Stuff...

Does anyone else have to FIGHT Blogger to upload their damn photos? Sheesh. It took me at least 4 tries PER PHOTO to get these on here.

Good thing I'm persistent.

Anyway, I go to the endodontist on Monday and hopefully my toofache will be completely healed afterward.

Bayley has been pretty good up until the last couple of days. She has been PISSY and screamed at me this morning. All morning. I'm exhausted and cranky. I'm guessing teething but we'll see. Hopefully her ears are clear. She has been pretty healthy lately except for a snotty nose latey. I suctioned out a TON this morning. And you're welcome for sharing.

Anyway, not much house cleaning has gone on the last day or two. Too nauseus from the meds for my tooth. Right now it's 9:11am at work and I could lay down for a few hours and sleep. Sigh.
Coffee needs to kick in NOW.

We got our front porch busted up and the concrete guys came out and poured a new slab. We also got a slab in the backyard. I paid them this morning. I felt like a pimp carrying around that big of a wad of cash, but now I'm back to feeling like my old broke self. :)

On to something more enjoyable:

Toofache.

I think I have an abscessed tooth. I'm leaving in an hour and a half to go to a dentist. My dentist is out on spring break this week and thankfully another local dentist will see me today.

Hurts. So. Badly.

Stuff again.

Bayley has started pointing. She likes to stick her little pudgy finger and arm straight out at someone and just hold that pose for however long she pleases. People always find it funny and point right back at her. I am just waiting for a year or so from now when she asks me some embarassing question about someone in the loudest voice known to man -- a little kid's voice.

We are back on a sleep schedule -- hallelujah! Bay is ready for bed around 8 and is in bed no later than 8:30. Sometimes she cries, but only for a few minutes before she passes out. I had the funniest video of her sitting up and falling asleep, then waking up and whimpering, then repeating the process. But it's 3 minutes long and Blogger does not like that. So I can't upload it. It just gives up.

Joe is immersed in school: exams, papers, quizzes, group projects, etc. Then he also found out his favorite professor got fired for "budget cuts." And Joe also worries about the job market for his field once he graduates. He'll have a bachelors in Biology with an emphasis on Wildlife Management & Conservation. It's a narrow field and it appears people are only hiring those with master's degrees. We'll keep our fingers crossed that he graduates in December and that he can find a good job that he loves.

I am leaving work an hour early to go to the doctor to get treated for this stupid sinus infection. I can't wait! I'm going to ask for everything: antibiotics, cough syrup, and an inhaler. Woo hoo.
We've had warm weather (85-95 degrees) this week so hopefully spring is finally here and we can just sneeze our heads off.

This morning on the radio they said that my state is #3 for worst state to live in if you have allergies. Super. We are the "Natural State" and we're always sneezing, coughing, and getting sick because of the pollen.

I just got the hiccups. Ever coughed while hiccuping at the same time? It hurts. But at least I'm in a good mood today.

Got Hobbies? **LONG POST**

Joe and I were talking in the car the other day about hobbies. One thing I've always admired about him (other than his extremely awesome work ethic) is that he knows what he loves and he finds a way to DO all of it. I can tell you exactly what he loves to do and how he incorporates it into his life. He's a very active, outgoing, outdoorsy guy. He loves to kayak, camp, be outside doing something, mountain biking/trail riding, used to skateboard and rollerblade when he was younger, he loves poetry, music, and power tools. He also loves movies and vampire/werewolf especially. He can name most any plant and animal and tell you something about it. He's my own poor (haha) version of Jeff Corwin. He's very interested in conservation and cleaning up the planet. All of his hobbies coincide with each other, really. It's pretty amazing to sit back and think about his interests and how he incorporates them all into his life. He works full time as a landscape supervisor, goes to school full time in the evenings for Biology with an emphasis in Wildlife Managment and Conservation. He wants to work for the state Game & Fish Commission working with large animals like bears.

The man can sing songs without music because he remembers all the lyrics and when he doesn't, he adds something randomly funny instead like he meant to do it that way. He can quote movies after watching it ONCE. Drives me insane. When he hangs out with his paddler buddies (aka "kayakers") they sing around a campfire and he can lead because he knows all the words... but he doesn't play guitar. He wants to learn, though.

