Life with two!

Life has been so hectic that I haven't kept up with the blog except to write monthly summaries for the girls (very surprised I have been able to keep up with that even!). But I have a 30 minute window right now while both girls are in bed - not necessarily napping, but that's for another post! :-)

Emma is 4 months old now and Hannah is 2.5. It has been a crazy, but wonderful 4 months! Other than the first week or two of crazy postpartum hormones and Hannah's rocky transition to being a big sister, things have truly been wonderful. Yes, we are tired and no Emma is not sleeping through the night, but truly I am loving having two little girls! This is such a precious stage of life and I know just how fleeting it all is, so I am doing everything I can to enjoy each moment! (Of course don't ask me how I am liking it at 3am!).

Hannah truly is the best big sister, always wanting to play with Emma and giving her hugs and kisses galore. She loves to tell her to "make good choices during nap time" and "don't cry, okay?" If Emma is crying (VERY rare) Hannah is sure to try to help make her feel better by saying, "What's wrong Emma? It's okay!" She loves to make silly faces at her to try to get her to smile, which doesn't take much these days. It makes my heart smile when I see them interacting and look forward to watching their relationship grow!

Emma is such a joy! Is she the perfect textbook baby, no, but then again who has one of those?? But she really is so laid back and happy. She very rarely cries and if she does there is always a reason (hungry, tired, or in pain). She is on a fairly predictable schedule which makes discerning her cries that much easier too. She started out life very serious (it took us a long time to get her to smile!) but she has since made up for it by smiling all the time! She is so incredibly squishy and I just can't help but squeeze her (gently of course) every time I hold her...don't you want to squeeze her right now too!? While she does wake 1-2 times ever single night to eat I truly am okay with it and know that it will eventually end. It's funny how much more laid back I am this time around. I'm not sure if its because Emma is more laid back or because I know she is my last or what, but I can honestly say I am enjoying motherhood so much more these days!

I do think that my hyperemesis experience has helped in making the transition to two a little easier. After 10 months of feeling so sick, anything is easier than that! I used to be up all night feeling nauseous, so being up all night with a hungry baby is so much better! So despite how awful HG was, I am thankful that it has given me a greater appreciation of the little things!

Overall the transition has been a smooth one which I am so thankful for! My biggest fears going into having two babies were that I wouldn't love the second as much as or the same as the first....absolutely NOT the case! It can't even be explained, you just have to trust me...this will not be an issue! Another fear I had was that I was going to take away from the special bond I have with my oldest. This is also not true! While I do not have as much time to spend one on one with Hannah there are so many special memories we are forming as a family of four now instead. I still get my alone time with Hannah when Emma is napping (baby's sleep a lot in the first few months!) but when they are both awake things are a bit more hectic. But that's what life is about...the crazy times turn into the best memories!

Thank you Lord for blessing me with two beautiful girls (inside and out)! I am blessed to be their mother and I pray that You would remind me of that in the crazy times and in the times of quiet (as rare as they are)!

Sick Mommy

January has been a rough month in our house.  Everyone has been sick, at least once.  This past weekend I came down with another cold - sore throat and congestion.  If only I could take my head off and replace it with a healthy one!  Hannah has been sick since January 6th and just yesterday finally finished all her antibiotics.  Now I am trying to keep my germs off her so I don't reinfect her. 

In happier news, this past weekend we had amazing weather in Atlanta and enjoyed it to the fullest.  Being able to wear short sleeves in the middle of winter just puts a smile on my face.  We had all the windows open and even had a picnic in the backyard.  Perfection!  Unfortunately it was just a tease and today it is raining, bringing back the chilly temps.  But it was a nice reminder of how wonderful it will be in the Spring!

I leave you with some pictures of Hannah (who else) enjoying the beautiful weather -

Every 2 Weeks

I have decided that parenthood's ups and downs happen in two week cycles.  For two weeks things will go great and then it's like a switch flips and then for the next two weeks you are pulling your hair out.  Then things go back to being great.  This may not prove true for everyone, but it does for us.  Some of you are blessed with an "angel" baby and things have been relatively great since the beginning while others have a bit of a challenge on their hands.  It is so easy to become overwhelmed and frustrated when baby doesn't sleep or eat well, but if I continue to remind myself that this is just a phase and things will get better, it makes it easier to deal with.

