would allow us to finish at the same time. No sooner had we dropped off the dogs after going back for them did we get a call from my doctors office they were ready to see me. Grrrr. Okay can they wait until after we eat? Yes. Great so lunch together at Chilies with Donnie and if I finished before him I could either wait for him to get done or walk home no big deal. We pulled the stroller out and Donnie left from Chilies and Maria and I walked to the doctors office. They got me in right away and determined I needed a kicker to go with my blood pressure medicine I was currently on so a new prescription for me. Target should be able to fill it (they couldn't and I had to have it filled in Louisiana but it wasn't a big deal).
I then walked over to the nail salon to get my nails done, and boy was it time! While I was at the salon Donnie called me he drove all the way to the boat in Lewisville figured out everything that was going on with our lease (and yay we got back $90!) at the boat storage place when he realized he forgot the trailer hitch. He had to drive all the way home and get the trailer hitch. I told him no problem I was almost done with my nails if he would get the dogs I would go to Target and he could pick up Maria and I and if he got the dogs and left before Maria and I were done at Target then we would walk home.
He actually got the dogs and was back on the road before we had even made through finding our first thing at Target so Maria and I walked home. It wasn't a bad walk either, I only wish I wasn't wearing Croc's not the best thing to walk 2 miles in.
By the time all of this had happened it was almost 3:00 and I knew we wouldn't leave as soon as David got home but I had no idea it wouldn't be until 7:30PM! We got everything packed but left home some things that we thought we would need but turned out we made the right decision. For lack of space we left the playpen at home and the swing and instead we just brought Maria's bouncy seat along with just about every piece of clothing she owned :).
Leaving when we did and driving with a newborn baby while pulling a boat wasn't conducive to our normal way of travel and we didn't get to Grandma's house until after 4AM. We fell into bed exhausted and slept a good chunk of the morning away. Maria who had slept most of the car ride woke up at 5 and 8 like usual so I fed her and changed her and walked the dogs and we got up for the day. Donnie who drove the whole night slept until about 10:30. Donnie, his dad, brother, and David were supposed to go fishing on Saturday but that just wasn't going to happen with the time that we arrived so we adjusted plans and we decided to go visit Maw Dave and Donnie's Nanny instead with a quick pit-stop to Target on the way there. We would go to the parade that night and Sunday morning the boys would go fishing. Plans were set.
Well like everything else that didn't go as planned either. It was raining when we got to Target so I ran inside and got what we needed (more drinking water for the fishing trip, laundry soap for Maria's clothes, and my prescription) then we drove to Nanny's house. Nanny and Maw Dave turned out to not be home so we drove all the way back to Donnie's parents house to watch the news since the rain hadn't stopped. They had called all the parades in New Orleans for that night but they still hadn't called the one in Houma so we decided to go eat dinner and play it by ear.
Dinner was delicious seafood at a new to him resturant Mr. Rickie wanted to eat at. I am not a big seafood person. I don't like shrimp, I have never had lobster but I don't ever really want to try it, the few times I had eaten crab I didn't care for it, but I love, LOVE, LOVE crawfish and it was the one thing I was looking foward to eating while we were in Louisiana. Turned out the crawfish are small and the resturant didn't have any and all they had was crabs. Tons of crabs. All you can eat crabs. And a catfish plate and a shrimp plate. But they also had a crabcake plate. The one time I had a crabcake in Louisiana at the Green Goddess restaurant I loved it. It was so good so I thought I would try the crabcake here. Wow best decision I had ever made. I knew that seafood in Louisiana tasted different than other places and one of the biggest turn offs I have is that fishy taste the preservative that they put in seafood. I can't stand it. All the crab I had eaten had tasted like that. This tasted like a sweet morsel from heaven in my mouth. I really enjoyed it. I now know that I can eat crab but not that fake nasty stuff.
While we were eating dinner (as we suspected) they called the Parade. So we went home and decided to make it an early night so the boys could go fishing tomorrow. We even stopped on the way home to get Donnie a license and a few new fishing bates. Maria had been a champ all day long not too fussy for being in a new place and not having her swing. But by the time bedtime rolled around she was gearing up for a colic fit. Sure enough she had a blow out fit. We did however discover that the bouncy seat we brought (which has a vibrate setting) is the best thing we could have asked for in a situation of no swing. She loves the bouncy seat now not just for the playtime but for the soothing vibrations. I was so happy that she was happy I jumped up and said "winner winner chicken dinner" and Donnie looked at me like I was crazy but we found a winner for Maria and it helped her calm down and not be fussy for so long.
Sunday they were going to have three parades back to back to back the two that were scheduled for that day plus the one they canceled from the night before so the boys decided to stay close to the house and fish at Bourg instead of going out to Lake Decade. They returned home about 20 minutes after they had left. The dock was shut down and they didn't have time to drive anywhere else to go fishing if we wanted to go to the parades. Crap but where was Donnie? He stayed behind to just launch the boat and run it up and down the bayou since it hadn't been run in almost 2 years. I have told him that while I love having a boat they are money pits (the first time I heard it on Pawn Stars and now I always say it) bust out another thousand! Well Donnie got home about 15 minutes after that looks like the fuel pump in the boat is bad and needs to be replaced. Fortunatly Mr. Rickie knows a guy and he will take it to him to get it fixed. So not a thousand but definitly a couple hundred.
