So, my promise of updating the blog on Saturday came and went...I'm almost a week late. Whoops! Things have been busy here lately. Trying to figure out our lives...Business at our restaurant has still been slow, though this week it is slowly picking up. That and the fact that we are cutting back on staff, has helped make us a little more money. We had a benefit last Friday for 3 families whom lost their homes to fire on Thanksgiving day, so I think that helped get us some business afterwards too. A win/win for everyone.
Jason and I are going to (have to!) start working more hours, which means that instead of taking Maddy to a babysitter, which we can't afford anyway, we will be taking her to work with us when we are both there at the same time. We are in the process of setting up a play area for her. We need to get a couple of baby gates and would love to find some of those interlocking foam mats. Obviously toys too, but any other suggestions would be great. We want to make it as fun for her as possible!
Nothing really new going on. Maddy is getting big! She's been giving kisses, and waves, and now points at EVERYTHING. It's cute! She also wiggles her fingers when you ask her where her fingers are! Not bad for an 8 month old!
No walking yet, though, she's been standing with no support for longer periods of time more frequently. Honestly, I'm okay with waiting awhile for that, I already have to keep an eagle eye on her and walking will only make that worse! :)
Off topic here, but please pray for my mom, she had hip replacement surgery on Wednesday and feels like crap! I'm sure it can't be fun to have that done, but we know it's for the best. Her hip was in bad shape!
Well, I am hoping to update again soon, but it might be after Christmas. If I don't write until then, have a very Merry Christmas! I hope that it is filled with laughter, love, and good friends and family.

Well, I haven't posted in awhile, things have been slightly crazy around here and probably will be for the rest of the week. I probably won't post again till Saturday. Thursday we are getting family pictures taken by a wonderful photographer named Julie. You can visit her website at www.afinephotographer.com. She was our NILMDTS photographer when Gabriella died. For those of you that don't know NILMDTS stands for Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep. It is a nationwide organization made up of volunteer professional photographers that donate their time to taking pictures for families that have lost or are losing a child. They are a remarkable organization and very near and dear to our hearts. We are so excited to be able to see Julie again and to have her meet Madeline. She was there in a very intimate and heartbreaking time in Jason and I's life and gave us the gift of beautiful pictures of our sweet Gabby.
So, this week Madeline cut her first tooth! I have no pictures yet, but you can feel the little thing pretty good! It's sharp! It's not completely pushed up through the gum yet, but hopefully for her sake, it will be soon!
Another first this week, was Maddy's first Christmas tree!

It's pretty small because, well, we have a small house and this tree fits perfectly in this little window cubby. I haven't had a Christmas tree up in the house in almost 6 years, so I was excited to have one this year. I bought a couple of new ornaments.
One for Gabby

And one for Madeline

And, this one, my mom gave me a few years ago, and this is the first time I have ever had a tree to put it on!


Maddy loves the Christmas lights and all the shiny ornaments. Luckily, she can't get to them! Now, if I could only figure out how to keep the cat away from it!

As some of you might know, Jason and I own a pizzeria. We (most of the time) love what we do and the freedom that owning our own business brings. The economy has hit everyone hard, some more than others. Things had been going alright for us until about 4 months ago, when we hit the slow season here in our little mountain community. We have fallen behind on alot of bills and taxes and are in danger of losing everything. We have managed to stay up on our house payments and rent for the restaurant, but it's been a HUGE struggle just to do that. We still have a year and a half left on our lease for this building, but I really don't know if we can even survive that long. Please pray that our business picks up and that we can figure out a way to keep from filing bankruptcy. It's disappointing to me that we are in this situation, we have worked really hard to build up our business. Last summer we moved to a larger location because things were going well, and looking back now, I feel like that was a very bad idea. Nothing we can do about it now, but as I said before, things are getting worse every day.
I haven't vocalized this publicly before, but we need all the prayers we can get! Thank you all very much.

p.s. Maddy is doing great, I think she's hitting a growth spurt, because she's been waking up 2 to 3 times in the middle of the night to eat! No teeth yet either, but hopefully soon!