For example,  when we switched Hannah's schedule to more of a 'Babywise' approach, things were great right away!  She started sleeping 10-12 hours through the night and napping 3 times per day for at least an hour each time.  I kept a very detailed log of our entire day so I could see the patterns and what worked and what didn't.  For about 2 weeks, things were going GREAT!  I spoke the praises of 'Babywise' and told everyone I knew that 'Babywise' was exactly what we needed.  Well, then things changed.  I didn't change anything with our schedule or routine, yet she stopped sleeping through the night and her naps became almost non-existent!  UGH!  What happened to our 'Babywise' cure all??  I had several break-downs and tried to figure out what was happening.  What was I do differently?  Was she sick?  What she teething?  What she going through a growth spurt?  Nothing I did seemed to solve the sleep problems.  So we are just dealing with it.  I continue to stick to the routine (as much as possible) and hope that things will click again.  I assume that by next week, she will be back to "normal" and things will be great again.  But in the meantime, we push on.  Today has been especially tough.  Hannah woke up two hours early, ate, and thankfully went right back to sleep for 2 more hours.  But then the rest of the day was completely off!  She didn't take her morning nap at all (after letting her cry it out for an hour, I gave up).  Then she only took a 30 minute afternoon nap (again, I let her cry it out for an hour when she woke up early...no luck).  Now she is down for her final nap of the day and thankfully has been sleeping for the last 20 minutes, but I'm sure it won't be long before I hear her crying again.  Oh the joys of parenthood! haha

So, what's my advice for those days and nights that are just completely crazy?  Keep trying!  Just chalk it up to a bad day (or week, or month) and move on.  Yes, you will be frustrated.  And yes, you will shed some tears.  But things will get better (eventually) and when they do, you will be that much more thankful.  Times like this remind me so much of our struggle with infertility!  While we tried to conceive for 2 years, deep down inside I knew it would eventually happen, but the waiting sure did stink!  I pleaded to the Lord and cried out to Him for strength.  It was the hardest thing I had ever gone through.  But the Lord was faithful!  He heard my cries and He blessed us with our sweet little peanut.  The same was true with my horrible morning sickness during pregnancy and my extremely painful labor.  And it's still true today!  God is always faithful!  He will always bring you out of the darkness and show you His mercy!  But sometimes we have to endure the tough times to get there.  And when we do, the good times are that much sweeter!

So press on.  Don't get completely obsessed with the "little" things that go wrong every day.  Focus on the good times and the many blessings in your life.  And know that God will be faithful and will bring you brighter days!

That's my sermon for the day! ;-)  I needed to hear that more than anyone!

New Schedule

After LOTS of thinking, planning and praying, we have a new schedule for Hannah.  The last 2 months have been exhausting and filled with many tears (for Hannah and me).  I just couldn't decide what to do in order to "fix" her sleep problems.  We tried all different things and nothing worked.  Finally, after much hesitation on my part, we decided it was time to give Babywise a try.  I have read the first book in the series (and am working on the second right now) and really love the idea of BW, but I was so hesitant to start it.  The main reason was because of how much trial and error it takes in the beginning to determine baby's "optimal waketime".  I just didn't think I could figure that out on my own.  I am VERY type-A and like things to be laid out for me, in black and white.  With BW I have to do a lot of discerning on my part and that makes me a bit anxious.  But after consulting a Babywise website that I LOVE (http://www.babywisemom.com/), I found a general schedule that I could start with and tweak as needed.  So on Friday morning, we jumped right in!  Here is what our new "ideal" schedule looks like....

