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christinamvance's JournalWednesday, January 11, 20067:03PM - Updates! Updates! Updates!Wow, my last entry was from November 17th and was all about how I thought ladybugs were disappearing from our house. The funny thing is that as of this morning, I'm still finding ladybugs in our house. So much for that! Anyway, lots has happend since November. A quick overview of events....we've taken Henry back and forth to Peoria 3 times to see a gastroenterologist and have testing done to check on his constipation only (and thankfully) to find that he's fine. The doctor's conclusion after seeing nothing wrong and nothing that would indicate a problem was that "his stooling pattern has changed" and will probably change again once he starts on solids. So that was a relief...he still usually goes 2-3 days between poops, but apparently that's just his new pattern. They told us to keep giving him a laxative in 2 oz of juice every day...so we do that..he loves his juice. He's also learned to hold his own bottle and can put it back in his mouth when it falls out. He also weighs (as of Dec.30) 17lbs 13 oz and is 26 3/4 inches long. He's in the 75%ile for his weight, height and head circumference. We're thrilled about the height and hoping that keeps up. He's growing like crazy. At his appointment just two weeks prior to the latest weigh-in he weighed 16lbs15oz and was 26 inches long. So in two weeks almost a pound and almost an inch. On his 5-month birthday he started sitting up with lots of assistance. He hunches forward like a frog. Since he's been sitting on his own he's protesting when we have to lay him down. Now he sits inside his boppy lots and plays with his toys. It's so fun and strange to see him reaching for toys and playing with them on his own. He also has started squealing...happy, loud screams. We've celebrated Christmas. Our first one with a baby! It was so much fun to have Henry and Gabe for Christmas. Gabe is crawling and almost walking. He's taken steps between Sara and Dan and loves to stand up and hold on to people's hands and walk EVERYWHERE. He is so much fun. It's so hard to believe that he's already 9 months old. I'm looking forward to when he and Henry can play together. They definitely notice eachother now, but mostly their interaction is Gabe reaching for Henry while Henry lays on a blanket next to him. Now that Henry is sitting up, maybe they'll start interacting more. It's going to be such a blessing to have babies so close together. They have such different personalities, so it's going to be fun watching them together as they grow up. Current mood: accomplished...finally! Thursday, November 17, 20059:33AM - LadybugsSomething great about this cold weather is that it hopefully means no more ladybugs. For just the past few weeks they have been multiplying throughout our house, mostly by windows. I haven't seen any in the past few days, so hopefully they are done for the year. Wednesday, November 16, 20052:29PM - First snow and still waitingIt is so absolutely cold outside today. It's snow flurrying and super windy. The sun is starting to peek out though which is nice on such a freezing cold day. I was watching the news this morning while I was feeding Henry before work and in North Carolina and South Carolina it's going to be in the upper 80's today. Sometimes I think I was really meant to live in a place like that..I just don't love this cold weather. Although I've never met anyone who lives for the winter. I once found a quote, I'm not sure where, but it always resonates with me in these long winter months,"In the depth of winter, I finally learned that there lay within me an invincible summer." Summer is without a doubt my favorite time of the year. I love the warm weather, I love that everything is in bloom, I love that you can go outside at night and still feel hot without a coat, I love the crickets chirping, I love fireflies, I love swimming, I love walking, rollerblading, etc, etc...I love summer! Today is our first snow of the year...none of it is sticking, but there are lots of flakes flurrying. It's Henry's first snow! Current mood:  relaxedMonday, November 14, 20052:55PM - Henry's tummyI just called Dr. Bandy's office and spoke to his nurse. She is going to check with Dr. Bandy about some other possible remedies for Henry's constipation. I told her that we'd tried taking his temperature rectally as suggested, and tried 1/2 oz nursery water, and 1/2 ounce of pear juice equally diluted with nursery water and that none of these things have worked so far. She thinks we need to up the amount of pear juice that he is getting to up to 4 oz. a day and not dilute it with any nursery water. But she's going to check with Dr. Bandy because she said it might be that Henry needs pear nectar which is stronger than the Gerber pear juice. Who even knew that pear juice helped relieve constipation? I thought prunes were the fruit of choice. I'm just waiting now to hear back about what we should do... Current mood:  unproductive-but needing to be12:18PM - 3 childrenI'm not ready to have 3 children yet! Last night we babysat for Isaac and Caleb (5 and 3 years old) and they spent the night here and then I dropped them off at school this morning. They are really great, well-behaved