As most of you know, Miss Maddy and mommy took a trip to Missouri for Thanksgiving. I really wanted to see my beautiful new niece, and it worked out well that Thanksgiving was coming up! Maddy had a great time, and ate lots of mashed potatoes and turkey at Grandma and Grandpa Hester's house. We went to my Grandma Joyce's house too and she was very surprised to see us! Here are some pictures!

Oh man. It's good to be home.
Don't get me wrong, I loved spending time with my family in KC, and it sucked having to say goodbye to them, but I missed my husband, and our pets, and my own bed. I think Maddy missed her bed too. So, I can hardly keep my eyes open and am gonna go to bed. I think that tomorrow I will post some great pictures of my nieces and some of the rest of my family too!
Goodnight!

Well, tomorrow we (Maddy and myself) leave for KC to visit my sister and her new baby! I am so thankful that I get to spend Thanksgiving with my family (though am totally bummed that my husband won't be there). I haven't got to spend a holiday with my family in a very long time! It will be very nice!

I've made a list, checked it twice, gonna find out whose...wait, wrong time of year. Though it's getting pretty close to Christmas, geez...ANYWAY, this will be the first time that I have traveled with Madeline by myself, so I am a bit nervous! I think that I have everything packed and ready to go though, so manuevering the stroller with our luggage tomorrow will be the big challenge. It shouldn't be too bad. Just the line to the ticket counter and then at baggage claim in KC.

I totally forgot about "Not Me Monday" because I have been cleaning like a maniac all day today. I got completely, well, almost completely caught up on laundry and cleaned the whole house. I am the type of person who does not like coming home to a dirty house after being on vacation. So, it's up to my husband to keep it clean. *fingers crossed*
Back to "Not Me Monday", I didn't have anything exciting this week anyway. Maybe next week!

Well, I probably won't be posting anything until I get back from vacation, so I hope that everyone has a very good Thanksgiving with their families and friends. And, don't forget to be thankful for the things you have!

I have been sitting here staring at the computer screen, debating whether or not to even type anything in. Why, you ask? Because my life is boring! Very boring indeed. But, honestly, that is alright with me.
We took a trip to Grandma's house today. We hadn't been down to the "big city" in awhile, so Maddy and I took a trip down the mountain. I had some errands to run for the restaurant, including going to the liquor store, so she stayed at Grandma's. I suppose I could have taken her with me, but I always feel a bit strange when I do that. It seems kinda odd to take a 7 month old into a liquor store and proceed to buy a couple hundred bucks worth of booze. People look at me funny enough when I have that much alcohol in my cart, I can imagine the looks I'd get if Maddy was with me!
Afterwards, I headed to the grocery store to buy some stuff to (finally) made some baby food! I was running dangerously low on alot of things, and we were all out of the Earth's Best food that we use for backup. I got lots of fruits and veggies and have lots of good recipes planned. Here's a sample of what Maddy is gonna get to eat for the next week or so...
Egg Yolk and Veggie Scramble
Tropical Fruit Puree
Green Beans and Peppered Rice
Brown Rice Chicken and Peach Stew (sounds weird, I know, but I think it'll be good)
Beef Zucchini Barley
Chicken Mango Risotto (yes, I stole that one from Earth's Best)
Plum Banana Oatmeal
Apple Yogurt Oatmeal
Sweet Pea Turkey Brown Rice
and more!
I'm trying to figure out how to best do this. The only thing I am not sure on is how to store the meats. I'm just not sure if I can freeze them after pureeing them or not. It would certainly make things easier, but I want to make sure that it will still taste alright. I'll freeze everything individually in ice cube trays and then can mix them altogether as needed. I'm thinking that will work the best since I have multiple recipes using lots of the same ingredients.
Maybe tomorrow I will take some pictures of my wonderful creations!
Oh, and as for me, I might eat some of this stuff before I puree it, cause some of it sounds pretty dang good!

For those of you who don't follow MckMama, click on over to www.mycharmingkids.net and click on the "Not Me Monday" icon.

Well, this week, I most certainly did not eat about 5 chocolate chip cookies for breakfast, nope, not me!

And, I would never ever have dreamed of checking my daughter's diaper and finding a huge poopy in there, only to inform my husband that I was getting in the shower and that he needed to check her diaper cause it was stinky, just so I wouldn't have to change it and rinse it out! (we cloth diaper!)