8am - Wake Hannah (if she isn't already awake), nurse, feed solids, change diaper, independent playtime (right now she is in her pack n' play with toys for 12 minutes...more on that in another post)
9am - Short story, song, and put down for a nap (1-2 hours, depending on what we are doing that day)
10 or 11am - Wake Hannah, playtime and/or errands
12pm - Nurse, Feed solids, playtime
1pm - Story, Song, Put down for a nap (2 hours, hopefully!)
3pm - Wake Hannah, playtime
4pm - Nurse, Feed Solids, Playtime (I try to do independent playtime again, but not always)
5pm - Story, Song, Put down for a short nap (1 hour at the most)
6pm - Wake Hannah, playtime
7:30pm - Bedtime routine (bath, pjs, nurse, bible story, prayers, bed)
8pm - In bed (this is where the crying begins....she HATES going to bed!)

Things are definitely not perfect and we are still working out the kinks, but I do think that this schedule will work well for Hannah.  I am happy that her first two feedings line up with breakfast and lunch and eventually will work on moving her 3rd feeding back a bit to make it line up with dinner time.  Then, eventually we will drop that last nursing and be down to just 3 meals a day.  For naps, she is taking 3 for now, but will soon drop that third cat nap and just do a morning nap and an afternoon nap.  Then at 1 year we will move to just one nap (an afternoon one). 

Today is 4 of this new schedule, so I am not judging anything yet...but there is silence in my house right now and that means a sleeping baby! ;-)  There is a light at the end of this tunnel!!

Thanks so much for all the advice and encouragement the last few days.  It was greatly appreciated!!!

Need Help!!

Okay everyone, I need some suggestions!  As you know (if you have been reading this blog for any length of time), Hannah is definitely not consistent with her schedule and/or sleeping.  However, I am determined to keep trying and being the type-A person that I am, I must have a plan!  ;-)  Right now I am nursing Hannah 5 times in a 24 hour period (well, at least 5 scheduled times...anything else is just extra).  I also feed her solids at 3 of those feedings.  My goal is to drop one of her nursing sessions and be down to 4 feedings with 3 of them having solids in addition to the nursing.  I also would like to try to align her feeding schedule more with a "breakfast", "lunch", and "dinner" time.  I am also trying to figure out how her nap(s) will work into the schedule.  So this is where I need help!  Please look at our current schedule and offer any suggestions you have!!! 

• Somewhere between 4-6am: Hannah wakes up crying...I try giving her the paci if it is before 5am because I really don't won't to feed her that early, but sometimes that doesn't work, so I end up feeding her.  My goal would be to drop this early morning feeding, if possible, but I don't know how to do that if she is the one waking up this early and won't go back to sleep.  After this feeding I put her right back down and she goes back to sleep.
• Somewhere between 8-10am: Hannah wakes up crying...I try to give her the paci again if it is before 8:30am, but if that won't work I get her up, but don't usually feed her til closer to 10am.  This nursing session is not usually a very good one.  She doesn't seem very interested.  My guess is that she isn't very hungry since she got such a good feeding a few hours earlier.  Ideally I would combine these two feedings somehow and have her first feeding be somewhere between 8-9am ("Breakfast").  I also feed her solids after this nursing.  After this feeding we run errands, have playgroup, and don't have a schedule nap, although she does cat nap sometimes.  But I really need this time to be able to get out of the house and not have to be home for a nap, that is why I have always down the afternoon nap.
• Usually about 1:30pm: I feed Hannah again.  This nursing session is also not very good (she is generally not nursing well anymore except in the early morning....she is so easily distracted and is fussy while nursing...I am a little worried that my supply is dropping)  I feed her solids after this nursing as well.  Then I put her right down for her afternoon nap (I hope for 3 hours, but lately it has only been a 2 hour nap).  She usually goes down pretty well for this nap.
• Somewhere between 3-5pm: Hannah wakes up from her nap (My goal has been for her nap to be from 2-5pm, but things are changing around here!).  I try to put off her next feeding to closer to 5pm no matter when she wakes up from the nap.  I nurse her and give her solids at 5pm.
• 7:30pm: Bedtime routine (bath, pjs, nursing, storytime, prayers)  I nurse her again (even though she just ate a couple hours ago) and she sometimes eats well, but most of the time does not.  But she is again very fussy while nursing, as if she is hungry but can't get anything out.  This is a very challenging time of day for me because it can get pretty stressful.  I have given her formula on occasion at this feeding and she usually will gulp it down, which then makes me worry about my supply again! :-(  However, she is 17lbs right now, so I really don't think she is lacking in the food department!
• 8pm: In bed...this is where the fun begins.  Sometimes (most of the time) she goes down okay, but then after 30-40 minutes she is awake again, crying.  We try to let her cry for 10 minutes before going in the room, in hopes that she will fall back to sleep, but that usually doesn't happen.  So we end up going in after 10 minutes and giving her the paci, which usually (though no always) puts her back to sleep.  Then the schedule starts all over again....

