Going back

Tomorrow I will become a 'working mom'.

Now this post isn't to debate whether or not I should be working with a little one, I know it's a hot button issue, but to talk about the facts, and the fact is, tomorrow I'm going back to work.

I don't want to, I want to stay home and be with Macie and raise her myself. But that's not where we're at in life, and I have completely accepted that, and I'm still gra

teful to have a job as a teacher. I don't know about other states, but CA is a mess right now and we have no state money, so getting my job back is a blessing.

But let's instead focus on how awesome my daughter is! She's 3 1/2 months. She's in the 97th percentile for weight/height/head circum. She loves to try to stand up, she loves to be held above your head and smile down (and droll) on you! She coos and smiles and is a pretty happy baby for sure.

It's hard to update much as I have just wanted to spend every moment with her. Right now DH is explaining football to her, so I was able to grab a few moments here. So just know that even though I'm not updating as much, I'm reading all of your blogs (except the Chinese weirdness that keeps showing up in the comments, what's that about?!) and love getting updates.

Until later!

Lake Tahoe, 4 generations, home again

It was a crazy 2 weeks! We took an official vacation (as opposed to traveling which is great, but not always relaxing. This trip was about relaxing!) to Lake Tahoe and then stopped by my grandparents for a few days. It was great, and my advice to anyone considering traveling with an almost 3 month old...take a grandparent or sitter. It made all the difference! My mom turned 60 this summer, so we told her this trip was part of her birthday celebration, and then her sister was able to come and stay with us as well, so we had 'two' grandparents who were excited to take care of Macie while DH and I went rafting and swam in the lake. Don't get me wrong, I did most of the baby work, and I wouldn't have it any other way, but there were definate advantages to being able to eat a meal with both hands while our little one was loved on and passed around by our friends and my mom.
Genious.
The car trip getting there was a little adventurous. I grew up driving up the 5 fwy 7 or 8 hours at a time, but taking a baby makes that a whole different experience. Then adding a few extra hours to the front end of the trip (about 9 hours of driving time, 11 of traveling time), and we were ready to relax even more. Macie was an amazing traveler, sleeping most of the time she was in her car seat. And thankfully, that didn't mess with her bed time schedule too much.

I'll post pictures soon, but I wanted to check in and update. I'm still reading many blogs and anxious to find time to comment soon! It's already August. I can't believe how quickly time is passing!

Better

The girl recovered just fine from her shots. By the next morning she was almost normal temp, so we have moved on. I'm not looking forward to her next shots for sure. Now there is the possibility of fever...boo. Poor thing.

We have however been busy enjoying so. cal life. It's finally been warm here (okay, it's finally been HOT here), so we've enjoyed the pool at my dad's house and my neighbors house.

Here's the thing, I love the water. Love it. And so far so does my daughter! Yeah! So it's been fun seeing her acclimate. We haven't put her head under, but she's tolerated the pool for like 15 minutes each time.

Oops, she just woke up, and now it's time to eat. more to come!

Fever

Yup. The girl came down with a fever after the shots. And BTW, I did cry. She loved the oral vaccine, just sucked that one right up. But when the three shots were administered, she was howling, and that's what I wanted to do. But I just had tears rolling down my face.
She seemed a little extra tired (normal), but all else was fine. Then last night I was changing her and she felt warm, so I took her temp and it was about 100.4 degrees. So dh went out and got the acetamenaphin (however you spell it, I didn't bother to double check it) and she took it well, and her fever seemed to go down to about 99 degrees. We swaddled her in her diaper (no pj's) and she woke up once around 3 - which she hasn't done in a week or so. I fed her, because from what I've read, since she's extra warm she's burning more calories and closer to dehydration. So she ate and then woke up a few hours later and now here we are. She's got a temp of about 99 degrees still, but the second dose of acetamenaphin will be wearing off soon.
This is not fun. At least today she's not moaning though. It was the saddest thing. Last night while we were waiting for dad to get back from ta.rget, she just laid on me and moaned.
Oh, how I want her to feel better. Yuck.

Tomorrow is Macie's 2 month appointment, although tomorrow she will be ten weeks. Am I crazy, that I'm actually looking forward to her getting her shots? Not in a Sadistic way, so don't even trip about that. I'm just looking forward to her starting to receive some innoculations. I hate thinking about her getting sick, but thinking about her getting sick with something that could actually hurt her...yeah, I'm not that bummed about the shots.
Although I will probably be crying all the way home tomorrow and thinking 'how could I have thought shots would be a good thing...waahh!'. The good news is dh gets to go with us, so it'll be a family affair. We didn't plan much for the rest of the day just in case Macie gets really fussy or has a reaction.
I'm sitting here with Macie strapped to me in her ergo infant carrier, and I'll tell ya, this is genious. While I haven't eaten breakfast yet, I am able to get so much done and not leave her in the swing all day. I don't mind putting her in her swing, but it's nice to feel like I'm holding her and multitasking. And I just know that this isn't going to last forever. And like so many of you, there of course are the questions about whether or not there will be more children in our future, so I want to enjoy each moment this little one gives us.
I'm off to eat something. So far, each day just gets better and better!
And the sleep is great too! She's giving us at least 7 hours between feedings at night, and it's lovely. I call that sleeping through the night. It started last Saturday night, so ... so far so good!

It gets better

I think I mentioned that I had a hard time not wishing away the first few weeks. It was hard. I was tired and in pain, and I didn't really know my daughter yet. We were so busy learning about each other and in the middle of that, dealing with family, breastfeeding, and life. I didn't want to complain because I still knew in the middle of everything what a gift Macie was. And I knew it would get better.

And by golly it has. Tomorrow Macie will be 2 months old! Two months! She smiles now! She's starting to be much more alert, holding her head up like a champ. We went away for the fourth of july weekend, and just had a blast. She went to the beach (but the water was way too cold for any actual dipping, but enjoyed 5 different 4th of July outfits, and one adorable bathing suite/cover up.

I am starting to enjoy motherhood so much more than I ever thought possible. I find that I have a hard time not worrying, but I think that's why the Bible is so specific about not wasting life by worrying - it doesn't add a single day or minute to my life. So that's what I'm working on. But I absolutely love her. I would change a thing. Here are a few pictoral highlights...

Also, I tried making Ina Garten's flag cake this fourth of July. It turned out great, but wow - there is a lot of butter in there! I ended up using two regular cake mixes and then her frosting recipe. It was out of control delicious!

It's about time

For Pictures!

This first one is from a recent day trip to some outlet shopping in Camarillo. One of our few family pictures. We've found most of our pictures are of Macie while she's asleep.

Here is one from Father's day. I put her in one of her nicest dresses, compliments of her Grandma. This girl is not hurting for clothes to wear. I almost dread doing laundry because then I have so many choices for her again.

Then, who doesn't love a stylish girl in glasses? Although I think it looks more like she's a granny, but it's cute.

I know it's not much, but this girl has been such a blessing. She's giving us about one 5 hour stretch of sleep a night, but sometimes she starts it at 8 o'clock, and then gets up about 3 and then again about 5. I'm ready for a full night of sleep, but this isn't a complaint, it's a blessing. She's more than I ever imagined...