He spent most of his 20s being wild and crazy and working and dating and he got a girl pregnant. They had a son. That tamed him quite a bit. But he still does all of the things he enjoys and the neighborhood kids LOVE him. "Miss Jennifer, is Joe home?" They want to play air hockey, foosball, table hockey, catch, go ride bikes, etc with him.

When the kids get out a ramp for skateboards or bikes, Joe is out there with them. The moms all stand around with their cell phones waiting for Joe to bust something and call 911. But they think he's hilarious and get a kick out of him.

So. All that said. (Which was a lot, sorry for that.)
What are MY hobbies?

After high school, my 20s were spent in college and working. I went to a college 300 miles away and made new friends, but most of us were older students. I helped pay my way and never actually finished. (That's another post.) I spent 10 years in college, people. Granted, many of the semesters were me taking just 2 courses or withdrawing all together. But I am considered a senior. I have written a senior paper in mathematics. Eew, I know. :)

I look back at what did I do during my 20s. I worked and went to school. Hobbies? None. I used to jog and workout for a stress relief, but my time was spent with my sheltie Baleigh and studying or sleeping. I did go to some of the local bars but that just wasn't me. I worked and went to school. That's it. I was poor so I couldn't afford to buy or do anything fun.

Then I started dating Joe and moved back to my hometown and we ended up getting married, buying a house, putting Baleigh to sleep, and having a baby in the span of 5 years. I love being a wife and mom. I realized I didn't have hobbies when Joe would go on his camping trips or go kayaking. I went with him a few times but I hate snakes and I prefer to sleep in a soft, warm bed instead of a sleeping bag on the bumpy ground. I love the water, but am not interested in being strapped into a kayak and smack my knuckles on rocks when trying to get through a whitewater rapid. I'd rather be in a swimming pool where the water is chemically treated.

I don't have the balance for skateboarding but I used to love to iceskate and rollerblade. A few years ago Joe and I decided to go iceskating and I had a lot of trouble, despite being pretty decent for a long time before. Instead of playing catch with the kids, I am a spectator. Usually the smaller kids come to me to tell about what happened on a cartoon or something they did that day.

Since being with Joe, I realized I'm pretty boring and it made me wonder what do I like to do? Then I had a baby and WOW. I realized who cares if I have interests, I don't have time for them. But now that Bayley is a year old, I have a little more time on my hands while she contentedly plays in the floor with her toys.

I like to cook. I don't know a lot about food, but I love creating something that tastes good and looks appetizing. Joe and I have both gained weight since we've been together so we're well fed. :) I like to look up recipes and try out new things, but Joe is a meat and potatoes man and doesn't like "sweet" foods unless it's a dessert, onions, mushrooms, or vegetables. So its harder to find things to make. I do like to bake, too.

Photography is really something I'd like to get more into. I love my camera but I don't know much about it. I like capturing a moment, taking endless photos of Bayley, and surrounding myself with photos of Joe and Bayley. It's hard to know where to start but I guess I can start with my instruction manual. I just get tired of reading.

I used to make fun of "crafts" but now I find myself wanting to do them. I am recently into learning how to make bows for Bayley. I make cute bow holders but I'm still working on bows. It's actually pretty fun to me. I like dressing her up and making her look all girly. Scrapbooking is something I'd like to learn, but haven't done that yet. I'm thinking about doing a scrapbook of Bayley for my mom for her birthday in July. My neighbor does it so she said she'd help me. Sewing is something I'd like to get better at. Right now I can make a pillow. lol. I can't read a pattern, but I'd like to learn. Another neighbor does this, but we both have 1 year olds and it gets hard to find time to get together sometimes. But our husbands get along super well too so we get together when we can.

I am so absorbed with Bayley that she's all I talk about on here. Part of that is being a new mom, I know, but I really need to feel like I can excel in a hobby. Joe is really good at a lot of things, and me ... not so much. I need to work on that. I do make a mean fruit dip, though. :) Just ask any of the kiddos in my neighborhood.

