Snorts and Quacks

I remember at Maisie's 2 week old appointment her pediatrician warned us that babies are always getting sick. She said not to be surprised if she gets about 6 colds a year... yikes! Last Monday my normally happy morning baby was very cranky and congested. I could hear all the goop in her airway and her beautiful blue eyes were so runny. It broke my heart to hear her obvious frustration with her difficulties to breathe through her nose. She's already a little bit of a snorter, but with the congestion it sounds more like I am raising a piglet rather than a baby. When ever I am sick as tempted as I might be to hibernate and not leave the house until I'm feeling better, I try to go outside (weather permitting) to get some fresh air and catch a little rays (nothing like a good boost of vitamin D!) So Austin and I with sick baby in tow headed to Mission Mill to eat at the cafe and walk around the beautiful greenery. Maisie slept all through lunch, but woke up as we were heading outside. Austin and Maisie were looking at the ducks from the bridge as I was digging through my purse to find some change so we could feed the already over fed ducks. I finally found a couple quarters and as soon as I cranked the duck feed dispenser every duck within a mile radius swooped down to get some of the goods. Austin and Maisie camped out under a tree by the brook and so with handfuls of corn kernels, I headed to join them. Sure enough as I sat down the bravest of the ducks surrounded us and some stayed in the water hoping we would through some their way as well. Maisie was fussing until the ducks came close enough for her to really study them. She was having so much fun tracking them with her developing eyes and hearing as they quacked. Maisie was so content and I think for that moment she forgot that she didn't feel well. She loved the ducks and they loved her. It was a nice day with my little family I only wish Maisie had been feeling better though. We really need to take advantage of whats left of the summer and having more outdoor adventures. I'm thinking the Zoo will be next!

My poor girl! Look at that runny nose!

As for Maisie's cold, she woke up the next morning feeling much better. She had more energy and definitely wasn't as stuffed up. With constant nursing and a little help from the "little noses" kit, she was back to her happy self in no time. We didn't end up using the saline drops that came in the kit, but the nasal aspirator was a million times better then the ones they give you in the hospital. I highly recommend getting one.

World's Cutest Alarm Clock

Maisie has always been a great sleeper. Starting at about 8 weeks old she got into a pattern of falling asleep at about 10:30pm and then would wake for her first feeding at about 5am. After she got her fill she would proceed to sleep for another couple hours and then it would be time for the both of us to seize the day. I wanted to start transitioning her into her crib at about three months, but she had other plans in mind. I figured it would be pretty simple since she already sleeps through the night and it wouldn't be too terribly difficult to get up once. My friend Tess gave me a video baby monitor that way I could see and hear Maisie if/when she awoke. Austin set it all up, I put her in the crib and she was out like a light. We headed to bed and I starred at my sleeping angel via the video screen until my eyes were to heavy to keep open. 1am rolls around... Maisie is crying. I get up and stumble to her room pick her up and she's rooting around for a meal. I fed her until she fell asleep again and placed her back into her crib. Back to my bed I go. 2:30am... Maisie is crying... again. I picked her up and she is acting starving again. It hits me ohhh yeah she's probably having her 3 month growth spurt. That would happen to us though, the very night we put her in her crib she is waking up every couple hours to eat! After I figured that out I put her back into her bassinet next to my bed and proceeded to wake up every couple hours to fulfill my duties of the 'milk machine'. It's been 2 weeks since her growth spurt and she still hasn't returned to her 10:30am to 5am schedule. Shes been waking up around 2am, 5am and then 8am for feedings. I am trying to enjoy it because even when she was sleeping great I missed our little night feedings. I know that eventually night feedings will come to an end and so for now I cherish her little 'feed me' complaints no matter how often or early they are.

Ah peace of mind... How did people ever survive without these things?!

Maternity jean epiphany

So, last weekend I decided it was time to do some clothes shopping. The past few weeks I have been feeling incredibly frumpy and overall unattractive. I know that clothes are just that, clothes, but hear me out. When nothing fits right and you are still wearing pregnancy jeans when your baby is almost 3 months old it's time to do something about it! Ideally I wouldn't have gone shopping until I lost all my pregnancy weight because I hoped I wouldn't be wearing it that long, but I am stuck! The pounds are just not dropping as I would like. Initially I lost about 18 pounds and from there not one pound more. I walk into my closet and look at all the clothes that I can't wear anymore and then resort to my gap pregnancy jeans and a t-shirt. Most of the time I don't mind it because odds are I would have to change my shirt some time through out the day because of spit-up or some other mess Maisie likes to make on me, but it's time to have a little confidence boost. I remember when I thought I would be a super trendy mom and I laugh now because the truth of it all is sometimes, wait change that, most of the times motherhood is not glamorous. So Austin and I set out to find a pair of attractive and most importantly non maternity jeans. After hours of trying on and with fading hope that I wouldn't find some that fit well enough to buy (I am conveniently in between sizes) I finally did. Maisie even got a pair of leggings out of it. Come on I can't help it!

After beating myself up for weeks for not losing weight as fast as I would like. I finally had an epiphany with the help of my loving husband (he's fantastic at reminding me to look at the big picture). I realized that I am a proud milk producing first time mother and I should be grateful for this time that I have to be "bigger" than normal. My body is not just mine it has been taken over by a rapidly growing 12 week old. I have the rest of my life to be "fit" or "size such and such". As long as I am healthy and able to nurture that's all that matters for now. I don't want to feel frumpy and lounge in sweat pants all day every day, but occasionally why not? So what I didn't have time to straighten or even blow dry my hair I was busy bouncing, consoling, feeding and or changing my precious baby girl.