boys, but oh my goodness it was so exhausting taking care of them and a baby! Just the little things like getting them up, getting their teeth brushed, hair combed (it was crazy morning hair), getting them dressed, feeding them breakfast and getting their shoes and coats on just so they could get to school was so exhausting! By the time I got home at 8am from dropping them off I was ready for a nap. But I settled for a cup of decaf coffee because Henry needed to eat. I guess it's a good thing you don't wake up one morning and have a 5 year old, 3 year old and 3 1/2 month old. It's good that it's gradual. I would never be ready for more children otherwise. Current mood:  sleepy11:25AM - A week away...Henry and I got home on Friday from Rockford. We spent the week there with my mom while Patrick was in Dallas. I was nervous about how everything would go...how much I would need to pack, how I would even be able to fit all that I packed into my car, how Henry would do on his schedule, how well he would sleep and if he would sleep, etc....but everything went really well and Henry did great. We were busy with lots of visiting, but it was still such a nice break...because I wasn't home looking around at all of the things I could be doing in our house like cleaning and organizing, it really felt like a mini-vacation. Wednesday, November 2, 20052:33PM - emotionsLately I have been so emotional, it seems like everything makes me cry, even just thinking about something makes me cry. Yesterday Henry was in his swing and I was sitting on the floor in front of him talking to him while he was swinging and looking at his hair made me cry. Yes, his hair! I was just thinking of the miracle that every hair on his body is and just how he was created from virtually nothing and now he is here by the grace of God and he's a living, breathing, smiling, cooing, laughing, cuddling real baby. It still amazes me. Then today I was rocking him to sleep and I took him outside to sit on the porch swing since it is absolutely beautiful outside today (mid 60's), and then I walked with him up and down the driveway to look at the trees and to be in the sun. As I was holding him cradled in my arms I started crying as I realized that he won't always fit in my arms. It's just amazing me lately and I'm reflecting a lot lately and getting really emotional about things for some reason. Current mood:  tiredTuesday, November 1, 20057:14AM - First boo booLast night Henry had his first boo boo. He was sitting on Patrick's lap while we were eating dinner in the living room. He started fussing while in his bouncy seat just a little bit so Patrick picked him up to sit with him. Well we were using tv trays for our dinners and Henry is still learning to get his balance, so his sweet little head (he's still pretty top heavy) leaned forward abruptly and bumped right into Patrick's tray. He paused for just a second and then started crying. It was so sad because it was the first time he's cried from real pain caused by an ouwie that could have been avoided. As we were snuggling him and comforting him I realized that this would be the first of many many boo boos to come from accidents and falling down and bumping his head, etc. He stopped crying fairly quickly, but a little red mark remained above his left eyebrow from his little injury. It was gone within a few minutes and he's all better now. It was just the saddest thing. Current mood: restedMonday, October 31, 20052:34PM - MailOne quick thought....isn't mail weird? For example, I have several things that we're mailing out today, and I was just thinking, they're in our mailbox right now, but soon someone will come and pick them up and they will show up at someone else's house. I just am in awe of the postal service right now. Ok, now I'm going to try to organize our office while Henry in napping.... Current mood:  pensive1:15PM - Halloween FunHow fitting that my little pumpkin should be a pumpkin for Halloween! I wasn't even sure if we were going to end up getting a costume for Henry, I saw so many darling things online and when I was out shopping over the past few weeks, but I never bought anything because I was being indecisive. Then last week we were out of town and then I had a conference at MCC all day Saturday, so yesterday Patrick and I realized Henry didn't have anything to wear on his first Halloween. Well, by the Sunday before Halloween there wasn't much left to choose from, so we ended up finding a pumpkin costume at Target. It's not the cutest or most elaborate thing...just a one piece (like a sleeper with feet) orange velour outfit with a pumpkin face and a matching hat with a green stem. It's not the greatest costume, but Henry looks darling in it. I dressed him up this morning and we went to MCC to the Halloween parade to watch all of the children parade around the playground in their costumes and then listened to their Halloween songs. It was fun to see all of my sweet little students and all of their parents were there, so they got to meet Henry for the first time. I was planning to leave him in his pumpkin outfit for the day (we're going to Mike and Robin's house tonight to pass out candy and toast pumpkin seeds with some friends) but when I was changing his diaper before lunch he peed all over it! He surprised me (I don't know why it still surprises me), but he surprised himself more because it sprayed upwards and went all over his face and into his ear and eye. YUCK. Poor little thing, he had no idea that was coming. Current mood: contentTuesday, October 25, 20052:21PM - Funny hairWell...Henry did wake up earlier than usual...5:00. After I fed him I was just still too sleepy to get up for the day so I layed him back down in his crib and went back to bed for a bit. Finally at 7:00 thinking he would be up soon I got up and showered and ready so that I could feed him and be ready to go to Lapsit at the library when he woke up. He slept until 9:00 so I was able to get ready, fold laundry and pump. I'm trying to pump every morning to build up my supply in the freezer for when I'm working and also when we are out somewhere or to make it possible for me to go out and run errands or shop, etc. Ok so I heard Henry cooing and babbling so I went into his room to say good morning and I found him laying turned 180 degrees from how I'd layed him down. Usually he's laying in the same exact position that I lay him in when I pick him up in the morning..he's a pretty sound sleeper. His mattress is propped up with a blanket underneath at the head to help with his congestion, so it's probably a combination of being on a slant and starting to wiggle and move more when he sleeps. I was surprised to see him with the top of his head pressed against the bumper. He was just looking all around, probably curious to see his room from such a different angle. Then when I picked him up I thought that he looked so different and I could not figure out what it was. Eyes? No, still blue....finally I realized it was his hair and his hairline. His hair looks really full and brown right on top. It almost looks like he's wearing a toupee! I asked Patrick if he noticed anything when he was home for lunch and he said the same thing. It's the funniest thing. I think it's probably from the static from scooting around on his mattress. He's napping now. Lapsit was fun today...we had to stay late because we were making little memory books from our weeks there. The teacher is going to laminate them and mail them to us. There's going to be another session in December with a holiday theme. We'll probably sign up to go...Henry will probably be really aware of things around him then, too which will be fun. Monday, October 24, 20059:37PM - laughingHenry laughed today for the first time. It was the cutest and best sound in the world. I wanted to capture the moment so badly, and we have yet to own a video camera, so I recorded some with my cell phone voice recorder. It was so sweet and funny. I was just playing a version of peek-a-boo with him and every time I moved my hand away from my face and said "boo", he smiled really big and started laughing. It was so precious. I called Patrick at work so that he could hear him, too. Current mood: tiredThursday, October 20, 200510:04AM - good sleepI was so exhausted last night after not getting much sleep Tuesday night. I was cranky, too. It seemed like Henry was spitting up everything he ate and all night long. I was crabby with having to keep cleaning up "spills". Henry went to bed around 8:30 and then I fell asleep at 9 and we both slept until 7 this morning. I feel so much better after having a full night's sleep and I'm thankful that he slept all night too. Hopefully all of his waking Tuesday night was just an off-night fluke. Today it's raining and really dreary. I wanted to get so much done today, but now all I feel like doing is lounging around and taking the day off. I did take out some meat for dinner...I'll do that today at least! Current mood: relaxedWednesday, October 19, 20056:00PM - SSNIt's official! Henry is a US citizen...today his social security card arrived in the mail. It was weird to be flipping through the mail and see an official looking letter addressed to "Henry Andrew Vance". His first government mail. Something funny is that the directions say that the card must be signed "immediately" by the card holder. Hmmmm, how about a handprint? It's also a little bit weird that we're supposed to keep that card for life for him. It reminds me that it's time to get our office organized so that we have a safe place to store it for 18 years. Current mood: calmTuesday, October 18, 200511:14AM - Joy!Henry is such a joy. Last week I spent a whole day being worried about being a terrible mother and worrying about putting Henry on a set time schedule that I missed a whole day of realizing what a great joy Henry is. Since then every day God has been reminding me of the great blessing that our sweet little baby is. I just find so much joy in every day being with him. He is getting to be quite the talker. Generally as of the past week, if he's not eating or sleeping he's talking and talking. He is starting to love his bouncy seat. (Patrick and I were starting to think it was a waste!) Yesterday he was sitting in it after his bath and Patrick was watching TV and I was making our art project for Itty Bity Lapsit and he was so totally content. He moves his arms and kicks his legs a lot now too so he makes the seat bounce which he loves so he keeps moving his arms and legs which perpetuates the fun! He just talked and talked and smiled and cooed for