So I guess I've rambled on long enough about this... even though I have a lot more to say.
Do you find yourself being absorbed in work, parenting, etc? Or do you have a hobby you excel at?

BlogHer Ads Question.

Just wondering... does anyone get anything from BlogHer ads? I have had them on my blog for quite some time and I guess no one clicks on them because I've never seen a penny. I'm thinking about removing it because, well, what's the point?

Naps are the best!

I appreciate all the comments and emails with suggestions on what may be bothering Bayley. Honestly, I think its just another cold that she picked up from daycare. She was a mainly formula fed preemie (7 weeks early) and goes to daycare full time so she is picking up ALL the colds. And this season has been VERY rough for colds. Since I am the one who takes care of her most of the time, I get all of her germs. So I get sick just about every time she does. It totally sucks seeing your baby miserable and it sucks being sick at the same time. Her colds usually cause ear infections; my colds usually cause sinus infections. So I think we're both headed that way. We'll see. Everyone tells me it gets better. I sure hope so, because for most of my life I've been pretty healthy.

This weekend was SO nice. We stayed at home and the weather was cold and rainy. We took it upon ourselves to nap. And nap we did. Bayley slept for an hour and was up for a couple of hours, then slept for THREE. WHOLE. HOURS. all at once!! It was pure heaven. Z even slept so I jumped my pj bottomed butt into my bed and snoozed as well. Joe needed to study so he did so in a very quiet house. And might I mention: the above napping was on Saturday...and then repeated AGAIN. ON. SUNDAY. It was so awesome. I slept until I coughed myself awake.

Bayley's sleep training is going well. I usually wait until I know she's really tired and then I get her a bath and put her to bed. I'm not focusing so much on times, but it is usually around 8 or 8:30 that she's really sleepy. I'm not pushing things since she's not feeling well and I actually snuggle her more. On nights that Joe is home from school, I have him put her to sleep. It frees me up for a bit and it gives him some one on one time with her. And he likes to sing her to sleep. It's very sweet.

Sorry for the lack of photos. We just feel icky lately.

Fever Virus.

Her ear is still pink, not red. She is running 102 fever even with Tylenol. I'm alternating every 4 hours with Motrin and that helps, but I cannot be late by a minute with her meds before her cheeks are FIRE ENGINE RED again. :(

I've had her with me at work today and obviously have gotten NO work done. But it's been nice having her here. :)

We think she has a fever virus which can last up to a week. She's running a fever, has thick green snot coming out of her nose (especially when she sneezes), and just fussy/clingy. I stayed up rocking and holding her last night. I finally put her to bed when she was half asleep. She cried for a few minutes but fell asleep. She woke up at 5 and I held her until 5:45 when she finally fell asleep. Then she woke up at 6:45 when I had to get up and shower anyway.

She's asleep right now so instead of doing some actual work, I'm reading blogs. lol.

I'll work here in a few minutes. GLAD ITS FRIDAY.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Round One Million

Had to pick Bayley up from daycare today. When they called, her fever was 101.9. When I got there 30 minutes later it was 103. I'm at work with her now and not sure what it is but I gave her a second round of Tylenol already. One ear is clear the other is "slightly pink but not enough to give antibiotics yet. It could just be from her fever." So she'll be checked again tomorrow since I have to bring her to work again.

I just know it's going to be another ear infection.

Sleepy Snot.

Guess I didn't jinx myself too badly since I put Bayley down around 8:30 and she was asleep somewhere close to 9. We went on our walk last night and she fell asleep. Joe and I tried to wake her up, but she didn't want to. She'd smile at us but keep her eyes closed. lol.

We skipped the bath since she was so tired when we got home and went straight to the rest of the nighttime routine. Joe read her a book and she didn't want her bottle. So he put her down and she cried a little bit but not a lot. I went back there when she cried for 10 minutes, off and on. I picked her up and snuggled her, and just loved on her for about 5-10 minutes. I guess that's what she needed because she went to bed awake but sleepy and fell asleep shortly thereafter. She woke up early this morning and was talking to herself instead of crying, so that was nice. When I went in to get her, she had fallen back asleep.