Have you ever subjected your very tolerant wonderful doggie to minutes of torture (using doggie as leverage to pull to standing) just to get a couple of minutes to yourself to check your email? Yeah, me neither.

And I have never turned on Nick Jr. to watch the Wonder Pets myself, but insisted to my husband that we can't change the channel because our daughter is totally engrossed in it!

Finally, last but not least, I have never had Maddy wake up at 8 in the morning and not want to go back to sleep, so what did I NOT do? I did NOT put her back in her crib with some toys and proceed to lay on her floor with my pillow and blanket so she could see me and go back to sleep myself for an hour! NOT ME!

Well, that was my first "Not Me Monday" post. I couldn't think of a whole lot I did this week. Maybe next week will be more exciting! lol!

well, Maddy's rash is getting better. I'm still not sure what it is, but the salve is helping and I plan on giving her another oatmeal and chamomile oil bath tonight. Hopefully within a few days, it will be completely gone. It has never seemed to bother her though.
Isn't it so much fun to watch a child grow and learn? I just love this phase right now. She seems to learn quickly and has so much fun with everything! The waving is sooooo cute! Madeline pretty much waves at everything and people she knows. She won't wave at strangers though. She just stares 'em down!
In the last month or so, she's figured out how to turn on her toys with buttons. She has a ball popper that she LOVES and has figured out how to turn it on. She likes it when the balls fly out of the toy, so she can put them back in herself though.
And lets not forget the Wonder Pets! Madeline adores it. She especially likes it when they sing, because she has Ming Ming (the duck, for those not savvy with the show). And whenever we sing the song, she turns to the tv to find them, even if it isn't on. I love it!
Well, I might not update for awhile, but just wanted to share with you about the rash. But, if she reaches any milestones or does anything cool, I'll blog about it. But, day to day life is pretty boring around here, so there isn't much to write about consistently!
i thought that i would share this pic of her, she fell asleep on grandma's lap just watching tv. she never does that! but, i love the expression on her face so i thought i would post it!

Well, we ended up going to the doctor on Thursday. Dr. L was very thorough and checked Maddy over from head to toe. And, *drumroll please* she has.....A RASH! lol!!!! So, we really didn't find anything out, except for she was pretty sure that Madeline's rash was not being caused by bacteria or a virus. We went through anything and everything that could have caused it, but couldn't come to any conclusions. We haven't changed soaps, or introduced new foods, or anything like that. But, the more I look at it, I think that it is a mild case of eczema of some sort.
It doesn't seem to itch her, but today the bumps seemed more scaly and dry. They were never fluid filled or anything before, but they looked more similar to heat rash.
So, I did some research and before bed gave Maddy a lukewarm bath. I put a drop of chamomile essential oil, plus a chamomile tea bag in the bath. I also put some whole oats in an old sock and put that in the bath too. It seemed to help soothe her skin; it definitely took some of the redness away. Then after her bath, I put some salve on her that I make (calendula oil, shea butter, coconut oil, and beeswax). She was VERY relaxed and went to sleep very quickly. I am hoping that in the morning, the rash will have subsided some. I don't want to use topical steroids unless nothing else works. Fingers crossed that this natural approach works!
Oh yeah, Maddy waved tonight!!! I don't think she knows exactly what it means, but for the last week or so, I have been opening and closing my palm (you know, a baby wave) and telling Maddy to wave. I try to do it when I leave for work. I will wave and say "bye bye". So, tonight I started waving at her again and she waved back. Then for the next 15 minutes she would periodically look down and her hand and wave to herself. It was hilarious. She was so proud! It was cute!
I will keep you posted on the rash. Let's pray for healing.
xoxo

