You've Got the Wrong Mom

My Gmail notifier toned the familiar sound letting me know that I had new mail (by the way, Gmail, where have you been all my life? why did it take me so long to convert to your ways?). The email was from an online baby site that let's you know what's going on with your baby each week; I usually either just glance at these emails or immediately toss them out.

But, this week when I saw the title, I thought, "They must have sent this email to the wrong Mom. Or maybe they've got their numbers mixed up."

 The subject: "20 Weeks Old: What's Going on With Your Baby".

I continued to think to myself as I clicked open the message, "Yep, they must have goofed by sending me this "20 Weeks Old" message."  It wasn't until I opened the message that it hit me...

My baby is 20 weeks old.


When did this happen?

"They" tell you all along that it will go by so fast and to cherish every moment, but I don't think it really sunk in until just now. Hug your babies tight, for they won't be babies much longer!

On a less depressing note, the Bug and I are headed to Knoxville this week with two of my favorite people -- GiGi and Cousin Richard! No, Jenaleigh and I won't be going to the game, but we'll be cheering on the Vols with all our hearts! GO BIG ORANGE!

You drink out of WHAT?

Until I met Daniel, I thought mason jars were for canning veggies. Silly me!

He taught me that they're for drinking out of! How did I go 18 years without knowing this?

I remember the first time I walked into his parents kitchen and the regular glasses were in the dish washer. Daniel handed me a Mason Jar and I looked at him like he had a trillion eyeballs. I'm sure I even joked, "Yeah right, like I'm going to drink out of that!" And I'm sure he looked at me and said, "Yes. You are." And so I did!

In all honesty, I'm not 100% sold on the idea of drinking out of them, and now, in our own home, after we consume the green beans that came out of them, I try earnestly to return the jars to my parents to recycle during next years canning. But, alas, somehow our cabinet gets lined with those awkward jars for the purpose of consuming beverages. Sure. I kinda get it. Some of them have handles. Those are for drinking out of. The rest? I'm not so sure. Why the appeal? Explain it to me please!

If Daniel had seen this pic (found on http://ruffledblog.com/vintage-black-tie-southern-wedding/) I'm sure he would have fought for our own Mason Jar wedding. Too late now, honey!

Don't forget about the...

100.7

100.7 ... yep, that's what the thermometer displayed last night after I checked our fussy crying baby.

Yesterday morning we made the trip to the Health Department to get Jenaleigh's four month "discount shots" as I call them. (Did you know that vaccinations at our Doctor's office would be $700, but we can get them at the health departments, even without being on any governmental assistance, for 40 bucks? Yeah, we're so going to the health department for them all!) The nice nurse ushered us back into the white room lined with pictures of her baby boy. She prepped the shots, Jenaleigh watched her like a hawk, and I started to get nervous in anticipation of the first poke.

Of course, she cried.

Of course, I cried.

But, everything seemed fine during the day yesterday. She was a little more sleepy than normal. And a tad bit more fussy. But, all in all, I was feeling confident that all was fine.

But, after a quick nap in my arms at 8:45 pm, when she woke up she felt fire hot! I checked her temp, and it was 100.7. I know that's not crazy high, but combine that with her screaming and not drinking very much, my Mommy fears kicked into gear.

I called our doc, who gives out her personal cell phone number (she rocks!). She picked up immediately, told me the correct dosage of Tylonel, gave a few calm words of advice, and said to check back in with her if there was not improvement tomorrow.

Thankfully after many cuddles, Jenaleigh went to sleep and slept (a little more fitfully than usual) all through the night and is still asleep right now!

She feels much cooler to the touch and the forehead scan thermometer (which I try to only use as a gauge when she's asleep as it's not greatly accurate) read 97.9. *Whew* This Momma is relieved!

And... just for laughs... I had to leave you with this real warning label found on a thermometer:

Um, great advice!

(ETA: She just woke up and her temp rectally was in the 98's! Yay! However, she is uber fussy... pray for me today. Seriously! Taking care of a fussy baby is super difficult. Hopefully lots of cuddles will help her!)

CVS trip with Baby!