We made it on time to the parades and had an awesome time catching beads and seeing the floats and hearing the music. Maria enjoyed her first Mardi Gras. That afternoon we visited Nanny and Ma Dave with David and Mrs. Lorraine and we really enjoyed our time spent with them.
We left on Monday at 2:30 (later than we wanted) and didn't get home until 1:30 thanks to another misadventure when we tried to stop at Heberts to buy some stuffed chickens which left us behind the parade lines in Lafayette, but we made it home and now we do have a good chicken dinner (or rather 11).
So while our weekend was wild...it wasn't because of Mardi Gras but rather the adventures of taking your first mini family vacation with a newborn.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
The Period of Purple Crying
When Maria was in the NICU before we could bring her home we had to go to a parenting class. All parents had to go didn't matter how many kids you did or didn't have. In the class we learned infant CPR, how to put in a car seat correctly, and what the period of purple crying is.
If you don't know what the period of purple crying is, it is another way to say colic. The period of purple crying is usually from about 2 weeks of age peaking at 3 months and stopping somewhere between 4-6 months old. They usually cry in the evening and typical things like feeding, changing their diaper etc. will not affect the crying. No one knows what the cause of colic is although there are a lot of theories. To know if a baby has colic there is a fairly easy and standard test. The test, do they cry for 3 or more hours a day 3 or more days a week? If the answer is yes then your baby probably has colic.
The period of purple crying more significantly covers how to prevent shaken baby syndrome. How to walk away how to admit you have done everything you can and it is okay for them (and you) to cry but how basically you can channel your frustration away from the baby.
I am no subject matter expert. As a matter of fact after we watched the video I thought to myself wow that was informative but what am I going to do with the information. I thought (since we received a copy) that it would be really good to show David and anyone else who is going to be around Maria just in case she is fussy. Little did I know, but I would have a child with colic.
David was as perfect a baby any one could ask for. He hardly ever cried, took to nursing like he was supposed to, and while serious and thoughtful an overall happy baby. I think if David would have had colic I wouldn't have survived those first 7 months alone with him. Yes I lived with my parents when he was that age but I was determined to be self sufficient as if I was living on my own and tried to not ask them to do anything for him (or at least I tried to do everything myself). The only time my parents stepped in was that summer. Since my mom wasn't working (being off for the summer as a paraprofessional) she kept David home with her and took care of him during the day while I worked. Those 7 months separated from Donnie were the hardest in our marriage but were made easy by having such a great kid.
Maria as I have mentioned before has colic. She also has GERD. Sometimes her crying is related to her GERD sometimes it is colic sometimes it is normal baby stuff. Thursday night was a challenge for us as she had the worst colic she has ever had to date. Nothing seemed to sooth her and I found myself asking her what was wrong, how could I fix it and to please stop crying. She cried so hard and for so long I started crying with her. I felt like a failure. I also finally understood why my mother in law said that because Donnie had colic she really had to wait 7 years before she could even think of having another baby.
I know I hadn't failed and eventually we found something that soothed her and calmed her down long enough for us to get her to a point that we could go to sleep but it was a very long night.
Friday night was another night of significant crying. Again nothing soothed her and we thought maybe because it was the end of the week my supply couldn't keep up with her demand and she was hungry. We fed her a bottle and I cried over that having reached a point of exhaustion that I felt like a walking zombie.
Saturday day I had a lunch planned with all of my glass friends. We were meeting for lunch so they could meet Maria. It had been planned for a couple of weeks and while I was exhausted I didn't want to cancel. A friend took a picture of Maria and I and we both looked so tired. I was so tired I had a headache all day and nothing would touch it. So Saturday night when she started her normal (at least as of the last three days) crying fit, I decided we would lay down in bed until with she was done or we were asleep. She cried and cried she screamed but I didn't get up and walk her. I didn't put her in her swing. We laid in bed and I rubbed her back and shushed her. I offered her her passie. I held her on my chest. She tried to nurse but was too upset so I just kept rubbing her back talking to her quietly telling her it would be okay. Donnie came in at about the 12 minute mark wanting to sooth her and I said no. I figured if it didn't stop soon we would go back to what we were doing before. But slowly it calmed down and finally 20 minutes in she stopped! I have a theory that the crying was related to sheer exhaustion where you are so tired you can't sleep.
We got our first real good nights sleep in weeks and I woke up happy. Maria woke up twice to eat but the first time she did we were 4 hours into our sleep. The second time was at 4AM and we finally woke up for good at 7AM. Today we had a good day. We ate lunch and went to the grocery store (Maria was an unhappy camper in the grocery store but we survived). Maria got a new mobile for her crib and we got a roast for dinner this week. We got chores done. Finally we had some surprise visitors, Aunt Ginny and Uncle Craig were in town and they came to visit. After all that Maria fussed only a little bit (less than 5 minutes) and we were down for bed. While she isn't exactly asleep beside me she is being quiet.