So maybe my endless posts about sleep will stop. :)

She has gotten a cold from a 6 month old cutie at daycare; therefore, I've caught it too. Ugh. I hope this doesn't turn into an ear infection for her and a sinus infection for me. I'm done with being sick!!

No wii fit last night; I decided to go to bed earlier and so I didn't need to workout late to get my blood pumping. I even got up at 5:30 this morning and straightened up a little before getting ready for work...and getting here earlier than usual. Yay.

Sorry my posts have been rather boring lately. Someday I will become interesting. :)

Genius or Luck?

I'm not sure I should post this since it may jinx me, but last night I kept Bayley up an extra half hour and then did her bath, bottle, book, then bed routine. She cried for a couple of minutes and NOTHING like the night before, then started jabbering to herself and fell asleep. I was too nervous to peek, so I waited 15 minutes and lo and behold!! She was SOUND ASLEEP!! She did wake up around 3:30 screaming, but I gave her a bottle and she sucked it down and whimpered once and fell back asleep. I was SO relieved! I don't want to seem ungrateful, but now I just need to get rid of that 3am bottle. She doesn't always do it, so maybe this is just a growth spurt. I'm not sure.

Thank you for all of your positive comments! I definitely don't judge people who let their kids sleep with them... I think it's wonderful waking up to see your baby first thing in the morning, but I just know that *I* like to stretch out and I move around a lot when sleeping. And in a queen (aka teeny) sized bed, it's just a real possibility. If I had a king size bed, I'd really not mind too terribly much.

So... like I said, I don't want to jinx myself, but I hope she learned from that night of hell that I still love her, I'm not leaving her, but she needs to go to bed at nite nite time and soothe herself. I miss cuddling and snuggling her as I put her to bed sound asleep, so I spent extra time holding her this morning when I had to wake her up. She was in a GREAT mood this morning so I hope it's paying off! I would just like her to get plenty of rest. :)

Oh, and I worked out with the wii fit last night. It was FUN. Of course, it says I am 44 years old because of my weight (I am 31, thankyouverymuch) and it said my balance was off and did I trip a lot when I walk? NO! Sheesh. Talk about making me feel like a real winner. But I did enjoy the hula hooping, jogging, and other stuff.

Tonight I'll try the yoga (with my "bad balance" I hope I don't fall off the balance board! hmph) and strength exercises. Then I'll do the hula hoop and running. I can't wait!

Crying it Out.

The last few nights Bayley has woken up for no apparent reason around 2 or 3am. She cries and is unconsolable until I pick her up. Then she snuggles against me and goes back to sleep. If I put her down, sometimes she wakes back up in another hour or two. This obviously wears me out. The last two times I just took her back to bed with me and she slept soundly until time to get up. This is not something I want to continue. While I love seeing her sweet little face as soon as I wake up, I just like my space to stretch out. We only have a queen sized bed and let's face it... for two people that's barely enough room.

So I pulled up my browser yesterday at work and it's set to a developmental thing for Bayley's age. The first topic this week was "Does your child wake up for no apparent reason in the middle of the night and won't go back to sleep?" I said.. YES! Then it said, "It could be nightmares or general fears. Learn different theories on how to get your child to soothe herself back to sleep." Oh NO. I remember the "cry it out" method from when Z was little. This is not going to be easy.

I talked to a few friends with babies and also to a few of the pediatricians who I work for. They all said that she has to learn to soothe herself back to sleep and I need to do the "cry it out" method. I follow our nighttime routine and put her to bed awake. Okay. This won't go over well, but okay. Then I have to listen to her cry, no wait... SCREAM... and I cannot go in there for 5 minutes. I can pat her head, talk to her, etc. but then I have to leave after a minute.