HELP!  Suggestions are VERY welcome!!

Thanks so much!!

A Day in the Life of Me

I thought it would be fun to share what a typical day looks like for me and Hannah (is that the proper English or is it Hannah and me?  or Hannah and I?  I never know.)  Hannah is 3.5 months now, so life is just starting to get a little more exciting.  She has really come alive in the last month or so.

• Our day begins at 6am (well, sort of).  Brian usually wakes Hannah up (unless she has already woken us) and brings her to our bedroom.  After a minute of cuddling with Daddy (she won't cuddle for long because she is STARVING!) he hands her to me so I can feed her.  I change her diaper, shower her with kisses, and we smile back and forth for a couple minutes.  Then I put her back into her crib for her morning nap.  I usually go right back to sleep as well!
• We are up for the day between 9 and 10am (sometimes earlier...depends on what Hannah wants to do).  If she hasn't already woken me up, I will get her by 9:30am and bring her downstairs for her next feeding.  I try to wait until 10am to feed her, no matter when she wakes up.  So if it's early we will play for a few minutes first.  This could be anything from laying on the floor and starring at each other to sitting in the exersaucer while mommy checks e-mail...just depends on her mood.  At 10am (or a little earlier) I feed Hannah again and change her diaper.
• After her tummy is full, I put her in the pack n' play that we have in the playroom downstairs.  I put her on her tummy and put a couple toys and a mirror in her reach.  I set the timer (right now we are doing 7 minutes at a time) and leave the room.  This is her "independent playtime".  I try to stay out of sight and let her explore on her own.  We are trying to work up to 15-20 minutes at a time, but I don't add minutes until she is able to go the allotted time without fussing or crying at all.  That shows me that she is capable of more alone time, so I add another minute next time.  While she is playing I usually try to wolf down a bowl of cereal or something for breakfast (7 minutes doesn't give me much time to digest, but at least it's something).
• When "independent playtime" is over, we usually head back upstairs to get dressed for the day.  I put Hannah in the bouncy seat in our bathroom and shower while she plays with a few toys.  This is not always very relaxing though.  She usually fusses the whole time and I am constantly reaching out of the shower and trying to pop the paci back into her mouth (after dripping her with so much water that she is soaked...opps!)  After a very quick shower, I hop out and get dressed as fast I can before another melt-down starts.  If I'm lucky I can take a minute or two to brush my hair (forget about makeup!).  Then we head into Hannah's room to get her dressed.  She gets her bath at night, so we just change her clothes (although I sometimes just let her stay in whatever she slept in...just depends on how dirty it is).
• Once we are both dressed, we head back downstairs for some more playtime.  It is usually around 11:30am at this point.  We spend time in the playroom playing with different toys, looking out the window, practicing different skills (sitting up, rolling over, etc.), listening to music, bouncing in the jumper, and just hanging out.  This playtime doesn't really have a time limit; Hannah decides when it's over.  But it's usually at least 30 minutes or so.  One or two days a week I use this morning playtime to run errands.  After we get dressed, we head out to go grocery shopping or to meet a friend for lunch.  I can't stay in the house all day every day...I'd go crazy!
• At some point during the morning, Hannah starts to get fussy, so I try to let her take a cat nap.  I don't put her in her crib for this nap, I just let her fall asleep where ever we are (in her bouncy while I'm showering, on our bed while I'm getting dressed, in the playroom while we are playing, in her car seat while we are out and about, or even in my arms.)  There is no schedule with this nap (imagine that...me without a schedule!)  Ultimately I'd like her to stay up during this time so that she is good and tired for her afternoon nap, but I certainly don't force her to stay awake.
• Depending on what time it is after all that is done, we will sometimes go on a short walk around the neighborhood before her next feeding (which is at 1:30pm).  All depends on how our morning has unfolded.
• Between 1 and 2pm I feed Hannah again (I aim for 1:30pm).  Right after this feeding, she goes down for her long afternoon nap (2-3 hours).  This is when I do whatever it is I want to do (clean, prepare dinner, blog, check email, rest, eat lunch, finally feed Bubbles, finally take Bubbles out....opps!)
• Hannah wakes up somewhere between 4:30 and 5pm.  I try to push her feeding until 5:30pm, so if she wakes up before that, we play for a few minutes.  I feed her and then usually put her in her exersaucer in the kitchen while I work on dinner.  Then it's just the waiting game for daddy to come home from work....our favorite part of the day! :-)

