It was fun, but glad its over

Christmas 2007 has come and gone. It was so much fun getting ready for it, buying gifts, decorating the house, wrapping all the presents, visiting with friends and family, but I am glad its over with. Christmas is always a stressful time for me. This year we had so much fun buying presents for Alex. She opened all her gifts all by herself. She is getting so big and so independent. It amazes me how much she already knows. We are working on counting to three. She can almost say each word clearly. She even knows what number comes after the other. She opened her cabbage patch doll and immediately started feeding the baby a bottle. I about cried. She picks up on everything so quickly and is growing up so quickly.

Christmas Eve day Doug and I exchanged presents. He bought me an absolutely beautiful chocolate diamond necklace, Victorias Secret PJs, Heavenly perfume and other wonderful gifts. I gave him a new pair of LUGZ boots, Usher Cologne, boxers, and other stuff. We celebrated Christmas with Grandma Thayer on Christmas eve. We had a very yummy dinner and opened some more wonderful gifts. Later that night Doug and I let Alex open her presents from us. Christmas morning we went to Plainfield to have the traditional Christmas Breakfast with the Thayers. Alex enjoyed all the fun toys, books and clothes from her great grandparents, grandparents, cousins and Great Aunt. We later went home and put Alex down for a nap that she really needed. Then Lance, Kari and Rick came over with more gifts. We played with the kids for a while. Later that evening my mom and brother came over for Christmas dinner. We had a very very yummy honey glazed ham, homemade fudges, all all the fixens.

I am enjoying this week off work. Alex is at the daycare while I tidy up around the house, getting rid of bags and bags of gift wrap and boxes. We have so much food left over. I have hit a few stores for some of the after christmas sales, bought myself a few new sweaters/shirts/jeans. Bought some more x-mas decorations. Im sure Doug will remind me we have enough Christmas decorations already. But I loovvee to decorate for this season. Now Im just debating when I am going to take all this stuff down and put it away. Thats the only thing I dont look forward to.

Finally Walking!

She finally is walking more than crawling. She has been taking about 5 steps at a time for a while now. After about 5 steps she falls to the ground. But last Tuesday I caught her taking about 10 steps from the table to the middle of the room. When she noticed me watching her she starting laughing and fell. So that night Doug and I played the walking game with her and let her walk back and forth to us for about an hour. She thought it was a game and was laughing the whole time. Now she has been walking more often and has it down really well. She got to walk to Grandma Thayer lastnight and showed off for Grandma Scheible today. Now she has been trying to lean over and pick things up which is a lil tricky being top heavy. But its cute when she falls because she always giggles.

Alexandra has been sleeping through the night again. For the last few nights she hasnt woke up screaming crying. We switched her back to formula and are slowly weaning her to whole milk. Also she isnt drooling as much, so I believe her tooth has finally broke through. So either it was her tooth or tummy hurting. We arent sure, but are sooo happy that she is back to normal. If it was because of teething, this has been the first worst episode. If it were because her tummy cant handle all the whole milk at once, we are working to prevent anymore tummy aches by weaning her.

Lack of sleep

Lately Alex has been waking up at around 3 am everyday crying, hard. It started Sunday morning. At first we thought it was because of teething. She has her 9th tooth coming in. But then she has done this everyday so far. And its the same time each day with the same reaction, her crying so hard and so loud. We have never ever had to deal with a crying screaming baby in the middle of the night, so this is really hard. The second morning Doug got up with her, brought her in the room (which I didnt agree with) and tried to get her to sleep with us. After an hour and a half of tossing a turning, not one moment of sleep, he took her into the living room where she played until about 5 in the morning. Then the following night she did it again. this time Doug got up with her again and took her into the living room. She finally fell asleep after playing and eating at about 6ish. This morning she did it again. This time I got up, gave her paci and beary, turned on her music and closed the door. She screamed, literally, for about 15-20 minutes until she finally fell asleep. The whole time I was awake listening through the monitor. Since Sunday, we have had only about 3-5 hours of sleep a night.
About a week ago we switched her to whole milk. So the doctor advised to try switching her back to formula and then slowly weaning her off of it onto milk. We have started that and the girls at the daycare are helping as well. We are also wondering if she is having nightmares that wake her. But its weird that she wakes up at exactly 3 every day. We have given her motrin for any pain, gas medicine, water, milk, but still nothing. What is even more weird is that she has perfect days at the daycare, never cries, plays well with all the kids, eats great, sleeps at least 2 hours and has normal dirty diapers. The girls cannot believe the stories we tell them.
So now is another night I am dreading, hoping she goes to sleep. I never had to deal with a screaming baby. She has always been so good at laying down and going to sleep.