So, I did bottle, bath, book, then layed her down at 7:50pm. She immediately started crying. I talked to her for a minute, then walked out of her room. I came back in after 5 minutes. Then I left after a few seconds and stayed out for 10 minutes, then 15 minutes. She fell asleep around 8:30 for about 45 minutes. Then she woke up crying again. I let her cry while I did a workout on the wii and Joe came in. I went in every 10-15 minutes this round. Finally, around 10pm, we walked in and Joe sang her a song and I sat in the floor with my laptop while on Facebook. She got mad when Joe left, but she noticed me sitting there and started crying. She finally fell asleep for good around 10:30pm. The good thing is that she wore herself out so much that she didn't wake up last night...or if she did, she didn't cry.

At 7am, she woke up crying and I gave her a bottle and walked out. I had to get in the shower. She drank some of it and went right back to sleep.

So...tonight is Night Two of Hell.

Luckily for Joe, he's in class til 9pm so I'll have to go at it alone. Last night I'd walk outside the front door and look at the plants in our yard. I was talking to my mom on the phone the whole time too. She was very supportive.

On Facebook, some of my friends from high school said, "I just couldn't do it. My kid slept with me until he/she was 4." W.T.F. Call me selfish, but I don't want to share my bed with my child. Especially while it's only a queen size. And when are you supposed to have any kind of intimacy with your husband? That could be why these people only have 1 kid. (or maybe they wanted just 1. I dunno.)

Bayley has always been a good sleeper until recently. That article I mentioned earlier said that babies at this age start having nightmares and general fears. Great. My problem is that I've almost always put Bayley in her swing or rocked her myself and she's gone to sleep. Now we're trying the "cry it out" method.

It WAS nice to go to bed and not be awakened at 3am with a screaming baby, so maybe this will pay off --- preferably SOON.

Happy Belated Easter. :)

Bayley's "Easter" dress. I could not find ANYTHING in her size. She's still in 9 month clothing and I couldn't seem to find something small enough for her. I did find this 6-9 month dress at The Children's Place and it seemed to fit well. Joe didn't care for it. I loved it. The little eyelets are too cute. My dumb self didn't think about shoes and socks because I thought it would be warm and I had some sandals for her. But it was cold and pouring rain all day so I thankfully found some tights and a pair of shoes a size too big. Oh well. It was just Joe, me, Bayley, and my mom. We went to lunch and then we came home. Mom played with Bayley for an hour so I could take a nap and Joe left to go kayaking. It was a pretty nice, lazy day. I was a little bummed that I couldn't take photos of her in her pretty dress out by our waterfall. Guess I'll do it another day.

Hail Kana

Last night we were under Tornado warnings. That means there were some in the area and part of my state was destroyed. My house and town were untouched, thankfully. The last time we had a tornado come through, it hit a few houses away and skipped us. That was when Bayley was a newborn and she and I were sitting on a comforter in the tub. Joe was outside watching the weather and conversing with neighbors while I fought my gag reflex on Bayley's poopy diaper stench. TWICE. I changed her and then another tornado came through and back to the bathroom. Another nasty diaper. Guess it was scaring the poop out of her. I dunno.

We did have golf-ball sized hail and it was LOUD. I think Bayley was competing with it to see who could be loudest. She fought sleep SO HARD last night and didn't go to sleep until around 10:30pm. I had rocked her, put her in her crib and let her cry, rocked her again, put her back in her crib...repeat the process for an hour, then finally I just let her cry in her bed. I kept coming in and talking to her but finally I put her in her swing. She was so worn out by then that she was out in 5 minutes. Why do they fight sleep so hard???

Some of the smaller hail.

Makana was happy to go outside to potty and I got a shot of the "bad" side of his leg. Although it appears he was standing on that leg, he really wasn't. He was hopping on 3 legs and he just put his foot down, but no weight on it. See all the pellet holes? Poor dood. He's been a trooper, though.

And this photo I took last night after the hail stopped because I thought the tree looked pretty. It's one of our Japanese Maples in our front yard. I love my new camera! :)

Kana, Baths, and Bed.

Last night we were back in our house with our gas turned back on. Yay!

Makana came home from the vet and he is a very pitiful boy. Normally he jumps and runs around and leaps gracefully and races around the backyard. Last night he was laying on the garage floor, not moving a lot. I got to look at his leg since it's shaved, but only saw the "good" side. The other side is riddled with pellet holes and his whole little leg is blood red. :(

Fletcher is keeping Makana company, so here's a photo of Fletch.