Maddy has a rash. A strange one. So, I am hoping that I can get her into the doctor's office tomorrow. She doesn't seem to be bothered by it, but it's freakin me out! The best way to describe it is that it is similar to heat rash, but i don't think it is. It's a whole bunch of very small red bumps, some grouped together in big clumps, but most are by themselves. Some are flesh colored that you can feel, but can't see unless the right light hits it.
My dilemma is that I don't want to take her to the doctor's office with a whole bunch of sick kids, and chance her really getting sick ( if she doesn't have something already ). I left them a message, so we shall see what they say.
No new news really. No more "walking". She has let go of the (insert object here; table, chair, couch, ect.) and wobbled a bit and then fell down or caught herself, but no attempts at walking. Which is fine with me. I already chase her around the house as it is. The last few days, she has been pulling herself up to standing using the knobs on the kitchen cabinets. Which isn't good, because I have not put child locks on them yet. So, I will be doing that on my next day off!
With the exception of the rash, things are going well. She's eating more solid foods, discovering the joy of splashing the water with her tub toys, and discovering her personality. She knows what she wants and is constantly figuring out ways to achieve her goals. She loves to explore and LOVES her doggy and kitty. Madeline is fascinated by music, and loves to watch daddy play the harmonica, though when she tries, she just chews on it :) and she loves the stringed instruments. Daddy has a guitar, a mandolin, and a banjo and her little face just lights up whenever he starts playing. It's so cute!
She is a gorgeous, smart, and loving baby girl! We are so lucky to have her as our daughter!
Now if we could just figure this rash out.......

Soooo, I haven't posted in about 2 months. I didn't think that anyone read it, but apparently, my dear cousin Amber does. So, if nobody else reads it, this is for you! lol!
Maddy has been doing very well the last two months. She started crawling around 5 1/2 months. Once we came back from Missouri, she started really taking off. At about a week past 6 months, she started pulling herself up to standing holding onto things, followed shortly by walking around while holding onto them!
My husband *swears* that she took two steps completely unassisted, but I think it was a fluke. She shows absolutely no signs of even attempting that. She is very careful when letting go of anything while standing up!
The solid food eating is going well. She eats about a jar a day total. Pretty good I would say. We are still breastfeeding, though not quite as much since I have finally gone back to work 4 to 5 days a week. So, because of that, my milk supply has dropped off. I am working on it, but fenugreek capsules make me want to puke, so that is NOT gonna work!
All in all, she is growing and developing wonderfully. We just went to the doctor last week and she is 26 1/2 inches long and 15lbs 4oz. Madeline has dropped off a bit in the weight department but had another little growth spurt in terms of height. Still no teeth though, which is driving me nuts! Poor thing gnaws on anything she can find. I feel bad for her. I wish they would just break through already!
Also, she's become a bit whiny if she doesn't get her way the past few weeks. Like, if I don't pay enough attention to her, or she wants something I take away, or is tired, she YELLS at me, and if I am in reach, hits me too!!! I hope, hope, hope this does not continue once she can talk!! I'm sure we won't be that lucky!!! I am not sure what route to go on discipline, because it's slightly difficult to discipline a 7 month old. Right now, I just say things like, "it's not nice to hit" and "please don't yell at Mommy". I know she doesn't get it yet, but hopefully with enough reiteration, she will one day soon!
Well, that's it for now...as always, I leave you with pictures!

So, today was a big day for Miss Maddy! She had solid food for the first time! We mixed some oatmeal cereal with some breastmilk and a little bit of pears. She didn't really know what to think at first, but then she was grabbing the spoon and trying to feed herself! It was cute and I got pictures!!! She didn't eat much, but from what I read, she was only supposed to eat about a tablespoon, so that is what I gave her. *WARNING!* BREAST TALK! LOL! I am not quite sure what to do about this one, but lately she's been grabbing ahold of my breast and pushing it away so she can "play" with it. Sometimes she will eat, sometimes she won't. I am not sure what to do about this. Especially if I am at work, I don't like sitting there with my boob hanging out waiting on her to decide whether or not she wants to eat. Like, just now, she ate some pears and cereal, and then I offered her the breast, and she literally ate for about 30 to 45 seconds and then just wanted to play with it. But, now she's being all fussy, like she's hungry! It's frustrating sometimes. Well, that's about it, here's some pictures of Maddy trying her food!
jet