So that's our day in a nutshell.  I can't wait to see how this all changes as Hannah grows up.  It will be fun to look back on how different things are as she gets more mobile and interactive.

Here is video of Hannah from the other morning.  I just loves those laughs!!  Enjoy! :-)
Click here to see the video

Are we crazy?

We may have lost our minds, but we are going to attempt to go out to a "fancy" dinner tonight....with Hannah!  Oh boy!  We are going to try out a new steakhouse in the city with some friends and have no other option but to bring Hannah with us (kind of last minute and not sure how Hannah would do with a babysitter anyway).  We made our reservation for 6:45pm so that we could try to beat the "fancier" crowd and to try to work around Hannah's bedtime (which has been 7:30pm lately, so we'll see).  We are hoping that she might sleep in her carseat, but you never know!

I asked Brian if we were even allowed to bring a baby to a fancy restaurant.  I mean, have you ever seen a baby in a steakhouse (and we're not talking Outback).  Hmm....I wonder if they will even have a sling or highchair for her car seat.  If nothing else, I'm sure we will get some weird looks.  :-)

This is sure to be an adventure.  Wish us luck!  I will be sure to let you all now how it goes.

Random Thoughts and Questions

My mind is all over the place today, so I thought I would write a random post and include all of my mind's wanderings.

• First of all, we are all back to normal and feeling healthy!  Thank you Lord for the blessing of health.  The house has finally been put back together and life has resumed as it was before.  

• Hannah will be 3 months old on Friday (just 2 days away!).  Hard to believe, but my little peanut will no longer be a newborn.  She will move on to the infant stage.  3 months brings changes to her schedule.  Up until now her schedule has been the 6, 10, 2, 6, 10 feeding schedule.  She has always napped between the 6am and 10am feeding and the 2pm and 6pm feeding.  This schedule has worked GREAT for us!  What changes at 3 months is her bedtime.  Instead of keeping her up until 10pm, we will start putting her down earlier.  I'm just not sure how this is going to work.  Essentially the schedule stays the same, just more sleep....hmmm?!  I'm just not sure how to go about doing this.  Dr. Denmark (the pediatrician whose book we have followed since day 1) recommends feeding at 6pm and putting them to bed soon after.  Then doing a dream feed at 10pm (where you go in and feed them and put them right back down, barely waking them up).  Then after a month you drop that dream feed and they are supposed to sleep straight through til morning.  Yeah right?! I just don't see that happening?!  Any suggestions??