First Birthday Bash

Mommy w/ Alex's new diamond earrings
Sharing cake with daddy.

Alex and Uncle Tyler






Playing with her music center

Sitting pretty on her singing chair & table

On Saturday Nov. 24th we celebrated Alexandra's 1st birthday, one week late. I am glad that we postponed the party because she was 100% better and had a lot of fun. We had about 25 people, friends and family that came to the house. It was a simple party, with snacks, cake, ice cream and opening of presents. There are so many years to come that we can have games and activities for everyone to play. She received lots of musical toys, books, outfits and her first pair of diamond earrings from Papaw and Memaw. I had to hold back tears when I opened the earrings. It means a lot to me for my daughter to receive her first diamonds, especially from my father. After presents, we sang to the birthday girl. She didnt care to be the center of attention while we sang. She just glared at everyone with a lil evil eye. We gave her her own special cake. She didnt want to touch it at first, so Daddy placed her hand in it. then she wanted to share with me and Daddy. She kept pretty clean, with only cake on her face and hands. And she liked it very much, especially the icing.

Not so happy birthday

Alex turned 1 year old Nov 16th. Who ever knew this would be such a terrible first birthday for her. It started Wed afternoon when the babysitter called Doug to tell him Alex had a very high fever after naptime. He picked her up and took her home where she dropped her fever by one degree. That evening we were home with her and she acted perfectly normal except she had a high fever. Now this is her first fever ever. So I was extremely worried because we had never dealt with this before. Thursday I stayed home with her and was able to get her fever to break in the early afternoon. Around 8ish that evening she started to break out in a terrible blotchy rash. We called the emergency line for the dr and was advised she had roseola. I had heard of it before because my friend Jennifer's son Zach had it. It was no longer contagious since her fever had broke. She would get rid of the rash in a few days. Okay so now we were worried she would have a rash on her birthday and at her party. I can deal with that. She went to the sitter on Friday and by 2pm I received a call advising her rash was worse and on her face, swelling her left eye. I rushed her to the dr. After the dr checked her out she determined that she had a different virus (dont even ask what it was called because it was such a long name). The rash causes large and small red patches all over. Well it sure did. All we could do was give her medicine for her uncomfortableness and benedryl for the swelling. Plans for the party were still a go. By saturday morning, we woke up to her having purple hands and feet. The on-call dr recommended we take her to the immediate care to check it out. We did and they determined that she was so swollen and the rash was so bad, it was turning purple. Her blood was circulating just fine, we would just have to deal with it. We decided to cancel the party because she was so cranky and uncomfortable from itching. She wasnt napping well and would be handful during her party. Saturday and today, Sunday, we are trying our hardest to help her out with the itchiness, giving her medicines and also oatmeal baths. Of course everything is temporary. She is very cranky and cries all the time. Not the baby we know. We never have had to deal with something like this. Doug and I are so stressed and worried, we arent eating or sleeping well. And neither is Alex. We are hoping she gets well enough for a party next weekend.

Halloween Pictures

Sorry it took me a while to get these up. Normal hectic, busy schedule keeping me away from the computer. Alex did really good during her first trick or treating. Her and Lance rode in the wagon together. He was the most adorable chicken. We gots lots of candy.

Alex's first Halloween

Tomorrow will be Alexandra's first halloween. We are ssoo excited. We bought her costume about a month ago and have been impatiently waiting. I have already dressed her up and taken a few pictures. And Yes-I did tear up when I first put the costume on. She is just so darn-cute. Tomorrow night we plan to meet up with Rick, Kari and Lance to walk around the neighborhood.
Tomorrow Alex will also have her first Halloween party at daycare. Daddy has the honors to dress her up and take her tomorrow. Im so excited for her. I hope she wears her costume well.
Lastnight we carved pumpkins. We undressed Alex down to her diaper so she could "help" us. But she didnt want any part of it. She didnt care for how the guts felt and how the seeds stuck to her. She only enjoyed picking up the pieces and feeding them to Lucifer. So daddy and I finished the pumpkins by ourselves.
Tomorrow I will take lots of pics and post them for all the see.

Time to plan a party...