So, I have been thinking that since this upcoming trip to Missouri is our first with the baby, that maybe I should make a list. I have convinced myself that if I don't, I will forget something vitally important.
But, what do you bring along for a 5 month old? I mean, besides the obvious things like clothes, diapers, and toys? We are bringing the travel stroller and carseat with us, since we are renting a car, this will definitely make things easier. But, should I bring my big electric breast pump, or just the hand pump? How many blankets should I bring? Do I bring the boppy? She still uses it for lots of things, but it is kinda big and will take up alot of space in the suitcase. I don't want to go overboard and spend tons of money checking extra bags, but I don't want to forget things either.
Oh, another thing...carry on bags. Obviously, the diaper bag will be my carry-on, but does anyone know if I can bring my little bottle of hand sanitizer in my carry on? or will it get confiscated? Not that it's a big deal, they don't cost much, but we are gonna be on a plane, with lots of germs. It would be nice to have it!
The flight is only about 1 hour and 45 minutes, but I was wondering if maybe I should bring the laptop on the plane too and put a movie on for her? She's pretty interested in my computer and the tv, so maybe it would keep her occupied. I hope she does alright, and doesn't FREAK out the whole time. Sometimes the only thing that stops her from crying is walking, and we can't exactly do that on the plane.
Just pray for us. If we are lucky, she might nap while we are in the air. Boy, wouldn't that be nice?
jet

Wow. I can't believe that Madeline is 5 months old already. Crazy. It seems like just yesterday that we were in the hospital and I was going through labor. She is such a good baby. Always smiling and laughing. She has the best laugh ever! It always makes me feel better, no matter what is going on!
She loves to bounce in her jumperoo, so much that more often than not when we take her out of it, she continues to bounce on her own! It's so cute.
No "real" crawling yet, but she's got the half scoot, half crawl thing down if she wants something. But...most of the time, she will get up on her hands and knees and rock back and forth. And yell. Sometimes alot.
No teeth yet either, but her poor little gums are swollen, as the doctor pointed out to me last Thursday. We give her Hyland's teething tablets, and they do seem to help.
The puking has gotten a bit better. I have ordered some gripe water, but haven't received it yet. I am hoping to get it soon, so we can try it out.
All in all, Maddy is doing wonderful and is such a blessing to have! I have to remind myself every day to treasure each and every moment, she'll be a teenager before I know it, and I might not be as cool to her as I am now! haha!

Well, this post isn't so much about Maddy, but I needed a place to vent!!! Please pray for Jason and I. We are going through a rough patch with the business. It seems like it is all consuming lately, and more and more stress than it's worth. We just had a manager quit, although it won't be for about a month, we are sad to see her go. She was a big help. But, no matter what it seems, we have people constantly calling in sick or issues with the computer, or equipment...it's just always something. Most of the time, it's easy to let it roll off your shoulders and just deal with it, because, well, that's my job. But lately, it's just never-ending.
The only problem is the economy isn't good, and neither Jason or I have a degree in anything or even skills to get a good paying job. The restaurant makes money, it manages to keep a roof over our heads, clothes on our backs, and food in our bellies. We really don't work that many hours a week, and have fixed our schedules to where we don't have to pay for a babysitter. There is no way that we could find jobs that would pay our bills and keep our lifestyle the way we really need it to be!
So, if you could, just pray that we can get some of this stuff worked out. It will be nice to get away to Missouri to see our friends and family for awhile. We definitely need the break.
I know that we are fortunate to be in the position we are, being your own boss is great, and with the way things are, at least we are still managing to pay the bills! I am just hoping that business stays okay through the slow season, and that once ski season hits again, we will have a solid staff of people working for us. One issue is definitely staffing. It's hard to judge on how much front of house staff we need. If we only have 1 server, half the time, they end up getting slammed all at once, and customers get upset, but then if we have 2 servers during the week, it's dead, nobody makes any money, and we have to pay for an extra person that we can't really afford! agggggghhh!!!!!!!!!!! What to do???? Just pray that God gives us guidance to make these decisions.

On another note, Maddy is doing well, she's getting the crawling thing down. She does a combination of crawling and scooting. It's very cute! She's a bit fussy today, but super drooly, I know her gums hurt! Poor thing! She's sleeping right now, so I should try to get some paperwork done!!! Thanks for letting me vent!
Jet