Today was my first time *really* coupon shopping at CVS since Jenaleigh was born. I slipped her into her comfy pouch/sling and we were ready for some big savings! It wasn't quite as challenging as I thought it would be with baby in tow and only made one tiny miscalculation. Here's what I scored:

- TWO boxes of Pamper's 65 ct wipes
- TWO bottles of Little Noses Saline Spray
- Pampers 96 count diapers
- TWO Softsoap Shea Butter Hand Soaps
- 8 count Excedrin
- Thermacare Lowerback Wrap
- 12 pack of Diet Caffiene Free Cokes
- TWO packs of Plastic Cups
- Pack of Dinner Napkins
- 16 ounce Diet Coke for the Road!

Total VALUE of products bought: $63.62
Total DUE (before tax): $29.45
Savings: $34.20 = 54%

Not necessarily my most savings percentage wise, but not bad for just getting back into the couponing world!
(For more tips on savings, head over to my favorite savings site ever: www.southernsavers.com!)

Day in the Life of a SAHM & 4 Month Old

I think I had been taking it for granted. But now I realize how blessed I am to be one... A stay at home mom. (SAHM). I've seen a few statuses on Facebook lately from mothers who are leaving their babies in daycare for the first time (some babies as young as 8 weeks), and I literally weep as I read how sad they were to say goodbye for 8 hours. I weep for them but I also weep just thinking about how utterly despaired I would be to know I had to leave Jenaleigh for 5 out of 7 days.

So, in honor of my new found appreciation for being a SAHM, here's my "Day in the Life of a SAHM + Her Baby". (Ever wonder what a SAHM mom really does during the day? Here's your chance to find out!)

Little Bug woke up from a morning cat nap around 10AM. Even though I may let out a tiny groan when her naps are short, my frown is quickly wiped away when I walk into her nursery and see this face grinning at me:



A big ole stretch here....
Belly time! ... And no belly time would be complete without a little pool of spit up!

No matter what position she's in, she turns directly toward the TV. We can't have that, now can we?!
So, sometimes I place a cow by her so she won't watch the TV. (Yes, I could turn it off... And I DO, but sometimes I just *need* to watch the news!)

After morning belly time and some news watchin' we have quality time. I'm determined for my little girl to know God's love and to develop a deep love for Him herself, and I think one of the best ways to teach her about Him is to sing! So, for about 20-30 minutes we sing.. Her absolute favorite song is "Good Ole Noah". She also goes gaga over "This Little Light of Mine"!
 Okay, so after we sang, the house was too quiet for me. So I went to housetohouse.com and searched for some sermons to listen to!  The one we listened to here was a SUPERB lesson on PK's (preacher's kids) by Glenn Colley.
We then chilled a few minutes and decided to bring out a bib (to protect Mommy, Baby, and the couch!)

Cute baby feet... I'm so glad we live right next to the church building so Daddy can come home for lunch. He always gets a few minutes of playing time in when he's home!
Today's lunch time, Daddy tried to help Jenaleigh sit up on her own. She really wants to! But, she's not quite there yet...

A few last hugs before Daddy goes back to work.

Mommy kisses. YUCK!
 After an afternoon nap by baby (while Mommy caught up on her Bible study and FB), it was time for me to do some dishes. (Honestly, this is my least favorite chore. So much so that you almost never find my sink without a dirty dish. I'm trying *so* hard to change this!) You may wonder why I don't do dishes during her nap? Let's just say she can sleep through a bulldozer in our yard (literally), but not dishes being clanged around. So, Jenaleigh watched from her travel swing while I labored away. She has an ultra-nice full size swing; but, she's not grown to like that one! Oh, well...

Little Miss is really working on her hand-eye coordination. I can't believe that she can see an object and grab it! Her favorite elephant is Horton (which unfortunately has a hole in his back already... Gigi, can you fix this, please?) and she's just recently started to grab Horton's trunk....
 After our afternoon play time and another quick nap, Daniel came home and we packed up to go eat Mexica.We try to have an eating out night on Mondays to combat those Mondays blues... I think she's thinking, "Are you really gonna stick me back here by myself?!" Then on to a quick trip into Walmart...
Then home for our bedtime routine (she's SO excited to eat!) Emerging from bathtime! And that's pretty much our day with a few naps and meals thrown in between. It may not seem like the most exciting in the world, but I love it!

One Year Ago: Looking Back on a Scare.

