10 months and finding out secrets

OMGoodness, we've hit the 10 month mark- I only have 2 months untill her birthday!!!! I've been doing plenty of planning, with even more to come, but I must say, it's been enjoyable so far :) Jane Ellis still isn't walking, but she can climb the stairs faster than Daisy lol And she's learned to raise her hands to sign that she's "all done" - it's very cute cause she actually flaps her hands like a bird hehehe

Oh and another new development, we found out we're having another precious girl! Lord willing, we'll be welcoming Aubrey Claire into the world sometime around Feb 7th!!! And we couldn't be more excited. Jane Ellis isn't going to know what's up, but I pray in time she'll realize we've given her her best friend!

I'm 21 weeks and AC is approx 13 ozs, and so far this pregnancy has been exactly like JE's - perfect :)

Forrest Spence 5K

Saturday, August 22, Shannon and I participated in our first ever 5K. The Forrest Spence 5K. Forrest was an infant who was brought to us just hours after he was born - his mom was GBS positive (after testing negative) and he had contracted this as well. He spent just a few short weeks in our unit before going home to be with the Lord. But the impact that little boy had on out heart and on other patient's and their families lives will forever be felt. Here's a link to the reason we did it:
http://www.forrestspencefund.com/
It was so much fun to get the girls out of the house on such a nice cool morning. Shannon was able to borrow a double jogging stroller and I brought mine. My time was 50.12 and Shan's was 50.14. Afterwards, they had donuts, fresh fruit, and rolls. Along with water. I also brought the kids some snacks, so we were able to have a little picnic afterwards.

9 months

Oh how bittersweet this time is. My little helpless baby is starting to become more dependent every day. Here are some milestones we are hitting:





* She's mastered pulling up and walking around the table. And she has learned how to walk behind a push car. She crawls after me alllll over the place and still prefers to be held when I'm doing anything, but she likes to stand at her exersaucer and activity table.





* She's eating everything she can get her hands on. She loves potatoes anyway you can cook them- mashed, fried, baked. Steamed veggies and fruits. Our typical breakfast is a fruit - banana, grapes, or kiwi- cherrios, and either oatmeal, a blueberry waffle with cream cheese or a piece of wheat toast with cream cheese. The cherrios are to buy me some time while I fix the rest of her breakfast! For lunch she likes some veggies and either a ham and cheese sandwich, cheese and crackers, something leftover from the night before - like pasta, or a sprouts dinner. And for Dinner she pretty much eats whatever we eat, especially the veggies. She always has a huge dinner. In between her meals she still nurses - first thing in the morning, before her nap, then after her nap which is when she eats lunch. Then another time during the afternoon. And then either before dinner and/or before bed. She gets sleepy around 630-700 so that's when she starts to eat supper, then a bath in the sink. She's normally in bed by 8-830 and doesn't wake back up till 8-830. Sometimes after 9!





* Now the fun stuff... She is talking. She says mama, and dada. She only says mama if she's hurt - like when she falls, or when her little finger got pinched in the door. Or when she wakes up from her nap. But she says dada all the time - especially when she sees Robert :) And she says Daydee for Daisy! Cutest. Thing. Ever!! Whenever she wakes up, we always go back to my bed and cuddle while she nurses; and when she's done she rolls over and says "Daydee!!!" I call Daisy up on the bed and they play:) It's so sweet lol Emma taught her to say uh-oh, and she's learned to say it after she throws something on the floor. And she loves to wave bye-bye - ofcourse she turns her hand like she's waving bye-bye to herself, but she knows she's cute and knows when someone says hi or bye she's supposed to wave.