Today Alex is 11 months old... wow-how time flies when your having fun (literally). It's absolutely crazy to me that she will be one year old next month. I look back when I was pregnant on how I used to look forward in the future and wonder how much our lives would change with a baby. It still boggles my mind that I am old enough to be married with a baby. I just don't feel old enough but when I look at others my age and even my parents when they were my age, I guess I am old enough. I just never thought I would actually grow up and do "adult" stuff. It was always a dream of mine to get married and have a baby. And now that my dreams have come true, I couldn't be happier. I am still as happy and ecstatic and emotional as the day I had Alexandra. It's like I'm dreaming and I pray that no one pinches me because I don't want to wake up and want to stay in this dream.
So I have been planning her party since the day she was born-seriously. I catch myself wanting to do extravagant things but then realize she is only one. We have sooo many birthdays in the future to do all these things. I just want the day to go well for her and hope that its a memorable one for Doug and I. I have had the decorations packed up in a closet now for months, ordered the cake about 3 months ago, had the invitations ready to send out for a few weeks ... and now its time to officially start inviting everyone. Our family on both sides is rather small. Our family members are scattered throughout the US, in Florida, Ohio, Colorado, etc... so the actual amount of people who show up will probably be small. But it doesn't really matter the number of people, it matters who shows up.... so now the stress begins for me and wont end till the party is over and the last guest has left our house. Sorry Doug- just be nice and agree with me and you will live through it.

Alex is on her way...

Alex is now starting to walk w/ the help of toys. She loves to walk behind her elmo walker or her other toy-what ever you want to call it... She is also starting to use the couch and other furniture to walk. She might be walking by herself before her first birthday.

Always an adventure with Alex!

Climbing up under the table
Oops! Alex got caught
But isn't she so cute?! She thought it was hilarious...

Now thats a cheesey smile.. well, more like

a spaghetti sauce smile.

Potty Mouth

So Doug and I were sitting around watching Alex play about a week ago. As she is playing, she is blabbling, talking her baby talk. Then all of a sudden we hear her first "bad" word... "Shit". Shocked and amazed me and Doug just look at each other like "Did she really just say Shit?" And she does it again... yep thats our lil girl. We always talked about how someday our child was going to have a rotten mouth because well, Mommy and Daddy dont have the cleanest. It probably doesnt help that I call her "Lil Shit". So everytime she says it now we giggle and smirk. And sometimes yes we do coaxed her to say it. It is just so darn cute to hear her whisper the word "shit". And its even cuter when she is crawling around saying it. Yea I know we dont need to "ag" her on, but its pretty funny.
We do have a plan though, if she says it around our conservative friends and family, we will just say she is repeating the word "sit".. you know .. like when we tell Lucifer to sit.
But now I can write it down in the baby book under "Other memorable moments" - At almost 9 months old our lil sailor says shit."

Go Colts!

Alex is ready to cheer on the Colts in another victorious season! Check out more Colts pictures below.

9 1/2 months....

Today I am off work so Alexandra and I went to Portrait Innovations at Metropolis. She had her 9 months pictures taken. I would have liked to have them taken sooner (right at 9 months) but I just now had the free time. She is just over 9 1/2 months. She did rather well, though didnt want to sit still very long. She wanted to explore the studio and check out the other babies. I was hestitant to put her into a second change of clothes only because she tends to cry and fuss while getting changed. She just doesnt like to have her clothes taken on or off. She did better than I thought with the outfit change. She got to wear her new Colts Cheerleader outfit Grandma Thayer bought. She looks ssoo cute as a lil cheerleader. I cant wait for that age when she can join a team.

After a few outift changes and gobs of snaps, we went to Old Navy while the pictures were printed. I could go broke there. I love the clearance sections. Daddy bought her a new dress for an upcoming wedding, zip up sweatshirt and cotton shirt. I was advised there will be a baby and children sale starting Friday. glad its pay day cause we are going shopping again. Time to buy more fall/winter clothes.

Bling, Bling!

Lil Miss Alexandra got her ears pierced Saturday Sept 1. She did rather well. We went to Club Libby Lou in the mall. Daddy held her while she had ears marked. She started getting fussy during that because the girl made a few mistakes because Alex was moving her head a lot. Finally after she calmed down and got her ears marked I had to hold her, hand on the forehead, arm across her shoulders. Two girls pierced her ears at the same time. She flinched then started crying, I think more because of the noise. But once daddy held her she was perfectly content. So far she is doingjust fine with them. She hasnt pulled or messed with her ears.