HI all! I was doing a good job at updating this, but have kinda fell off again! Imagine that!!! Anyways, we went to the doctor on Thursday, and Maddy is doing well. She weighs 14lbs 4oz and is 25 1/2 inches long! Big girl!!!! It was so different from the last time we went, which was 2 months ago. She was so interested in everything and was trying to steal the stethoscope, the tape measure, and the paper off the table! She wanted everything!!
Our doctor, Dr S. ( I can't remember his full last name!) was just floored by how strong Maddy is. Jason and I have thought that she was pretty strong, but honestly, we haven't been around alot of babies, so we weren't sure! He didn't believe me when I told him that she gets on her hands and knees and rocks back and forth. He didn't think that I meant all the time, but she does ALL the time! She can pretty much sit up by herself now too, which is cool.
The one thing that I found to be a relief was that he didn't pressure me at all about shots. She was due again, but as I have said before, we aren't comfortable with vaccinations yet, so we don't do them. I guess he looked at her chart, and saw we had declined them before, because all he said was..Well, enjoy your trip to Missouri, and no shots today. We will see you in a few months. I was kinda shocked. I had planned on having a pretty long discussion with him about it, because I was SURE that he was gonna try to talk me into it! He was very respectful! I was glad about that, because I didn't feel up to rehashing everything again!
All in all, she's just about as perfect as you can get! We are soooo lucky, and we know that! We don't take anything for granted at all!
To all our friends and family in Missouri, we will see you a few weeks. Pray that Maddy does good on the flight out there! Hopefully the change of environment won't be too hard on her!
Jet

So, I am not sure exactly what happened, but I noticed earlier this afternoon that Maddy has a fat lip! I was mortified, of course, because I have NO IDEA when it happened. I think that she either A) bonked her face on the crib while screaming bloody murder trying to get out last night, or B) bonked her face on our hardwood floors in the living room when she scooted/crawled off the rug. She keeps chewing on it too. I gave her some teething tablets again, but they haven't stopped her from chewing on her lip or her hands! Mommy feels bad for her.
She is still throwing up a substantial amount of milk after she eats. I am not sure if she is eating too much at a time, although I do try to pace her. She can be a piggy wiggy! Like always, I try to keep her sitting upright after eating, and as long as she doesn't squirm a whole lot (yeah right!) she's fine. She is still having plenty of wet diapers throughout the day, so I am hesitant to say anything to the pediatrician about it. I don't want them to put her on any medication that isn't really necessary.
Aunt Andrea, I tried your suggestion about the oxygen, but she literally ripped the cannula off her face as soon as i got it on! And then wouldn't let me come near her face with it again. Stubborn little thing....I can't IMAGINE where she gets it from! :)
The more I think about it, the more I think that her tummy is just upset from all of the spit she's swallowing. So, unless her diapers aren't wet, or she seems to be in pain, I am not going to stress on it!
As always, please pray for Jimmie and the Gravitts! I haven't heard anything today yet, but I am hoping they are a step closer to figuring out what is wrong with him!
jet

I think that Maddy has gotten some kind of a bug. She's not feverish or anything, but she is puking constantly today. I try to get her to lay still after eating, but that has gotten to be impossible. She doesn't want to nap at all, the only time she has slept today has been in the car seat. Right now I have been listening to her scream for the last 10 minutes fighting sleep. She is still having wet diapers, so that is good.
I don't know if it has to do with the teething or not. I tried to give her some teething tablets, but immediately after I gave them to her, she puked. So, I don't know if they did any good or not. She acted like she wanted to eat more as well, but every time I feed her, she pukes up half (at least) of what she eats. She doesn't seem uncomfortable when eating, but something is bothering her, that's for sure!
Part of me thinks that the large amount of puke today might be due to her swallowing so much of her saliva today. She has had something in her mouth all day and has gone through several bibs and tops from all the slobber.
Well, I think that she finally might have gone to sleep. Let's hope so, I have barely had time to do anything today!
Also, I am sure that most of you who actually read this know, but please pray for Jimmie and Rach and Justin. Jimmie had to be admitted to the hospital today. He hasn't been eating well, and things have gotten to the point where hospitalization has been necessary. Let's pray that it is a short stay and the doctors can give them some answers!
I know that I said I would be posting pics, but I am a liar! :) They are on my facebook page anyway, so you could look at them there!
Jet

Well, lil miss, just today, has decided to start pulling up on her hands and knees! She rocks back and forth, not crawling yet, but she's getting so close! It is so cute! She actually does the "plank" position and "downward facing dog"! She likes yoga already! hehe!!! I was so excited about this, I had to post it! I have some pics on my phone, but I haven't uploaded them to my computer yet, so I will post some pics tomorrow! She is so incredibly strong, it amazes me every day! What a gift from God she is! We are so thankful for our squirmy worm.
Oh, yeah, speaking of squirmy worms, she has figured out how to squirm her way out of her nap nanny. She gets her legs out of it and them tries to crawl out of it completely. So, we are now just using it for naps. A shame really, the thing seems super comfy. I wish they made an adult size nap nanny!
I need to get Maddy to bed, so buenos noches everyone and I will post some pics in the next couple of days!