*Mimicking: She shakes her head no when you do it... very cute! Ask her a question - she'll shake her head. "Do you love Daisy more than mommy?" she shakes her head. "Do you think daddy's funnier than mommy?" she shakes her head. It's pretty awesome lol



We switched doctors and practices all together. I really liked Dr. Scott at peds consultants. And the location was def convenient, but I feel like All Better is more suited for us. So, we had been battling her first diaper rash (ever) and I felt like I was losing, so I called the dr and made an appt - that was on monday. Wouldn't you know by tuesday her diaper rash was SOOOOO much better, and by wed pretty much gone. But she hadn't been to the Dr since she was six months, so I decided to keep the appt. We met Dr Folz, and she did a little exam on her. Which came back perfect :) She's 20 lbs and 27.5 inches of alll sweetness. And we don't have to go back till 12 months! And no vaccines this visit!

The big latch on!

On August 6th, at 1030, Shannon and I nursed Elsie and Jane Ellis into the Guiness Book of World Records. There were 25-30 nursing moms, dads and babies. As well as a silent auction and cupcakes! It was so nice to see other nursing mammas. Here's a link to the newspaper article from the Commercial Appeal:

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/aug/01/moms-hope-to-set-breast-feeding-record/


Today Big Latch On announced the final count of actual nursing mothers was 4,123. The Big Latch On took place in 294 locations across the globe! Unfortunately we did not break the current world record which is 15,128 women in 295 sites across the Philippines on May 2, 2007. Even though we did not break the record, we did make people aware (with the help of the media) of how very natural and important breastfeeding is and that it should be appreciated (which I think was the whole point, right?).

4th of July weekend

We spent 4th of July weekend in Mt Home at Norfork Lake. We met some awesome friends up there - Patrick and Kristen Murphy. And then my cousins - Richard and Kristy Wright and their two boys Richard Wayne and Brody, Bart and Sarah Wright, Kelsey Wright and their parent's Butch and GiGi Wright. There was plenty of fun in the sun and swimming in the lake. Jane Ellis was awesome! Bless her, she was exhausted by the end of the weekend but sweetgirl loved the water. And as long as she had some snacks and her water she was set.

And we're off!

Friday, July 1st - Jane Ellis is officially a crawler! Now, she's been mobile for some time, scooting around on her little belly... and her favorite thing to do is get on her hands and knees and push her butt up in the air so that she's on her toes. It's very cute, and she always smiles and seems very proud of herself. But back to her crawling- we were actually packing to go to Mt Home for 4th of July weekend, she was in our bedroom floor playing and I was in the bathroom, she kept whining for me and I just got down in the floor and said "no, maam, you come to me!" So she did! lol Cutest thing I've ever seen! She hasn't stopped since!

Happy Father's Day.... to a daddy of 2!!

Soooo, here's the story:




Friday night I went out with some friends from work to say a final farewell to a great friend and co-working, Jessica Schmitt. I had had a few drinks and we were all talking about babies, and being pregnant- and not being pregnant. On the way home, I started to think about how I'm still nursing JE, how she's almost 7 months and how I still haven't gotten a period (sry boys!) Anyway, I couldn't get the thought of making sure I wasn't preggers out of my head - so on the way home I decided to stop off at walgreens and get a test. I didn't say anything to Robert because I just KNEW it was going to be negative. We were taking precautions - even though I wasn't on anything- JE was still nursing and I hadn't started. WELLLLL, apparently God had other plans, because it was positive. Now, I'm not going to lie, we were less than thrilled - very upset would be the word. This was not in our plans. But not just that, I really wanted JE to be the only baby for a while. I feel like I work so much already, that I want all my time to be given to her. However, the more we thought about it and talked about it, the more excited we became. Now there would be 4 cousins - all under the age of 2! And I loved being close in age to all my cousins growing up. So we started to make some plans - we're selling the house and moving out to my grandma's house - oma's. This will eliminate our mortgage and allow for me to eventually go part-time! I'm so stinkin excited about this - however, it's going to be a HUGE adjustment. The house is much smaller, the closets are much smaller, the master BR is much smaller. But- it's a sacrifice we're willing to make to save some money! Anyway, we decided to tell our parents that weekend since it's father's day weekend. They were thrilled! So, next step- find out how far along I am. I went to the doctor that next week, we found out I'm 8 weeks and due Feb 7! I just can't get a summer baby! Oh well! Bring on my valentines baby!!