The flu has started...

So Alex started a new daycare this week. Monday was her first day. All was going well each day. Wed night while Doug was sitting on the floor with Alex, she started vomiting, a lot. We moved her from the carpet to the lenolium. After she was done, she seemed back to normal. Gave her a bath, changed into her pjs, started playing again. Then about 1/2 an hour later she started vomiting again. At first I thought she had a hair in her throat because she has gagged herself before to get it out. But when she started getting sick as second time, I knew something was not right. By this time me and Doug are both in tears because it was so horrible to watch. We called the dr and was told not to give her anything to eat for the rest of the night. If she were to wake up in the middle of the night give her about an ounce of pedialyte. Then for the next 12 hours, only pedialyte and maybe some formula if she keeps it down. The dr was not too concerned and felt it was only something small that would pass quickly because she didnt have a temperature. About 1/2 an hour later she began to get sick again. This time was much worse for her and us. As I was holding her she laid back in my arms, pale and teary-eyed and cried "momma". It was so hard to see my baby like this. Doug and I just sat there on the kitchen floor and cried while holding her. We paged the dr back and asked about the vomiting and was told she will continue and end of dry heaving because her belly is empty. We went to bed at 9 that night with her in our bed on dougs side. Doug slept on the floor next to us (Alex tends to kick him out of the bed). I really didnt sleep much that night. I fell alspee only enoug to wake up to her moving around or making a noise. Never ever got into a deep sleep. She woke up with me at 5 when the alarm went off. She didnt get sick all night. Doug stayed home with her all day Thursday. She did really well. Friday she went back to the sitter. Friday night though was different. She got sick again. I dont know if we fed her too much or what, but it all ended up on me, in my hair, down my bra and all down my right side. So she slept with me again. saturday she seemed not better as she was fussy most of the day. Doug then started to feel sick and didnt eat the whole day. Sat night she went to bed around 9 and didnt wake up until 11am sunday. Thank you baby- mommy and daddy needed the rest. I woke up on the other hand with body aches all over... I literally lived on the couch today. Alex was awake maybe 4 hours total today. All the other times she was asleep. Which is great because gave me and Doug time to rest and get better. She seems to be doing much better. She definitely needed the rest to hep fight the sickness. Her appetite isnt 100% back but we are giving her as much time as she needs to get better.
Just forewarn everyone- I have been told by severaly people that the flu is out and about. Perfect timing with school starting up. So clean clean clean and get them germs out of the house! Im doing that (again).

Watch out World - Alex is on the move!!!

Alex started crawling! Finally! So I walk into Rick and Kari's house Monday 7/30 and both are telling me "Your daughter just crawled!". They got out the Nintendo controller and coaxed her across the room to me. Hey what ever works! Im so proud of my baby. So of course when daddy got home I got out the handy dandy nintendo controller and coaxed her over to daddy. He, of course, teared up.
Now whats up with this obsession with wires lil girl? Several times we have caught her playing with wires. Ugh, not good.
So now we have to start Alex-proofing the house. She smashed her finger while trying to pull herself up using a cabinet door. She also is very interested in the electric outlets. She got her hand smacked for the first time after I told her NO for continuing to touch the outlet. She didnt cry (though it wasnt very hard at all) and she moved on to play with something else.
I will have to get some pictures up, maybe a short video.

All Better Now....

Well Alex had her surgery this morning. The morning went pretty good. Im better now that its all over with. We got there a lil after 7am, signed in, sat for about 15 mins, taken to a room where she would return after surgery. She wore this adorable lil hospital gown that tied in the back. I tried to steal it but the nurse caught me. I had to put her pj's back on. DARN! Doug and I both prepped ourselves for when they came and took her from us. Why did 4 people come back to the room seperately each time and finally the 4th person took her. Each time we got ourselves ready for her to go away but they didnt take her. That was hard. I wasnt allowed to watch her walk away with the nurse. Doug said so.. lol.. It seriously only took exactly 10 mins. She went back to the room at 8:02am and the dr came back to the "consulation room" at 8:12am. Everything went really well. We were allowed to go back to the room to see her. When we arrived she was in the arms of a nurse rocking her. I immediately noticed she had been crying a lot and hard. So of course as Im taking her from the nurse Im crying. She just laid in my arms, sniffling, making lil noises with her eyes shut. Only reason Doug started crying is because he saw me crying. We were able to leave about 15 mins later. I had to hold her on the way home. Before I went back to work we fed her Pedialyte and applesauce. She played for a lil but would have moments she would just shriek and cry. Doug stayed home with her and she has been improving each hour. She is playing, eating and sleeping well.