Z enjoyed staying at his uncle Tommy & aunt Charlotte's the night before last. He got a nice floofy bubble bath in their jacuzzi tub. There was very little water and lots of bubbles!

Boo bear was in a great mood yesterday after her nap at home. She was playing in her room then it got quiet, so I went to check on her. She had fallen asleep on the floor. I was too tired to grab the camera. Instead, I took a nap too. :)

She has been off her sleep schedule so much lately because of all the sickness. But now that we're all healthy again, I want to go back to the 8pm bedtime. I could tell it wouldn't happen at 8, but I was shooting for 9. She had her bath at 8:30, then I read her a book, and then she fought me on sleep for a while. Joe finally took her and she eventually passed out on him. The best shot I missed. She was laid back sound asleep. As I got the camera, she slumped forward. I think she was happy to be home. She didn't wake up once last night. :) YAY!

And yes, Daddy was VERY tired. Can you tell??

Happy Girl.

I needed to post some happy photos to balance out my previous post. :)

When it Rains

I just want to start out by saying Happy Belated 34th Birthday to my wonderful husband Joe. Without you, I'd have lost my sanity years ago. :)

And I also want to thank my husband's brother and sister-in-law Tommy and Charlotte. They are wonderful people and THANK YOU for taking us in last night. I was so thankful that they had the room and were so eager to have us stay with them. And Bayley enjoyed her uncle Tommy. :)

The day before yesterday, my husband got two tickets at work. He works full time at a university and then goes to school there full time in the evenings. He used his card to get into a lot that is open parking after 4pm. He parked there around 3:30 and got two tickets: one for parking there outside of the "free" hours, and the other for using a unauthorized/stolen card to obtain access. WTF? His card isn't either of those and he is going to fight it. The first ticket is $25 and the second is $100. What a crock of BS.

That night, I noticed our Siberian Husky Makana (pronounced Muh -kah - nah) was in our garage instead of in our backyard. We had him on a long metal lead to roam the backyard so he wouldn't dig out. We're having concrete poured in a few weeks to put in a new dog kennel to try to keep him from digging out. Well, apparently he chewed through it, dug out, and ran through the neighborhood. He is a very good dog and the neighborhood kids love him. He is gentle and sweet and never barks, growls, or bites. Ever. Anyway, I look more closely and notice his back leg is swollen and not touching the ground. I call Joe over and he looks at it and Makana yelps. We leave him in the garage overnight and I gave him some leftover Doggy Ibuprofen I had from Fletcher's (our collie) neutering a year or two ago. The next morning, still very swollen (at least twice the normal size) so I give him more meds and JOe takes him to the vet. We hear later that our dog has been SHOT with squirrel shot at close range and his foot is BROKEN. Some asshole shot our dog at close range and his foot is so full of pellets that the vet couldn't "even begin to count." And she can't remove them with surgery, so he's on antibiotics and pain meds and has to be rechecked in 10 days to see how he's doing. This is costing us around $400 (at last count... we get him this afternoon, so we'll see). It takes a real piece of shit to shoot a dog in the foot at close range just because he happened to be peeing in your yard. We have an idea of who may have done it but no proof.

I rush home yesterday because I have to get my allergy shot, pick up Bayley, rush home to put Z's baseball uniform in the dryer because my father in law is going to take Z to his game from 6 to 7:30 while I attend a wake of a family friend who passed away Friday. I got home and my FIL is already in the house and had already put the clothes from the dryer onto the couch and Z's baseball uniform in the dryer. He then gets Z dressed and leaves with him. I then call the gas company because they left a notice on my door that they shut my gas off for non-payment. WTF? So I call and find out that I transposed the numbers when I paid the bill last... $107 instead of $170 and since I do everything online (trying to save the trees) they had sent me an email shut off notice for that $63. Well, I figured it was just this month's bill so I let it go til I normally pay the bill. THEY SHUT OFF THE GAS FOR $63!! Then they made me pay a $40 reconnect fee, and a $100 deposit. Assholes. Oh, and the kicker? They wouldn't turn it back on that day because I called 30 minutes past their required time. I said, "Does it not matter that I have 2 small kids at home and the temp is supposed to get down to 39 tonight?" The woman said, "Sorry, ma'am, we sent you the bill and the shut off notice. That's our policy." I said, "Well I hope whoever wrote that policy has a good night's rest in their WARM house tonight while my 1 and 6 year olds freeze." Then I hung up. I was pissed.