almost an hour! Also he watched some TV here and there...that's another thing he is loving to do. I try to turn his seat so that he's not getting overstimulated by the flashing of the TV, but he cranes his neck in order to see it. Oh well...maybe it's time to get some Baby Einstein DVD's so he's learning while he's watching. Today at Itty Bitty Lapsit he did really well...he likes to lay on the blanket while I read to him and he was really content and pretty quiet just watching the other babies and sometimes looking at the book. Then towards the end, our teacher was giving us some directions and information for next week and he just watched her and talked and talked and talked to her. She even stopped what she was saying to comment about what a talker he was. Patrick sarcastically wonders where he gets it.(me, maybe??) Current mood:  JoyfulTuesday, October 11, 200511:54AM - Good dayToday's been a good day. God is so good! I woke up this morning to feed Henry at 5:45, then layed him back down because he was getting sleepy while eating. Then I got up and put a roast, red potatoes, and carrots in the crock pot, made chocolate chip cookies, folded a load of Henry's laundry, and showered-all while Henry was still napping. It was a great feeling to feel like I got so much accomplished. It's funny these days what small tasks feel like such great accomplishments! Then Henry and I went to the library for Itty Bitty Lapsit. He did great. We had to bring beach balls this time...but didn't know why until we got there. Well, we bounced our babies on them on their bottoms and then put them on their tummies and rolled them around on them. Henry was a really good baby there, but he had NO idea what I was doing to him. When he was rolling around on the ball on his tummy he was just kind of looking at me and it looked like he was thinking, "what on earth is happening to me mom?" It was sweet, though. Then he fell asleep as I was browsing books on babies and raising children. I picked up a few, including "The Baby Whisperer". I looked for "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child", but they didn't have it. I'll have to remember to borrow that from Sara when she's done. Then we dropped off some dry cleaning and stopped by a darling little shop down the street called Country Gingham, I pass it all the time but never thought much of it from the outside. It's actually really darling and they sell lots that I would LOVE to buy, but I just browsed. And an older lady called Henry "Hank". I'm really not opposed to Hank, I just think it's sweet that the older population usually refers to him as that as soon as they hear his name. Henry is still napping, but it's almost time for him to eat...he last at at 9am. I was able to get the laundry sorted, the sheets stripped off the bed and put the first load in the washer...so I'm feeling really good. Yesterday was a downer day, but I'm regrouping and feeling so encouraged with thanks to Sally, and Holly, Patrick and a long talk with my mom. Yesterday I was really just stressing out thinking that I was failing at my new job. I am definetely a perfectionist and want to do everything the best that I can. Motherhood is teaching me to be much more flexible and to take things day by day instead of trying to plan and coordinate everything that I do. Henry is such a blessing...I love him more every day. My favorite part of my day is when I go into his room to pick him up from his crib when he wakes up and he just looks up at me and smiles. I love it! He melts my heart every time! Current mood:  accomplishedMonday, October 10, 20055:06PM - VictoryAfter a day of feeling discouraged and feeling like a failing mother, I just had a small victory with Henry's napping. It just seems that every person (i.e. the two other moms with young babies, 4 months and 5 1/2 months in our k-group) I talk to lately has their baby on a napping schedule. I.E. she knows that her baby will wake at 6:45 then take a nap at 10, then again at 4 and then go to bed at 7:30. Well, until these conversations, I thought Henry was on a pretty good schedule too. I.E. He would wake and eat (whenever he woke up in the morning and as late as he would sleep), then he would get fussy and sleep 1 1/2 hours after eating started, then would take a nap and wake up and eat almost exactly 3 hours after starting his last feeding, so he might eat at 7 am then 10 am, 1 pm, etc. The only problem with our schedule is that I almost always rock him to sleep for his naps. He falls asleep on his own at bedtime, but I have to rock him to sleep or hold him to help him fall asleep for every nap during the day. I fear so much that I'm failing him as a mother and that I need to be teaching him healthy sleep habits and to fall asleep on his own, and even at set times...this will be new for us both. So for his late afternoon nap I noticed that he was starting to get tired, eye rubbing, and little bit of fussing but not crying..so I layed him down in his pack and play. He cried for about 5 minutes, then I held his binky in for another 5 minutes or so, and he drifted off to sleep. As I just finished that last sentence, he woke up and started crying again. Ok, so small victory. But I know that if this is to be a big victory for us it will be accomplished in baby steps. we'll