Now thats its over and done with she better not get anymore infections. I dont want to go through this again.

My First Boo-Boo...

Our baby got her first real boo-boo on her head. She was playing at the sitters (Monday) when one of the kids (Lance) was running and fell right on her. He was holding a hotwheels car that scraped across her forehead. Lance was alright but I was told she cried, hard. The first night she had a nice bruise that went over her forehead and across the top of her head. Now its scabbing and looking better. Bruise is gone. I had to take a picture though. This is probably one of many many bumps and bruises. I just need to get used to it.

Surgery tomorrow

Hello Everyone... So surgery is tomorrow for Alexandra. Im getting nervous. Yea its just tubes, but its my baby. its a very common, everyday surgery... and rally it isnt surgery. They just put lil plastic tubes inside her ears. But she has to be put to sleep... Im nervous to see how she wakes up and how she reacts to us. The dr said she will be very grumpy, dazed and might not recognize us for a moment. i think that is what is going to hurt the most. i just hope all goes well, she reacts fine to the gas and wakes up normal with no complications. I will let you know how it goes.

Off to the ENT

So Alex started tugging at her ears again a few days ago. She also has been waking up crying. Not normal at all. Either it was more teeth coming in or another ear infection. Because I have been off work a few extra days, I took her into the dr yesterday morning. Yep, ear infection again... I have officially lost count. I believe its number 6. Dr sent in the referral to the ENT and I now have an appt set for 7/17 for the consultation. After the consulation we will get to set the date for the surgery. Doug and I are both going to consultation and the surgery. I definitely could not do it alone. I know I will be upset. It will hurt me so much to leave her in the room with strangers to get prepped. From what I remember of my friends babys surgery, it only takes about 1/2 an hour. Its the waking up part that really scares me. Its gonna bother me so much to see my lil girl with an IV in her arm and trying to wake up from it. I will just have to be strong and not cry (too much).

June 27, 2007

Alex went to the dr. yesterday for a follow up appt for her ear infection. Everything is clear, no signs of infection or fluids. Definitely a plus. Though Doug and I were kinda hoping there were still some signs of an infection so we could go to the ENT and discuss tubes and possibly go through the surgery. We are just done dealing with ear infections over all. Done with all the medicines she has to take. We want to prevent any more. We have been told for her having so many ear infections we are really lucky to have a baby that is so happy all the time. Most babies cry and fuss all the time with the pain, dont sleep or eat well. She acts perfectly normal except a tug at the ear occasionally. We have been blessed over all with such a perfect baby. She rarely cried as a newborn, slept through the night at just over a month old, ate well always, got her on a routine right away, etc. Other than the one time hospital visit for that virus going around and the ear infections, she has been perfectly healthy. She is on target everytime we go to the dr for weight, height,development, skills, etc.

She is starting to get into the crawling position when sitting. We are hoping she will start crawling in a week or so. She had her first official fall off the couch. Occurred at the sitters. She didnt know Alexandra just started lunging forward and she toppled right off the couch. Got her first bruise. She said she cried for just a moment and then was fine. I know if would have happened with me around, I probably would have cried along with her.

Almost 7 months old....

Saturday Alexandra will be 7 months old. Things are still going pretty good. Alex still has fluid in her ears. She goes back to the dr the 26th. If the medicine she is on doesnt clear it up, the dr will refer an ENT to discuss tubes. FINALLY! I hate waiting and going through all the procedures, but understand its needed before the talk of tubes. For having her 4th ear infection that just keeps dragging, she is still in a great mood every day. She seems to be always happy, laughing and babbling loudly. She hears really well for having so much problems with her ears. Everything catches her attention. We are still trying to teach her how to drink out of a sippy cup. She prefers her NUBY cup over some others. I have increased her baby food intake as well. She seems to be lasting longer between bottles and not as fussy. We still have to hide bottles from her so she doesnt flip out when she sees one. She thinks she needs to have one every other hour. No crawling yet. She doesnt care for tummy time. I usually place her on her belly until she starts to whine or cry. She can snoot backwards on her belly. She tries to put her knees up under her but always plants her face into the floor. We try to stand her up against things for her to grab but she always wants to bounce.. so we let her and she falls.
Last friday Grandma Thayer watched her so we could see a movie. And then the following Saturday Grandma Scheible watched her to we could go to the Italian Festival w/ nick and Renee. Later we went to Peppers in greenwood. I drank more than I could handle and was praying to the porceline god.. not fun.. but its been while. I forgot how low my tolerance was.