So then I thought I could go buy some space heaters....but then we'd still have no hot water and Z would need a bath after his baseball game. And I take showers in the mornings. Then I thought a hotel room would work. Then I decided I didn't want to pay $100 for a hotel room. So I called my sister-in-law and asked if she was busy. She said, "No, just leaving the grocery store..." then I broke down and bawled. It freaked her out because she's never heard me cry but once I got the story out, she made me feel better. I asked if we could stay with them tonight and she was thrilled. So I packed up Z's, Bayley's, Joe's, and my clothes, toiletries, etc in a bag and loaded everyone up and stopped to pick up dinner then head out to their house. It was AWESOME....and so nice. Tommy wouldn't put Bayley down all night.... and she was wound up by the time I was falling down to go to bed. Joe tried singing her to sleep, but that didn't work, so he snored away while I walked around rubbing her back. Then I put her in the floor with her fave Pooh bear and a blanket. Before you scoff at the floor...their carpet is PLUSH. Like, I would've been super happy to sleep on it. And she was quite comfy too...didn't move much all night. It was nice having her in the same room for once. :)

Anyway, I didn't get much sleep (the whole sleeping somewhere other than my bed thing) and so I was up by 5am...but layed there and tossed and turned til 5:40 when I finally got up and consoled Bayley who was crying in her sleep... then I took a shower and loaded the car, then got Z ready for school and Bayley dressed and ready. Charlotte is a teacher at the high school so she took Z to school this morning for me. Yay. :) But Bayley and I were out the door before Tommy got out of bed.

So... that was my day and night yesterday. I am very sleepy this morning...my eyes are red, too. lol. I'm in a good mood despite being really sleepy.

Now I'm just waiting on the gas company to call me to let me know they're on the way to my house so I can haul butt home to meet them there.

All this aside... yes, it sucks...but our dog will be okay (I hope) and I am VERY thankful and grateful to have Joe's family because they ROCK. (Mine do too...but they don't have the room.) And THANK YOU to my Mom who gave me some pity money to go put gas in my car and buy dinner last night. I told her I didn't want it, but she wouldn't take no for an answer. And you learn quickly to not argue with my mom.

Sorry such a long post.... now I'm gonna go drink a tub of coffee. :)

Houston, We Have a Crawler!

Well, after several whiney, miserable posts...I have some awesome news: BAYLEY CRAWLED LAST NIGHT!! Granted, she's still figuring it out and not zooming everywhere, but she did it!!!

Guess it just took a whine fest to make it happen. Whatever -- it happened!

Have a lot of photos to upload, but here are a few over the past week or so...

Stuff.

Weekend was decent until last night. Bayley has been fussy all weekend and then last night she didn't go to bed until 11:30pm (that was with me finally laying down with her in my bed) and then she was up at 1am, 2:30, 3:30, 4:55, 5:15, and 5:45. She was just screaming in her bed like something hurt. I finally had to take her to her swing around 5:45, after I had held and rocked her for about 10 minutes. She slept til I woke her up at 7.

I am so exhausted today I can't think.

But on a brighter note... she stood all the way up in her bed last night! So Joe and I moved her mattress all the way down. She thought the "jail" was funny and had a good time rolling around in it. She even posed for some photos ... and I forgot my camera today. Sorry.

She still isn't crawling, but she scooches on her butt across the room. My mom said she did it when she was a baby, that she never crawled. So maybe my baby is a scoocher. Anyway, she scooched all the way out of her bedroom and into the tiled hallway. It was funny to see her sitting there in the hallway and the look on her face. She looked like she was a little surprised to have gotten that far.