• Brian's parents and sister are coming into town on Friday!  YEAH!!  We LOVE having family come visit.  It will be especially fun because Hannah will be starting rice cereal when they are here.  Let the fun begin! :-)

• We had a scary night last night.  Since I am trying to figure out this whole new schedule thing, I am toying around with different options.  I decided to feed her a little earlier than usual last night (8:45pm) and put her down.  She did great until she woke up at 10:30 crying.  I should have just let her keep sleeping, but my confusion about the new schedule made me get her up to do a "dream feed" (even though she was definitely not asleep).  She ate a full feeding but spit up a bunch of it after we finished.  After burping her I put her back down and she fussed for a minute, but quickly found her fingers to suck on.  Then I heard a loud barf sound and ran into her room to clean it up.  She was choking!  She has sucked in a lot of spit up through her nose and was trying to cough it out.  I was frantic!  I screamed for Brian and he came running up the stairs.  We grabbed the suction bulb and cleaned out her nose, but she was still struggling to catch her breath and had a bright red face.  It took her a few minutes to clear it all out and then she was fine.  But it sure scared me!  We finally put her back down (after lots of snuggles) and she fell asleep with just a little fussing and slept til morning.  Ugh....what a scary night!  I don't think I'm a fan of the "dream feed".

• Hannah is having a very fitful nap today.  She fell asleep pretty well, but then after about 45 minutes she started screaming.  She did this on and off for about an hour.  I kept going in to check on her and she wasn't actually awake, just fussing and crying in her sleep.  I didn't know what was wrong, so I tried putting a blanket over her...maybe she's cold??  (Even though it's really hot in our house upstairs).  I tried taking the blanket off..maybe she's hot??  I tried moving the fan to a better position so she wouldn't be hot.  I tried feeling her diaper to see if it was really wet (she is napping in cloth...so might be?!)  But I just couldn't figure it out.  She finally was quite for about 30 minutes straight until she started crying again.  This time she was awake (head was popping up) so I took the blanket off (again) and popped a paci in her mouth (something I really don't like to do).  But now she is back down and sleeping soundly.  So I guess a paci every once in a while is okay...but I definitely don't want to start a habit.  Any ideas on why she might be crying in her sleep like this??

• Hannah has developed a new habit.  She loves to suck on her right index finger knuckle and rub the back of her head with her left hand.  It's so cute.  She does this when she is awake and when she's asleep.  I guess it's soothing to her to rub her head?  Too funny!

• We are still doing Cry It Out and it's getting better (shorter crying periods) but she is still crying for almost every nap and bedtime.  It's so frustrating!  I thought she would have gotten it by now and no longer cry.  Nope! We started officially letting her CIO on April 15th, so almost 2 months ago.  Anyone else have a baby that took this long to learn to fall asleep without crying?  Is she always going to cry herself to sleep?  I have seen progress, but I yearn for the day that she goes down without any fussing!!

Well, Hannah is up again!  The paci feel out, so time to go put it back in and pray that she will fall back asleep for another half hour or so.  Naps like this are tough! :-(

Vacation

Sorry I didn't post the last few days....we were on a short vacation.  We went to Blowing Rock, NC where my parents rented a cabin for a few days.  My sister and her family came also and got to meet Hannah for the first time.  It was great to see everyone and get to spend a few days with family.  Oh how we wish they all lived in Atlanta!! 

Hannah did great on the trip.  The only rough time was in the car on the way they when she pooped through her clothes.  She hadn't pooped in several days, so you can imagine!  She did this again, two days later while we were driving on the Blue Ridge Parkway, seeing the beautiful sights.  I have learned to always bring a spare outfit for her! 

We are all feeling so much better after the nasty cold we had.  Thankfully Hannah never got worse and was feeling much better after a couple days.  I still have a runny nose, but I can handle that. 

Hannah will be 12 weeks old tomorrow, which I can hardly believe!  My little girl is growing SO fast! 

My Sick Little Girl

Hannah caught my cold! :-(  I feel so guilty!  Thankfully it doesn't seem to be bothering her (not nearly as much as it is me).  She has a stuffy nose, a cough and lots of sneezes.  Poor baby!  She slept most of the morning (during her normal playtime) and is now down for her normal afternoon nap.  She barely even fussed before falling fast asleep.  I'm glad she is getting lots of sleep, as I know there isn't much else that I can do to help her feel better.  I have been using the bulb syringe that we got from the hospital when she was born and that seems to help get some of the boogies out, so that's good.  Other than that, just lots of cuddling!  Thankfully she hasn't had a fever (at least not a noticeable one), so that makes me feel better.  I just hope she is 100% healthy soon!  Seeing my little girl sick breaks my heart!