6 month pictures....

Here are a few more pictures of Alex at 6 months.

Update....

Sorry....it has been a while since I updated this. I have been so busy it seems. I just havent had the time to sit down and start writing. I am up and about seeing family, working in the yard, playing with Alex, etc. Alex is now just over 6 months old. We had pictures taken a couple of weeks ago. I tell myself each time that I have a spending limit, but always seem to exceed that once I see the pictures. It is just so hard to choose only a few poses out of all the options they show you. I am getting better though. I first spent almost $300 on her 3 month pictures. This time I spent only $200. Next time for her 9 month pictures I am hoping to not spend as much.
Alex went to the dr for her 6 month shots and check up. Daddy had to take her for that. I still cant handle the shots. Her crying makes me cry. She is doing very well and in the 95 percentile for her age. She weighs now just over 19 lbs. Mommy's lil fatty. I love her fatness. Doug is still flipping out about it though. He thinks she will be a fat kid since she is a fat baby. Everyone, including myself, keep telling him that it is very normal for her to be fat. She will lose some once she becomes more mobile. Also its just not normal to have a skinny baby... well I think it isnt. Fat babies are so much cuter. I was very fat as a baby. But got very very skinny because I was so active. The only reason Im thick now is because I let myself go once I got a sit down job. I wasnt as active. Doug doenst want her to be a fat kid because he was. He knows it was hard for him and would be even harder for a girl.
This past weekend (memorial day) we didnt do a lot. We had planned to camp and boat on Lake Monroe. But lovely Indiana weather brought in the rain. So we stayed home. It was nice just to relax. I took off on Tuesday making my weekend extra long. I ended taking Alex back to the dr because she is still tugging on her ear. She has her 4th ear infection. Im done. Absolutely done. She is on a third medicine that is stronger. This time her eyes are gross and gooky. The infection has her all clogged up. In two weeks she will f/u w/ the dr. If its not better we talk about tubes. I cannot stand to see my daughter go through this. I am ready for tubes for her, done with the medicines, done with the congestion and colds.
For having her 4th ear infection she is doing so good, still in a great happy mood, laughing and giggling. Dr said she should start to move around more, start pulling herself up on things, rolling over more, possibly crawling. She doesnt like tummy time but we tend to make her do it so she can get more arm and leg strength. She is rolling over and stands well while hanging onto something. She is saying Da-da and ma-ma more often. We are now trying to teach her Bubby (Lucifers nickname). She is almost saying daddy. We are making it a point to call each other mommy and daddy now to help her learn. Last night when I asked where daddy was she would look around for Doug and smile real big when she found him. When she is upset she is saying ma-ma. She is soo cute when she whispers Da-Da. She has two teeth coming in on the bottom. One right next to the other. Some people think she will be the kind of baby that gets teeth all right away. I guess some babies take longer to get in teeth than others. Hopefully they all come in and no waiting in between each one. She tends to get fussy when she teeths.

Mothers Day

Happy Mothers Day. For my first mothers day, Doug bought me a new digital camera. Im still trying to figure it out. So sorry if my pictures are a lil blurry. Dougs mom bought me a nice hanging plant for outside and inside. Doug also bought me a hanging basket of flowers. My mom also bought me beautiful purple daisies to plant in my garden. You can never go wrong with flowers for me. I love to garden.
Alex has her third ear infection, this time in both ears. The dr said if she continues to get more within the next few months, she will have to get tubes. Im hoping that will be the final step. She is getting her first tooth on the bottom. Soon I will not be able to let her chew on my fingers because it will hurt.
Im patiently waiting for her to wake up from her afternoon nap. I want to mow the grass.

Another one?