One year ago today I was going through a roller coaster of emotions. Here is my reflection on a scare we had during the beginning of pregnancy and a few lessons learned from that time. Some of this is pieced together from e-mails I sent friends, while other parts of the story were written in the present tense post facto in order in keeping with the flow of the narrative.

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*REMEMBER, THIS WAS WRITTEN ONE YEAR AGO TODAY, WHEN I WAS PREGNANT WITH JENALEIGH.*


Wednesday, September 22, 2010

9 AM

I'm six weeks today! All of our family knows our good news, now it's time to share it with our church family and the world! :-) I know many people would want to want until the 2nd trimester, but my thoughts on the subject are: *if* we were to have a miscarriage, I would let these people know so that I could receive comfort from them. So, why would I not share the good news with the ASAP so I can rejoice first with them?

9 PM

Just got back from Bible study tonight and Daniel made the announcement. Everyone at church was SOOO happy. 

9:14 PM

Just shared the great news with all of Facebook (through my status).

9:30 PM

I'm literally shaking right now. I just went to the bathroom and saw brown spotting. I called a midwife who was on call (after much encouragement from Daniel to do so), and she said to drink lots of water and try to get some rest. She told me that as long as it wasn't bright red that it was probably nothing to worry about. She told me to call the receptionist in the morning to make an appointment ASAP just to ease my mind.

I'm not sure how easy sleep will come tonight. I'm so afraid of losing this baby that I've already come to love!

I erased my Facebook status about being pregnant just now. I don't want to have to deal with the congratulations and the uncertaintty at the same time.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

NOON

I just got back from the Birthing Center, and feel a little better. Here's what happened:

1) They needed to draw blood to check my HCG levels. They poked me in 6 different spots to draw blood (both hands, wrists, and arms) and got NOTHING! I'll go in tomorrow to try again, so they can compare my HCG levels to make sure they're on track for how far along we are.
2) The midwife did a pelvic exam and said my uterus felt the right size for 6 weeks.
3) She did a transvaginal ultrasound (looked like a curling iron! AHK!)... We saw the embryo and the yolk sac - which the CNM said is EXCELLENT and reassuring for week 6. Daniel is pretty sure he saw a heartbeat, but the nurse said she couldn't quite tell if it was a heartbeat or static on the screen; but that since we're so early in the pregnancy that it is somewhat normal not to be able to quite make it out yet.
4) After everything she said that she feels reassured that everything is on track.

5) We made an appointment for an U/S on Monday at the hospital to see if we can tell more.

I would have felt so much better if they had located a heartbeat. Waiting until Monday is going to be difficult.

Monday, September 27, 2010

It's here. Ultrasound day. I'm dreading it in a way, because I'm expecting bad news. 

Noon

We just got home from the U/S and everything went great. But, before we get to that, let me start at the beginning. We arrived at the hospital and went through the standard procedures (insurance, forms, etc) then waited. While we waited I was guzzling down water and more water per their instructions. I was on the verge of tears the entire time we were in the waiting room. I even asked Daniel if he would take care of calling people and letting them know the bad news -- because I was convinced it would be bad news.

They finally called us back. And, we had a very lovely Chinese lady as our tech, but she could not seem to understand that I was only 6 weeks 5 days, because when we went in, she told us that she was sure she would see the baby move and asked me if I had felt it kick! I finally got her to understand how far along we were, and then she entered my due date in incorrectly, putting as at 8 weeks pregnant... *sigh*

We finally got on the same page, but then more problems arose. She put the gel on my stomach and mashed the probe thingy down hard. After about 5 minutes of her searching but not saying anything, I was panicked. I was sure that the worst had happened. However, she finally broke her silence and told me my bladder wasn't full enough for the traditional ultrasound! So, we had to do another transvaginal ultrasound. This time after just a few short seconds, we heard a strong heartbeat of 120. Woohoo!

I was on cloud nine. I still am on cloud nine. 

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

2 PM

I just got off the phone with my midwife to follow up about Monday, and here's what she said:

First of all, she was very impressed by my HCG levels taken last Thursday (50,000).

Secondly, she said everything looked absolutely wonderful on the ultrasound results that the hospital faxed to her - proper growth, cardiac activity, etc.