On another note, I haven't been able to take any pictures for the last week because we left our camera charger at my in-laws house.  Boo!  It is in the mail today and should arrive tomorrow, so that's good.  It kills me to not be able to take pictures of my little peanut.  We missed her 10 week picture with her lambie.  UGH!  If you read my previous post about capturing memories, then you understand my frustration.  But hopefully the camera will be fully charged again for her 11 week picture tomorrow. :-)  And once it is fully charged, I will be sure to share some pics of the little peanut...she is changing so fast!

The Life of a Stay-at-Home Mom

Being a stay-at-home mom...aww, it's wonderful! haha  So often that's the impression you get when you talk to other stay-at-home moms.  But the truth is, it's not all roses and sugar plums!  I have only been a stay-at-home mom for a two and half months now and I've already seen how tough this job is.  People that say a stay-at-home mom doesn't work are idiots.  They obviously have never done the job.  I have had the experience of having a job outside the home (as a second grade teacher) so I know what I'm talking about.  I can compare the two jobs and speak from experience.  Here's a quick comparison of pros and cons...

Working outside the home (as a teacher) vs. Being a stay-at-home mom (SAHM)

• Working outside the home meant I had a set schedule.  I woke up at 5:30am, got dressed, went to work, and came home by 5pm everyday.  Being a SAHM means I am at the mercy of my child.  Yes, we have a daily schedule, but Hannah doesn't always adhere to it. ;-)
• Being a SAHM allows be to stay in my pajamas all day, if I want.  Working outside the home meant I had to shower before work, do my hair, and wear makeup.
• Working outside the home allowed me to have a lunch break (even if it was only 30 minutes).  Being a SAHM means I don't eat lunch until Hannah goes down for her afternoon nap (somewhere around 2pm).  And that lunch is often interrupted by a crying baby.
• Being a SAHM means I don't miss any part of Hannah's life.  Working outside the home now would mean that I would have to miss out so many things with Hannah.
• Working outside the home gave me an opportunity to interact with adults and have friends I saw on a daily basis.  Being a SAHM means that I rarely see any adults, beside Brian and friends are few and far between.
• Being a SAHM means I don't have the stress of a boss looking over my shoulder. Working outside the home meant I had to meet certain criteria and perform to someone else's standards.
• Working outside the home meant I could go to work and then come home to relax.  Being a SAHM means I am never done with my job.  I don't have the luxury of leaving work at work.  I am on the clock 24/7.

There are many positives and negatives of being a SAHM.  Some days the negatives seem to win out, but most days the opposite is true. 

So why do I do it?  Why am I am SAHM?  I do it because God called me to be a mother and care for my children.  I do it because my family needs me to do it.  I do it because I feel that it is in Hannah's best interest for me to be at home with her.  I do it because if I didn't, I know I would regret it someday.

Sick! :-(

I'm sick.  Ugh!  It started on Friday night with a sore throat and is now a full-blown cold.  I have a fever, body aches, headache, REALLY stuffy nose, and still a scratchy throat.  I feel awful.  It seems that I get a cold twice a year (once in the Fall and once in the Spring).  I hate being sick!  Who doesn't, right?!  But this is my first time being sick since Hannah was born.  It's a whole different ball game now.  I am consumed with fear that she might catch my cold.  I can't imagine how awful it would be for her to get this sickness.  But I keep trying to remind myself that since I am breastfeeding, it is very unlikely that she will get sick.  Apparently when she nurses, she is taking in the antibodies my immune system is creating to fight off my illness.  So she is getting the antibodies before she even needs them...building up her immunity to my cold!  YEAH!  But I still find myself questioning every sneeze and feeling her forehead constantly for the slightest indication of a fever. 

The hardest part of being sick is having to take care of Hannah even though I feel like poo.  It is really tough!  There is no time to sit down and relax and try to recover.  I have to entertain her and tend to her needs before my own.  I guess this is what parenting is all about.