Ear infection that is....
So Alex started coughing the other day... and continued to cough for a few more days. I stayed home with her on Monday and went to the doctor. Guess what.. another ear infection in the right ear! I could have started crying. This will be ear infection # 2. It upsets me so much. But the dr advises its normal, especially with this weather. Babies tend to catch colds which cause congestion which then builds up in the ears. She is back on the pink bubblegum flavored medicine. More than likely she caught a cold from the other children and/or baby she is with during the day at the babysitters. Almost everyone there was sick with an ear infection, cold or flu. Once this weather gets warm and stays warm, the risks for ear infections goes down. I have a feeling she will get more and then end up getting a set of tubes. Lets just pray one set of tubes will fix the problem and ear infections do not become routine.

Easter

Alex had her first easter. She wore a beautiful dress. We had lunch with Grandma Thayer, Paw-Paw and Nana. Later that evening PaPaw visited. She got see her cousin Ethan again. We were not able to see Grandma Scheible or Uncle Ty though. They stayed home sick with the flu. Alexandra also got her first easter basket. I cant wait for the years to come to give her even more in her easter basket.

4 1/2 months

Alex is now 4 1/2 months old. She sits up on her own, though sometimes tumbles over when trying to check out her toes. She rocks herself back and forth. She loves her jumperoo. Her feet can now touch and she has figured out how to jump. She is absolutley hilarious to watch. At her last dr's appt she weighed 15.9 and is 25 1/2 inches long. We started feeding her stage 1 baby food. She tried pears the first time and loved them. So far we have given her pears, sweet potatos, peaches and now peas. And so far no allergic reactions and she likes them all.

Last weekend when it was warm I had her outside with me as much as possible. Doug bought her a fancy Radio Flyer wagon with a canopy. If she isnt in the wagon, she is in her stroller. So far, she loves being outside. It puts her to sleep.

Since this weather is going to get cold, we will be stuck in the house once again. Hopefully we will all stay healthy and now get another cold.

4 months old

Alex is now 4 months old. She is just getting over her first ear infection. Last weekend she was fussy from Friday night until Monday morning. It was one of the longest weekends. If she wasnt asleep she was crying or fussing. And that is not normal for her. She rarely cries. We knew something was wrong, she was hurting and uncomfortable. We were switching between Tylenol and Benadryl. She would even fuss and cry when we changed her clothes and diaper. That never happens. She woke up crying. She cried while trying to eat. I wish we knew right away that it was an ear infection, but we had no clue. All she wanted was to be held or cuddled. I woke up Saturday night to her crying, tried to feed her, but she wouldnt eat. We ended up sleeping on the couch the rest of the night. Well she slept, I laid there and watched to make sure she was okay. monday morning Doug took her to the dr. Yep an ear infection in the right ear. She was given medicine and we were told to continue with the tylenol and benadryl. From that moment on she has been perfectly normal, back to her laughing, smiling self.
She goes to the dr for her 4 month follow up and shots. This will be my first experience for shots with her. Daddy took her last time. Im sure I will tear up if she cries. The dr also might discuss first stage baby food as well. Doug is very excited to start feeding her "real" food. I on the other hand dont look forward to the messes. But Im sure it will be fun to watch her experience her first tastes of foods.

First hospital visit

We had to take Alexandra to the hospital for the first time the evening of March 1, 2007. I recieved a call from the babysitter which is my friend Kari. Alex had been throwing up since 10:30am, sleeping all the time, no appetite and not moving much but no fever, & still has wet diapers. The symptoms seemed to get worse by the time Doug arrived at their house around 4ish. Doug decided to take her to the hospital because she was not smiling, moving, and dry-heaving. I was on my way home from work and then met him at the hospital. Rick was nice enough to go with Doug since he understands Dougs anxiety in hospitals. When I arrived the dr had already looked at her and was going to dicuss the details with another dr. Finally another dr arrived and advised he had admitted 7 babies within his last two shifts for a virus with the same symptoms. Before admitting her he wanted to try give her Pedialyte every 3 minutes. If she kept it down and started to look/act better, we could home. If no change, she was going to be admitted and given an IV. Oh my- my daughter with an IV- I would have lost it. It was already hard enough to deal with seeing my baby girl laying in the hospital bed not moving, not smiling, not talking, looking helpless. She just seemed so out of it and uncomfortable. Doug was already upset and crying. I couldnt even look at him or I was about to cry. I had to stay strong because I know if I were to start crying, Doug would get worse. We began to give her the drink through a syringe and she seemed to want more, so we fed her by bottle. After she emptied her bottle, we three noticed her color started coming back, more movement, she was paying attention to us and the tv and the claminess went away. She also held it down and didnt get sick. We were finally given the okay to go home with her. We were instructed to continue with the Pedialyte, no formula and follow up with her pediatrician. We were there for over 3 hours.
Over night she slept in a bassinet next to me. She woke up around 3 am, ate a lil and began talking like normal until about 4:30am. She even smiled a few times. Doug and I were so happy to see her getting back to normal. I didnt care how early it was or how tired I was. I could have sat there all night listening an watching her. Her pediatrician saw her this morning and said all was well. Slowly introduce formula to her again and if no throwing up or fever she will be good to go.
It was the toughest thing I have had to go through so far. I thought I would lose it and break down. But I held it together. I surprised myself. Now if only I can guarantee this will be the worse thing that could possibly happen for the rest of her life. But I know kids get sick and hurt. Lets just hope daddy can deal with an injury better than I can.....