Maisie's new pink and lace leggings! Too cute to pass up right?

The Gatorade Calamity

Last week Maisie was not her self at all. It was easily the hardest week I have ever had. She had got her shots on Friday the 16th and she was totally fine through the weekend and then suddenly on Monday Maisie had made a total 360. I was so worried that it was the immunizations that put her in a funk. She was screaming all day long and wouldn't let me put her down for anything. She would fall asleep in my arms and the minute I would try to transition her into her crib she would wake up and start the screaming all over again. This was so unlike her. She was such a happy, content and mellow baby and now suddenly she was a handful (literally since I couldn't put her down). On Friday the 23rd (one week after her shots) I decided to call the advise nurse because it got to the point where the calm baby I once had was no longer in the picture. The nurse asked me a bunch of questions like is she still eating the same? Yes. Is she still wetting and dirtying her diapers regularly? Yes. Is she sleeping at night? Yes (Thank heaven for that because if she wasn't I am pretty sure I would be bald!). Does she have a fever? No. Have you changed anything in your diet? No. She then said that as of right now there is nothing really to worry about, but if we wanted to bring her in we could. I told her I would give her another day and see if there is any improvement. I believe babies cry for a reason and it was breaking my heart that I couldn't figure out how to make this better. I started doubting the decisions I had made to get her vaccinated and started to feel like a crummy parent. Austin tried to reassure me, but when my baby girl is crying her lungs out, it's hard to feel reassured. Saturday morning (the morning of our birthing class reunion) I was in the shower and suddenly it hit me... Lemon-Lime Gatorade! Austin and I bought a massive amount of lemon-lime Gatorade powder at Costco. I got out of the shower and asked Austin in a very serious tone "When did we get that Gatorade?" Austin raised his eyebrows and said "Um, last weekend sometime I think." Bingo! Oh man, it makes sense! I realized that I had been drinking a lot of that instead of my normal water intake. I then stopped drinking it cold turkey and sure enough my sweet Maisie has returned! It must have been upsetting my poor Maisie's tummy! Now I am trying to figure out what exactly in the Gatorade was upsetting her. I just read that citrus can change the properties or at least the taste of breast milk, but was that it? Everyone that I have told is very surprised that the culprit was something as meager as Gatorade, but it definitely was. I would like to figure out if it was an ingredient in it that was bothering her or was I simply drinking too much of it? Either way I think I will stay clear of it for awhile and then maybe later on I will try to reintroduce it in small amounts. I am just so thankful I was able to figure it out and that my Maisie is back to her sweet normal self.

Lemon-Lime Gatorade = A very unhappy Maisie.

Birthing Class Reunion

We just got back from our Lamaze birthing class reunion and it went wonderfully! It was great to catch up with the 4 other first time parents and talk about the adventures of parenthood thus far. It's so nice to see the ladies I only knew as massively pregnant women to now mothers of beautiful healthy babies. Maisie was the oldest by 10 days and the youngest of the bunch was 6 weeks old. There were 4 girls Emerson, Isabella, Avery and of course Maisie and 1 boy named Harrison (Maisie's boyfriend). We actually bumped into Tim, Danielle and Harrison at Mo's at the coast 2 weeks ago what a crazy coincidence that was! Anyway, we had a great BBQ lunch, shared our birth stories and overall just had a great time. Maisie had her first experience in a swing and Austin and I are now going to HAVE to get one! She loved it! So the reunion was a great success! Here are some of the pictures we took today.

Mommies & babies (Maisie, Isabella, Harrison, Avery and Emerson)

The daddys turn!

Isabella & Maisie

Harrison & Maisie

Emerson & Maisie

My Beautiful Maisie

First Play-date!

Last Saturday my friend Tess brought her 2 week old son Keenan, over to meet Maisie. I was shocked to see how tiny a little newborn was compared to my "giant" 2 month old. It so was nice to catch up with her and meet her husband Sean. We spent the day snacking on chips and salsa and talking about our babies. It's great to have friends who are in the same boat as us. Some times you just need to talk to someone who knows exactly what you are going through. Here are a couple pictures of the cuties!





Last night our neighbors Derek and Meghann invited us for a delicious dinner/bbq. We always have so much fun with them. We end up talking and laughing for hours. They have a precious 1 year old daughter named Olivia AKA Livvie and they are 23 weeks pregnant with their second daughter. We feel so blessed to have such wonderful neighbors. They are very upbeat, positive and also have wonderful values. We look forward to all of our get togethers with them.

This weekend is going to be a busy one. This Saturday we have our birthing class reunion, which should be a lot of fun. We are going to have a BBQ and of course meet all the little ones. I can't wait to see how every one is doing.

On Sunday we are headed to Salem so Tess and I can make homemade baby food. By the time our babies are eating solids it will no longer be fruit and veggie season. So we are going to make it at its peak of freshness and store it. So when the day rolls around we will be prepared!

Expect an update after this weekend with pictures of the birthing class reunion and of the baby food making process. It should be a great weekend!