Quick update, Maddy is doing much better with laying down in her crib. The last 2 nights have been totally fine. I think that she might have just been uncomfortable that night. She was drooling an awful lot!
Nothing too new to report. We went to Denver tonight to run some errands and she did great. She likes (little) road trips!
One funny thing...well, it's funny now, slightly scary at the time!
I got home and Jason was gone, and I needed to unload groceries. So, I strapped Madeline into her nap nanny and went out to the car. Well, apparently, I must not have tightened the straps all the way, because when I came back in the house, she had somehow managed to push herself out of the harness and off the side of the nap nanny. She still had one foot hooked in the harness, but most of her was hanging off the side of it! I am glad that thing sits on the floor and is only a few inches high! I was MORTIFIED! She was fine, apparently, she dropped Dewie Ducky and was trying to get him back! Gotta love it! Needless to say, Mommy will be making absolutely sure that she is strapped in tight from now on!!! I remember why we call her squirmy wormy!
That's it for tonight! Have a wonderful night, and wish me luck, I am attempting to make cannolis for the first time tomorrow!!!
Jet

Hi all! So, Miss Madeline has decided to SCREAM, SCREAM, SCREAM whenever she gets tired! It is oh so much fun. I am not sure what to do. I try rocking her, singing to her, feeding her, everything. I make sure she has a clean diaper and is as comfortable as possible! She ends up crying herself to sleep every time I lay her down for a nap.
We use the nap nanny about half the time, and she usually has no problem falling asleep in it, but when I lay her down in her crib, she's been very unhappy about it! I thought that maybe she was having some reflux again, so I got a crib wedge, and have now decided that the reflux wasn't an issue. It hasn't really helped.
Could it just be the teething? I hope it is just a phase. Pray for us, because I feel AWFUL letting her cry, but nothing that I seem to do helps. Poor girl!
Other than that, she's doing well. She went to Denver with me today and was so good the whole time! Mommy wasn't though! Mommy forgot the diaper bag! Luckily, there was a Target nearby, and I got some disposables to manage until we got home. I needed to get some anyway, since we cloth diaper, the disposables I had are now too small since we don't use them much. I suppose that I will just donate them to the WIC office. I know they can always use them!
So, that is about it for now. If anyone has any suggestions on how to get her to sleep without just letting her "cry it out" I would love it!
Thanks!!!
I leave you with a few pictures!!

Today has been fun! Not really, but hey, that's how these things go I suppose! Madeline was not very cooperative with Daddy today. I went to work for a bit to help out, and then (finally!) headed up to the DMV to get my driver's license changed to my married name. Jason called me, and all I hear is Maddy SCREAMING in the background...poor baby. The long and short of it is that all baby girl has wanted to do today is eat, gnaw on things, poop, scream, and sleep. Unfortunately, not much of the sleep though!

Well, I got home, and sure enough, she's screaming, so I loaded her up in the stroller and her, Shena, and I went for a walk. It was a beautiful day, and Madeline loves being outside, so she calmed down and was pretty chilled out for a few hours!

The teething tablets seem to help quite a bit, but I have discovered that 2 is the limit I can give her at at time, if any more, she pukes them up! Oh how fun! So, we alternate between the tablets and the mesh feeder with an ice cube in it!

She has wanted to eat alot today, so I have pretty much been feeding her on demand, something I normally don't do. I don't know if I want to do it much, it seems like she spits up alot more when I feed her like that. She also poops a ton! We cloth diaper, and she has gone through so many of her diapers today. Looks like we will have to put a disposable or two on her!