A lil tip for parents: if your baby seems to have some of the same symtoms as Alex did, try a lil Pedialyte.

Valentines Day

I had the opportunity to stay home with Alex on valentines day. Thank you to the bad weather we had. I had so much fun dressing her in a valetines Day outfit. I think she had fun as well.

2/18/07

Alexandra is officially 3 months old as of 2/16/07. She is doing pretty well on her developmental skills/acitivites according to the many magazines, articles and books I read. Doug and I think she might start sitting up on her own real soon. She doesnt like to lay down anymore when she is awake. She tries to sit up on her own. We usually will have propped up in her Boppy pillow, sitting in her exosaucer, and propped up in her swing or bouncer. Alex also seems to be trying to roll over. She can get her left leg under herself and push herself over to her side, but then falls back onto her back. She is a very talkative baby. She can sit somewhere and keep herself amused by making all kinds of noises. She gets real excited in her swing watching the fish above her head. She just talks and talks and talks. I have video recorded her a few times when she is in her talkative mood. I am hoping she is a talkative child. Yea I say this now, but Im sure when she starts talking, Ill will want some quiet time. She is easily amused by cartoons and especially ones that sing. We are starting to buy more movies/cartoons for her to watch. She loves the Back Yardigans and Wonder Pets.

Almost 3 months later....

Alex is now 2 1/2 months old. She is doing great with weight gain, height and development. She has been smiling at us since she was about 4 weeks old. Her dr said her next step is to start laughing. She is soo close too. We can get her really excited and she starts smiling a lot. She smiles and gets her arms and legs moving very fast. She coos and makes lots of noises and we respond by mimicking her noises. Doug thought he got a giggle out of her, but I really want to hear a laugh. Im sure when that day comes I will tear up just like I did when she smiled at me the first time.
Her next drs appt is in mid March. The dr said she will then discuss the first stage of baby food. Wow - its almost time to start feeding her food other than formula. Im excited, but nervous. Im nervous because Im afraid of food allergies. Doug and I dont have any, but Im still afraid she might. So far we havent had any scares, but I know if she had a food allergy I might flip out.
So now shes starting to grow out of her newborn clothes. Who knew I was going to be so sad to get rid of these clothes. It seems like we just got them and she has barely worn them. I have sooo many onesies that she hasnt even worn. I try to put her in a new outfit everyday but with this bitter cold weather, I like for her to wear layers. And a onesie just wont do it. We went shopping for 3-6 month clothes and found some very cute outfits for the end of winter, beginning of spring. While walking around the stores I saw all the cute spring and summer outfits. I cannot wait to start buying more of those, especially her first bathing suit. Doug reminded me not to cry while we were in the store because I almost did.
Thats another thing-Ever since I had her I have been so emotional. I always was before her, but since she has arrived, I am a gusher. And its always happy tears. I have had few sad circumstances, but the smallest happy event makes me tear up. When I start to think of her in the future, going to school, performing in school plays, playing sports, etc, I start to tear up. I cry at least one tear a day when I begin to think of Alex and Doug. And it is always when Im away from them.
Well three months later ... I think we are doing great as a family. I feel that Doug and I are doing really well for new parents. And we are so lucky to have Alexandra. She is a great baby. We have had it pretty good so far... and I say so far because I know things could change.

Welcome!

I have created this to keep everyone updated on our family. Since Alex was born, every day is a new day for Doug and I. Each day she gets bigger, makes a new expression and does something new. We want to share every moment with our friends and family. I hope you enjoy the page. I will try to keep it updated as often as I can.

Love,
Courtney