try again next nap time. I want ultimately to teach Henry the skill of falling asleep on his own, but right now it almost seems like this will take more time and far more effort than just holding him and rocking him. Current mood:  determined2:45PM - TearsHenry's and mine. This morning was just hard on us both. I had lunch with the ladies in my k-group at noon and told Stacie (the host) that I would stop by Panera and pick up some bread. No big deal, right? I knew that I wanted to feed Henry just before we left so that he would be content while we were at lunch, so I planned to run to Panera in the morning and then come home and feed him. Well, he fell asleep for his nap as I rocked him this morning and I held him for awhile. I wanted to snuggle him because I felt like I neglected him all weekend because we were busy with painting the dining room and cleaning the house and cooking dinner getting ready for company Saturday and then yesterday busy with church and errands and K-group in the evening. Anyway, just before 11 I put him in his carseat to run to Panera and he woke up. Then in the car he started crying and I literally haven't heard him get so upset or cry so hard except for after his immunizations. He cried the whole way to Panera and stopped (thankfully) once we got there but then cried the whole way home. I was so broken down by the time we got home that I took him out of his car seat and cried the whole way upstairs to change his diaper and throughout the diaper change. I think mostly I just feel at fault for his inadequate sleep patterns during the day and feel like that's what upset him so much. I wanted to call Stacie so badly and tell her that we would be unable to make it to lunch, but then I thought what a horrible mother I would be if I said that Henry just wouldn't stop crying and that is my reason for not attending the lunch. Then what would they think of ME? So we went to lunch and he did pretty good. He fell asleep in the car on the way, but woke up as soon as we got there. Then he sat pretty content while we ate, then he started to get fussy and fell asleep as I was buckling him into his carseat to come home, so we stayed for about 45 more minutes while he slept peacefully and I was able to talk with the other stay at home moms some. I'm really thankful that I did end up going and that I was able to stay for a few hours. It's so good for me to talk to other mothers. I'm just feeling discouraged today for whatever reason. Current mood:  discouraged7:54AM - Monday morningWell, it's Monday morning and I feel a little blue. I think Mondays are always hard because Patrick and the whole world goes back to work and it time for me to settle back into my weekly routine with Henry. Please don't get me wrong, I love being at home with him and I wouldn't want it any other way, it's just that after a usually full weekend of family or plans with friends or even just being with Patrick and Henry, Monday mornings sometimes feel a little bit lonely. Also when things quiet down, I look around the house and realize the immense need to get things done. For example, I'm sitting in the office now as I write this and looking around at the many boxes yet to unpack and the seemingly thousands of papers that need to be organized. I feel like I really should be doing all of that; yet when Henry wakes up I know my day will be a flurry of baby activity and I might get the dishes and the laundry done. Today Henry and I are going to lunch at Stacie's house...she and her husband are in our K-group that we just joined at church. It meets Sunday nights and last night was the second meeting. I'm really feeling glad that we decided to join it and feeling fortunate with the people that we've met and the ones that we already know who are in the same group. Stacie's husband Paul fly's for Southwest so he is out of town a lot and she stays home while her two boys are in school, so she is having the women in our group over for lunch today. Most of us stay home so I think it will be a good way for me to get to know other moms..although most (there's only 5 or 6 of us) are a bit older than me. Current mood:  blueThursday, October 6, 20059:40PM - Asleep at last...Henry only ate 5 times today. I'm wondering if that is going to affect his sleep tonight. He's been eating 6 times a day, but just the way his feedings worked out today we only got 5 in...he woke up at 7, then ate at 10, slept for 2 1/2 hours this afternoon and ate at 2, then 5, then 8. It's usual for him to eat between 8 and 8:30 and then go to bed by 9, and tonight Patrick put him in his crib and he just cried and cried which is really unusual. So I went upstairs and fed him a little bit more and he started to fall asleep so I picked him up to lay him in his crib and his eyes grew wide open, so we prayed together and I kissed him goodnight and put him in his crib. After I went to put on my pjs I checked on him and he was sound asleep. So that was something funny for him tonight..I was worried that he wouldn't know that it was night time because he only ate 5 times. :-) Hopefully tonight he will still sleep well (through the night) even though he had one less feeding than usual today. Current mood: tiredNavigate: (Previous 20 entries) |
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