Thirdly, in my ultrasound, the tech was able to pinpoint a 1 cm subchorionic hematoma. The midwife is sure that was the source of my brown spotting, and that it will probably resolve itself with no other problems.

Fourthly, my progesterone levels came back a little on the low side. The measured me at a 13, which they said is borderline. So, they consulted with their partners at UT, and the doctor there recommended putting me on prometrium until my second trimester. Apparently that may also help the hematoma.

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Present Day:
Knowing what I know now -- how amazing our baby girl is -- I am even more thankful that things turned out wonderfully. It hurts my heart so bad to even consider the what if's?. I can not imagine our lives without her.


We found out later (at Norton during my 3 week stay) that the hematoma was probably due to a blood clotting disorder that I have called "Protein S Deficiency". While I can never be 100% sure, I believe that it was God's providence that I was transferred to Norton in my third trimester for unrelated pre-term labor and the disorder was identified by our fabulous perinatologist. Now we know, and we can take the necessary measures in future (if God wills) pregnancies!


It's hard to believe that it's been a year since that happened. Time is flying by so fast. Pause button, where are you?

Our healthy happy 4 month old who we are beyond blessed to have with us!

{Side note: Our fabulous giveaway has been extended until next week. Be sure to click here and then read about how to enter. One way to do so is to like our FB page, here!}

Our Time Apart

Uncle Tim's graveside service was held in a rural family cemetery in Roane County (East TN). The birds were chirping, the breeze was blowing, and everyone there could witness the beauty of God's creation -- the creation that Uncle Tim adored so much, studied for years, and taught his students about for 25 years in Georgia high schools.

Since the service was in East Tennessee, we decided it would be easier to have Mimi and PawPaw (Daniel's parents) take Jenaleigh and watch her for two days.... Yes, I did cry as I saw them pull away with her in their backseat. I knew they would take excellent care of her. (And they did.) But, I couldn't help but be saddened.

Here's what I learned from my two days apart from Jenaleigh:

• Mommies are supposed to be with their babies. From a biological standpoint, we are hardwired to have a desire to be in close proximity with our little ones. That's not to say that we can't be apart, but it's very difficult.
• Someone else can take care of her. (This is a hard one to admit!)
• It only takes 2 days for her to get "spoiled"! I think she misses being constantly held (as I'm sure she was while with her Mimi and PawPaw!). We're having to get her used to playing some by herself on her play mat and riding in the back seat without anyone next to her!
• Having time to myself is great, but our baby really does complete our lives. We ate at Pizza Hut on our way in to East Tennessee. It was wonderful to be able to sit next to my husband and watch football, only having to worry about ourselves. But, you know what? It would have been even better if Critter was there, squealing and making us smile!
• My life is forever changed. No matter how many days we may be apart, my heart will always long to have her near me. I know this desire will only grow and will not disappear, even when she's grown and out of the house (makes me teary just thinkin' about it)!

While her Mommy was longing to be with her, Jenaleigh was having fun! Here are some photos that Mimi took while our Little Bug was in Alabama!

We'll Miss You.

I'm writing it while it's still fresh. I think that's the best thing to do.

I had just woken up Wednesday when Daniel's phone dinged the familiar tone alerting him of a new incoming text message. He casually got up from the floor (where he was playing with Jenaleigh) to go check it. I asked who it was and he said, "Your mom." I saw him immediately call her; I knew something was wrong.

I can always tell when a text message or phone call is about to be the messenger of bad news. When my Dad called two weeks ago after Uncle Tim's surgery, I knew something was wrong. Sure, he did his best to make small talk when I answered, asking me how I was doing -- how Jenaleigh was doing. But then he told me. When they opened Uncle Tim up for surgery for his blockage, they saw the cancer had returned and spread. Pancreatic Cancer.

So, back to yesterday morning's text. It said something to the effect of "Daniel, call me soon. It's about Tim.". So, he did. It was during that phone call that Mom told him that Uncle Tim was having kidney failure and that the doctors only expected him to live for another 24-48 hours. This was four weeks after he had been put into the hospital for a stomach blockage. We thought that's all it was. We thought the cancer was gone for the time being. We thought his kidneys were fine.