We haven't recovered all the sleep we need but we are getting back on to our 9:00 bed time. After all that has happened I don't think we are going to let her colic have us walking the floors. Instead we will let her fuss out her frustrations in bed and we will go to sleep after. Hopefully this colic is over at 4 months but if it isn't we will just live through our period of purple crying.
For more information on the period of purple crying check out these links below and remember it does get better!
http://www.purplecrying.info/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f97psdLPC4&sns=em
If you don't know what the period of purple crying is, it is another way to say colic. The period of purple crying is usually from about 2 weeks of age peaking at 3 months and stopping somewhere between 4-6 months old. They usually cry in the evening and typical things like feeding, changing their diaper etc. will not affect the crying. No one knows what the cause of colic is although there are a lot of theories. To know if a baby has colic there is a fairly easy and standard test. The test, do they cry for 3 or more hours a day 3 or more days a week? If the answer is yes then your baby probably has colic.
The period of purple crying more significantly covers how to prevent shaken baby syndrome. How to walk away how to admit you have done everything you can and it is okay for them (and you) to cry but how basically you can channel your frustration away from the baby.
I am no subject matter expert. As a matter of fact after we watched the video I thought to myself wow that was informative but what am I going to do with the information. I thought (since we received a copy) that it would be really good to show David and anyone else who is going to be around Maria just in case she is fussy. Little did I know, but I would have a child with colic.
David was as perfect a baby any one could ask for. He hardly ever cried, took to nursing like he was supposed to, and while serious and thoughtful an overall happy baby. I think if David would have had colic I wouldn't have survived those first 7 months alone with him. Yes I lived with my parents when he was that age but I was determined to be self sufficient as if I was living on my own and tried to not ask them to do anything for him (or at least I tried to do everything myself). The only time my parents stepped in was that summer. Since my mom wasn't working (being off for the summer as a paraprofessional) she kept David home with her and took care of him during the day while I worked. Those 7 months separated from Donnie were the hardest in our marriage but were made easy by having such a great kid.
Maria as I have mentioned before has colic. She also has GERD. Sometimes her crying is related to her GERD sometimes it is colic sometimes it is normal baby stuff. Thursday night was a challenge for us as she had the worst colic she has ever had to date. Nothing seemed to sooth her and I found myself asking her what was wrong, how could I fix it and to please stop crying. She cried so hard and for so long I started crying with her. I felt like a failure. I also finally understood why my mother in law said that because Donnie had colic she really had to wait 7 years before she could even think of having another baby.
I know I hadn't failed and eventually we found something that soothed her and calmed her down long enough for us to get her to a point that we could go to sleep but it was a very long night.
Friday night was another night of significant crying. Again nothing soothed her and we thought maybe because it was the end of the week my supply couldn't keep up with her demand and she was hungry. We fed her a bottle and I cried over that having reached a point of exhaustion that I felt like a walking zombie.
Saturday day I had a lunch planned with all of my glass friends. We were meeting for lunch so they could meet Maria. It had been planned for a couple of weeks and while I was exhausted I didn't want to cancel. A friend took a picture of Maria and I and we both looked so tired. I was so tired I had a headache all day and nothing would touch it. So Saturday night when she started her normal (at least as of the last three days) crying fit, I decided we would lay down in bed until with she was done or we were asleep. She cried and cried she screamed but I didn't get up and walk her. I didn't put her in her swing. We laid in bed and I rubbed her back and shushed her. I offered her her passie. I held her on my chest. She tried to nurse but was too upset so I just kept rubbing her back talking to her quietly telling her it would be okay. Donnie came in at about the 12 minute mark wanting to sooth her and I said no. I figured if it didn't stop soon we would go back to what we were doing before. But slowly it calmed down and finally 20 minutes in she stopped! I have a theory that the crying was related to sheer exhaustion where you are so tired you can't sleep.
We got our first real good nights sleep in weeks and I woke up happy. Maria woke up twice to eat but the first time she did we were 4 hours into our sleep. The second time was at 4AM and we finally woke up for good at 7AM. Today we had a good day. We ate lunch and went to the grocery store (Maria was an unhappy camper in the grocery store but we survived). Maria got a new mobile for her crib and we got a roast for dinner this week. We got chores done. Finally we had some surprise visitors, Aunt Ginny and Uncle Craig were in town and they came to visit. After all that Maria fussed only a little bit (less than 5 minutes) and we were down for bed. While she isn't exactly asleep beside me she is being quiet.
We haven't recovered all the sleep we need but we are getting back on to our 9:00 bed time. After all that has happened I don't think we are going to let her colic have us walking the floors. Instead we will let her fuss out her frustrations in bed and we will go to sleep after. Hopefully this colic is over at 4 months but if it isn't we will just live through our period of purple crying.
For more information on the period of purple crying check out these links below and remember it does get better!
http://www.purplecrying.info/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f97psdLPC4&sns=em
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