I had to remove all the things from her crib (the rainforest soother, the crib bumper, the mirror thing, etc.) and it was kinda sad. But my baby is getting bigger so that's pretty fun. She ate the chicken out of my chicken fried rice at a restaurant called Pei Wei this weekend. I tore it up into little pieces and she didn't waste a bite...she ate ALL of it. Little piglet. :)

I got Bayley the cutest Easter dress. She had gotten several outfits for her birthday, all of which are way too big. So I took some back to one store and exchanged for a kelly green Easter dress. I think it will look gorgeous on her. I can't wait to take pics of her with it on. I need to make a bow for her hair to match it.

Speaking of bows...those are harder to make than I thought. I'll keep plugging away, though, because I have a ton of ribbon. And I want to make her cute bows. I did make a couple of bow holders. The long strip of ribbon that you clip the bows onto... I was really pleased with the turnout...and so was my husband. (That says a lot!) I will have to post pics tonight or tomorrow.

Crawling and Walking.

So... at her 1 year checkup on March 27th the doctor was somewhat concerned about Bayley's lack of crawling or walking. He said that she needs to be walking by 15 months and if she's not then he needs to re-evaluate her.

He then sees the look of panic on my face and tells me not to worry, that he thinks all of her ear infections are what's causing her to not crawl/walk. Her balance is off so she can't do it yet. He said that at 15 months if she's not walking then he wants to check to make sure she has no permanent ear damage and whatnot.

Everyone says, "oh don't worry, it'll happen when she's ready..." but that really doesn't make me feel any better. All the babies she started daycare with have already long since moved up to the next room at daycare. Bayley is still in the baby/newborn room. I don't know ANY of the parents in there anymore. It just sucks.

She is beautiful, smart, and VERY chatty. But she isn't crawling or walking. I bought her a walker the other day and she just isn't ready. She plays with it, but not ready to pull up and walk.

She does pull up to her knees, then stops on her crib. She acts like she wants to crawl, but she will have one foot that she needs to get behind her...and when I try to help her, she just falls to her belly because she knows she can roll to whatever she wants.

So.

I'm frustrated. Not at her, of course. Just that she can't catch a break with all these damn ear infections and being sick. Makes me feel even worse for not breastfeeding. I tried, but it didn't work. And I didn't have ANY help from the damn hospital. But I'll not go there.

Guess the sleep deprivation is making me a little upset. Okay, a lot. I'm so dang tired...and Z has a baseball game from 7:30 to 9pm. Joe has a side job that he has to do tonight and it's our weekend with Z. I told Joe I could take Z since he has to be there at 7...and then if Joe could relieve me at 8, that would be wonderful. Bay usually gets her bath at 7:30 and is settling down for bed at 8, but doesn't always go to sleep (she hasn't all week!). But I don't want her at a ballpark til 9pm...I'm exhausted too!

......

I just called Joe and told him I would stay til 9pm with Z. I know Joe needs to work on that job so we can pay for the concrete slab to fix our front porch. Anyway, I think when we get home I'm gonna have Z play with Bayley so I can try to take a short nap.

Ever get so tired you just want to cry? And nothing is really worth crying about...it's just that you're so. damn. tired. ?

I'm whining, I know. Sorry. At least I'm not as tired as when Bayley was a newborn. DAMN. That was so far beyond exhausting I don't want to even think about that.

I am not sure this post is making sense because I'm rambling...

So anyway, hope to get some sleep tonight so I'll be better tomorrow.
Have a good weekend everyone. I'm gonna try to get some pics up later.

Bleh. Again.

Too tired to upload pictures. Sorry.

Bayley had to go back to the doctor yesterday for a 102 fever. Doc isn't sure if its another virus or a bladder infection. UA is normal but they are doing a culture on it so we'll see if anything grows over the weekend.

She is teething, too, so she's fussy and clingy. This means she doesn't go to sleep at a decent hour. Once she's out, though, she's down for the count. I'm so tired I can't think. But she does have two more teeth on the top. Total toofy count: 6.

Maybe this weekend I'll get some sleep.