We packed up and went to Jackson to see him one last time. When we arrived, Daniel and I left Jenaleigh downstairs with Mom and Dad while we went up. After our short visit with him, Daniel headed home with Jenaleigh while I stayed.

We knew he was going quickly when his blood pressure began to drop around 5:00. His 22 year old son, Richard stayed by his side from then on -- I'm sure he didn't even take a break to go to the bathroom. He stayed -- holding his dad's hand until he took his last breathe. His dad whom he adored. And his dad who loved him so dearly.

My heart aches for my cousin. My cousin who shouldn't have to be dealing with all he's dealt with in his short life. My cousin who shouldn't have to know the pain of losing a father so young. I hurt so bad for him, but as I told him last night --- God alone can provide us with the ultimate comfort.

As we stepped into the hall a few minutes after Tim was gone, we heard the familiar melody of Brahm's, Lullaby. A baby had just been born. The circle of life at work yet again. Souls leave this earth and souls are born into it.

We'll miss you, Uncle Tim.



Our Uncle Tim



My Four Month Old Bebe!

Dear Jenaleigh.
You are SUCH a big girl right now! Gone are the days where you just slept all day on Mommy's chest. Now you want to see what's going on and more importantly, participate! I'm sad to think that your newborn days are behind you, but so excited to be a part of your life as you grow into your own person. Here's what you think about the world...

YOU LIKE:
- Being worn (in either the Ergo or the fantastic custom sling that Melanie made)

Mommy and Jenaleigh, 4 Months Old!

- Your fist (I wish I could shove my whole fist in my mouth! Well, maybe not...)
- Your elephant "lovie"
- Pulling my hair (OUCH!)
- Baths (you can be in such a foul mood, but the second you plop down in the bathtub, your entire demeanor changes)
- Trying to sit up by yourself
- Going to church and seeing tons of people
- Your paci (yep, you're addicted.)
- The TV (we're really trying not to let you watch it, but when we have it on, you crane your head all the way around to see it!)
- Going out to eat (you usually start "talking" in restaurants)

At your favorite Mexican Restaurant!

- The doggies (they made you giggle!)
- Dr. Foster, your chiropractor (he makes you laugh EVERY time you see him!)
- Talking back to Daddy while he preaches (yes, this is cute, for now!)


YOU DON'T LIKE:
- Staying awake for more than 2 hours at a time (if you do, we better watch out -- cranky baby on her way!)
- Being held like a tiny baby
- Having to wait more than a milisecond for your food (when you're hungry, you're hungry!)
- When your paci falls out in the middle of the night

I couldn't think of many other things that you don't like. You are pretty content with life, little girl! I love you so much and am so blessed to be your Mommy!

Love,
Mommy

(NOTE: Don't forget to enter the giveaway! There are several ways to enter and you can do each one, if you'd like! Click here.)

First EVER Giveaway!

-----CONTEST ENDED-----
To celebrate this beautiful Monday, I thought it'd be loads of fun to have a giveaway, our first ever here at B(3)! In fairness of full disclosure, these gifts are not coming out of my pocket, and they're not being donated... but rather I'm using some reward points from my debit card (which I've been RACKING up on by paying off medical bills) to share the love with my readers! The winner of this giveaway will have their choice of prize (one of two g-- either this adorable Vera Bradley all-in-one wristlet in the adorable "night and day" pattern:

Now you can have it all, right in the palm of your hand. Slide your cell phone or music player in the back pocket and your ID in the front window. Inside there are three credit card slots, a pocket and a zippered compartment. A strap clasp makes it easy to attach to another bag. Give it a hand!

OR


A $25 gift card to Amazon.com!

The Rules

1. We will be choosing the winner via comments below from random.org, so the more comments you leave on this post with ways you've entered, the more chances you have to win.
2. Tell your friends and family about the giveaway, this will increase your chances of winning, if they win it for you!
3. You may enter as little as 1 way (following us) or by doing every entry way possible, daily for the entire week.
4. The contest ENDS September 30, 2011 at 11:59pm, one (1) winner will be emailed, so please be sure to leave a way of contacting you directly. Prize must be claimed within 48 hours of being contacted or it will be forfeited.

HOW TO ENTER: You only have to do ONE of the following, or you can do them all! Please leave a comment for each one that you do!