Well, that's it for today, not much to report! I am gonna try to start updating this a bit more, as this is cheaper than using a ton of minutes on my cell phone calling lots of people! lol!!

More pictures to come soon I promise! Maddy has been making this hilarious face where she wrinkles up her nose and starts puffing her breath out. It's hilarious!!!!!!! I will try to capture that face on camera, although I have a few more cute faces that I have mananged to capture too.

Jennette

I usually post lots of updates on facebook, but there is only so much that I can do there. Madeline is doing marvelous, I am happy to say. Right now she is teething, well, I shouldn't say right now, she's been doing it for awhile. It's been quite a bit worse the last week or so though. Lots of drooling, chewing of hands, and lots and lots of poopy diapers! We have started trying different things to relieve the pain, and so far she likes the mesh feeders. We put an ice cube in there and she goes to town! She isn't a big fan of the teething rings if they are cold, but doesn't mind them if they are warm!

So, I think that Maddy is a bit under the weather. She's been coughing for a few days, and now today she's been pooping a TON! She was EXTREMELY fussy and didn't want to sleep at all either. I could just be being the paranoid mommy, but I really think that she isn't feeling well. If you could, say a little prayer that she starts feeling better. I really don't want to put her on antibiotics, and will only do so as a last resort. I haven't been feeling great myself, I have a tooth that needs pulled, so I am wondering if that has something to do with it....hmmmmm...
I am getting this tooth taken care of as soon as they can get me in. It cracked and it really really hurts. I also have a cavity on the other side of my mouth, so eating has been a bit uncomfortable lately!
I just wanted to post to ask for the extra prayers! Thanks!!
Jet

Well, I got a message from the doctors office(apparently I missed the call!), and Maddy still needs to be on oxygen...so they say. The probe we got this time didn't conform to her foot well at all, it seemed very old and didn't bend alot. So, it kept sliding up her foot, down her foot, everywhere but the right spot! When this happened the readings would dip into the 80's, but as soon as I fixed it, it would jump back up to the 90's. I would like to explain this to the doctors. However, they said she just needs it now while she sleeps. Her levels are in the upper 90's when she is awake, so she's fine there!
We have Gabriella's O2 sensor from her stay in the NICU, the nurse put it in her box of things they gave us, and I think that I might use that one the next time around. It is a much newer, much better designed sensor and I think that it would give more accurate readings. I just hope it compatible with the machine.
Anyhow, I also think that we are going to go ahead and switch to the family practice doctor instead of waiting until Maddy comes off the oxygen. We can still use the same oxygen company, so there is really no need to wait!
Besides the oxygen thing, things are going well, although Maddy has seemed to have her days and nights extremely backwards lately! she's been waking up in the evenings around 11 or so, and not really going back to sleep for any length of time until almost 6 in the morning!!! I guess it's a good thing we are night owls!
She has also started smiling at us now, it's so cute!!! I have yet to capture one of those smiles on camera, but I know I will soon!
So, I am thinking that there will be another O2 test ordered when we go in for her 2 month checkup. Jana gave me a TKM tip to help with her O2 levels at night. She said to put the pad of Maddy's thumb to the nailbed of the ring finger and tape it when she is sleeping. Her husband had trouble with his oxygen when they moved to Denver and within a few nights of doing that, it wasn't an issue anymore! Maddy is really squirmy, especially with her hands, but we are going to try it tonight.
Well, I hear a little girl that's fussy, so I should go. I will keep you all updated!
Jet

hey everyone! so, here are some pics from Tiff's visit. I somehow didn't manage to get one of us all together. I think my mom might have one of me, Tiff, and the girls. I will have to get it from her! Anyways, things are going alright here. Not much new to report. Maddy is getting bigger every day and starting to develop a personality. She doesn't like to sleep much it seems. She fights it when she's tired. She's stubborn! Must get that from her Daddy...lol....not me!


We go back to the doctor on the first for her 1 month visit. They will order another overnight oxygen test then and we will pray pray pray that she passes that one!


After she is off the oxygen, we have decided to switch to a family care physician that we know instead of the pediatrician's office. They won't hassle us about not vaccinating her. It is our personal decision, and I don't want to feel pressured or like I am a bad parent for choosing to wait if we ever do vaccinate!


That's it for now! Will post again soon!