1. Follow us via Google Friend Connect by clicking "follow" in the right hand side bar. If you are already a follower, no need to re-follow. Once you've completed this, please leave a comment stating that you are a follower below.
2. Like Bedrest, Blessings, and Baby on Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bedrest-Blessings-Baby-Blog/258231834208792 Once you've completed this, please leave a comment stating that you "liked" us.
3. Post a status on FB about the blog or giveaway, referring people to our fan page (use "@Bedrest, Blessings, & Baby Blog" to do so) and leave a comment stating that you did this.
4. Post about our giveaway on your blog with a return link back to us. Once you've completed this, please leave a comment stating that you have blogged about the giveaway and include your blog link.
5. Vote for me on Picket Fence Top Blogs. This can only be done once daily.http://picketfenceblogs.com/button/standard/3417 Once you've completed this post a comment stating that you voted for me below.

Good luck! If you have any questions please let us know


---- CONTEST ENDED----


Winner is Suzanne! Expect an email from me shortly, Suzanne!

Caring for Babes {In Christ}

During our date night, Daniel and I were deep in discussion about new converts -- babes in Christ. He mentioned how since becomming a Daddy, he'd realized how much love, effort, and time it takes to properly care for an infant and how we should apply the same rigor of newborn care to caring for new Christians. How true is that?! So, I started thinking ...

- Infants (especially newborns) need to be handled gently. Those floppy heads are enough to scare any new parent into being ultra careful! While I would never advocate for "sugar coating" of the Gospel, it is important to speak the truth in love (ie. carefully). I remember when Jenaleigh was first plopped onto my chest after she was born. I thought, "I don't want to break her! How do I hold her?!" We need to give an equal amount of care to every interaction we have with the babe in Christ; not holding back the truth, but being gentle, "as a nursing mother cherishes her own children" (1 Thessalonians 2:7).

"Carefully Handling my Newborn"

- Infants can't be left alone. I recently read a post on Babycenter.com about a grandmother wanting to leave a four month old alone in the parent's house (laying on the couch, nonetheless) while she walked a block to go pick up her other grandchild from school every afternoon. I was appalled! I would never leave my four month old alone in the house like that -- too many bad things can happen in just a matter of minutes! Similarlry, we can't leave our new converts alone. Do we baptize them Sunday night and say, "See you on Wednesday."? Do you realize that's quite a few days where they may have no contact with other Christians? In the early days of their Christianity, they need to be around Christian influences constantly! Too many bad things can happen when left alone to fend for themselves.

- Infants need to be comforted and cuddled when they're sick. Jenaleigh was having a major issue with constipation (TMI for some of you, I know!) today. I was doing many things to help her through it, but one of the greatest medicines I could provide, was cuddling and letting her know it would be okay. New Christians are going to meet speedbumps that cause them to question their newfound faith. We must be there to hold their hands, let them know what the Word says, put them back on track, and be a comfort!

- It may take awhile for your infant to be ready for solids, but some day they will be happily chowing down on table food. Some moms are so excited for their babies to start solids that the day their bambinos turn 4 months old, they're getting the rice cereal ready. Some babies happily except this new method of eating, while others may still have their tongue thrust reflex and push the cereal out of their mouths. If your baby rejects the rice cereal, do you throw your hands up in the air and say, "Oh well, I guess she'll just live on milk for the rest of her life!"? Um, NO! You just wait and offer it (or some other food) again when he/she is ready, right? If a New Christian doesn't quite "get" a "meaty" concept, don't think that the cause is lost and give up. Keep offering the meat, help them prepare themselves for solids, the meat that they will someday need to consume (Hebrews 5:12-14).

- Infants make messes and need to be cleaned up. In her short four months with us so far, Jenaleigh has probably taken more baths than I've had in a year! She makes quite the mess for a little bug and relies on her Mommy and Daddy to be there to help clean up the spit up or whatever else is expelled from her cute little body. Similarly, the new convert may wonder how to deal with a mess he or she made in their past. Paul wrote of the horrific things the Corinthian Christians had done in their pasts -- from being male prostitutes to drunkards -- but they were (with guidance and God's help, of course) able to overcome (1 Corinthians 6:9-11). Let's help our new converts devise a game plan to make their past "wrongs" right and get their lives right!

Warm Legs, Full Belly, & Happy Heart

Okay, are these not the cutest EVER - baby leg warmers!? I'm getting mine from mylittlelegs.com, but babylegs.com also has some pretty adorable ones.

Why? First of all, winter is coming up and this will be a great way to keep her little legs warm and simplify diaper changes. Secondly, they are just too sweet to pass up. In fact, I'm getting a ton. The hardest part is deciding which ones!

Now that her legs will be warm, let's move up the body and discuss her tummy. As you may or may not have read in a previous post, nursing did not go as planned for us. Due to a bad latch, crying at the breast, and thrush, we stopped nursing when she was about 3 weeks old and I've been pumping exclusively ever since. Unfortunately, I have a low supply (about 18 oz a day -- she eats 30-ish) that I have been unable to bump up even though I have tried every trick in the book. So, I spend hours (literally) every day pumping and not even getting everything she needs and thus having to supplement. For those of you who have never pumped before, let me tell you a little about it -- not only do you have to feed your baby (obviously) and therefore deal with those bottles and feedings like a formula fed baby's mom would, but you also have to be tied to a pump for 20-30 minutes (now that I've dropped pumps, the pumping time has gone up) for 6-8 times a day, then you have to clean bottles to pump with and pump parts! It's exhausting!

Imagine this: Your baby has been fed and is drifting off into na-na land. It's 10:00 and you know she'll probably wake around 3 or so to be fed again. So, you decide to go to sleep yourself! But, then you realize you haven't pumped! Ahk! So, you have to stay up an extra 30 minutes to pump.... Then in the middle of the night you wake to feed your baby. She eats and falls peacefully back to sleep. Now it's your turn to sleep, right? Wrong! You've got to pump for half an hour at 3 AM!

I said all of that to say this: Pumping exclusively is hard work. And frankly, I'm getting very tired of it! In addition to growing weary from the schedule, we've found a formula to supplement with that helps her not spit up AT ALL! Over the past week she had started being the spit up queen again, spitting up anywhere from 4 to 7 times after each feeding. But, with a switch to Enfamil A.R. that has rice starch in it, she hasn't been spitting up at all... however, she does still spit up when she eats the expressed breast milk. *Sadness* I'm thinking about ordering "Simply Thick", a thickening agent that can be used to thicken breast milk to see if that helps. So, while I'm ecstatic that this formula is so wonderful on her belly, it's also depressing to see that this expressed breast milk that I work so hard for causes her to spit up gallons. It doesn't help my desire to keep this pumping journey up. My ultimate goal was 1 year, but I'm thinking 6 months may be all this momma can handle! I just have to take it day by day and do what's best for Mommy and Baby!

(ETA: She did latch a couple of times last week, so this is another reason I'm hesitant to give it up!)

Onto the "Happy Heart" part of the post ... Yesterday was SUCH a wonderful day! We welcomed a new brother into the family of Christ. Matt was baptized yesterday afternoon and Daniel and I then took him out to eat afterwards. I had so much fun getting to know him and seeing the joy he experienced after being buried and raised anew! Praise God!

Then, last night, when we got home from Bible study, Daniel started tickling Jenaleigh and she laughed. She's only laughed a handful of times before, but it is the greatest most lovely sound in the world! Then this morning she rolled over again (she's done it about 5 times)! I love watching my little girl grow up so much!

I'm Ba-ack!

As I listen to my almost-four month old coo and gurgle (she's supposed to be napping!) I find myself in awe of her new-found independence. For 3.5 months we walked, rocked, a swayed this baby to get her to go to sleep and for some reason, last week, she decided she wanted to fall asleep on her own. We now just lay her down and she goes to sleep (with some paci replugs at times). Of course, there are those moments when she lays there and "talks" when we know it's her nap time. I listen to her over the monitor make the cutest sounds -- we call these her "delirious" sounds. When she gets ultra sleepy, she gets ultra crazy, and ultra adorable.

Who woulda thunk it? In the throws of newborn sleep deprivation I imagined myself holding this child during her sleep until she was 21. But, alas, she's Little Miss Independent! Time goes by so quickly, that's why I'm back to blogging the everyday stuff. So I will remember. Enjoy!