My parents came for an overnight stay last night.  They made a pit-stop on their journey to my brother's house in St. Louis.  They were here for less than 12 hours, but it was great to see them.  I hate that I felt so awful and wasn't much fun to be around, but thankfully we will get to see them again next weekend.  We are taking a trip to Boone, NC to stay in a cabin my parents rented.  My sister and her family will be there and this will be the first time they meet Hannah!  We can't wait.  Now I just have to work on feeling better before we head up there. 

Too little....too late!

It's 4:30pm and I have accomplished nothing with my day.  The life of a stay-at-home mom is a whirlwind.  Where does my day go?  One would think that with a newborn (well, 9 week old to be exact) you would have at least some time during the day to accomplish something...but one would be wrong. haha  The times that I do have to "myself" are usually not to "myself" at all.  The moment I sit down to read or check e-mail, the crying begins, or the dog needs to go out, or the doorbell rings, or the phone rings, or the washing machine beeps, or the dishwasher is finished, or I remember that I haven't planned anything for dinner...the list goes on.  When I finally manage to find a minute to sit down and "rest" I am exhausted!  Who has time to clean or cook a five-course meal?  Not me!

Here is what I have accomplished with my day so far...

1. Fed Hannah 3 times (6am, 10am, and 1:30pm)
2. Changed a bunch of diapers
3. Dressed Hannah and myself
4. Organized Hannah's closet..That was a major accomplishment for the day!
5. Planned dinner (grilled chicken, nothing at all fancy)
6. Spent some time in the Word (although it was interrupted several times by a crying baby)
7. Talked to my mom on the phone for a few mintues
8. Put the dog out (not even enough time to actually take her out...just hung her leash out the front door and let her roam around out there)

That's it!  Haven't touched the mountain of laundry or the pile of dishes.  Haven't picked up the mess that has acquired in the living room.  Haven't unpacked from our Mother's Day weekend trip (two weekends ago!).  Haven't even fed the poor dog yet!  Good grief....MUST feed the dog!

Enough procrastinating!  Hannah is sleeping (and should be for the next hour or so) so I must go get something accomplished with my day.  Maybe I will make a cup of coffee first!  :-)

Our little peanut is growing up :-(

Dinner out with the Sanders' and Christerson's - Truss and Hannah's first "date"

"Uncle" Jake and "Uncle" James with the kids

Daddy and Hannah time

Hannah's first real bath - She LOVED it!

Hannah is almost 3 weeks old and for some reason I feel like time is flying by.  I realize that 3 weeks is still VERY young, but I am just feeling so sad about her getting bigger! :-( 

The last few days have been full of firsts for Hannah.  On Friday night (March 26) she went out to dinner for the first time.  We went with our friends, James & Lindsay and Jake & Tally (and their 5 month old, Truss...Hannah's future husband...haha) to a Mexican restaurant.  It felt so good to get out of the house and feel more "normal".  It was great to see that our lives wouldn't be completely different now that we have Hannah and that we would still be able to do fun things!  We were even able to spend a few hours at Jake and Tally's house after dinner.  Oh to be an adult again! haha  On Saturday night (March 27) Hannah went to church for the first time.  She was SO well behaved.  We were sure to sit in the very back row so that we could make a speedy exit, if we needed to.  But thankfully, Hannah didn't make a peep.  It was so special to have her in church with us.  I spent much of the service reflecting back on the months of pleading with the Lord for a child.  The praise and worship songs had new meaning and holding my little peanut in my arms was a surreal experience.  I was overwhelmed with thankfulness and emotion.  Hannah is an answer to many years of prayers and pleadings with the Lord.  He heard our cries!

Last night Hannah decided to give us another full night of sleep. :-)  I fed her at 9pm and tried to put her down, but she was SO fussy!  After listening to her cry on and off for an hour (excrutiating!!) we decided to give her some formula to see if she was still hungry.  Low and behold, she sucked it down and took 1.5 oz.  Then we put her down again and she fell fast asleep for 7 hours!!  YEAH! :-)  What a difference a full night of sleep makes.  And now she is taking a good nap.  So far she has been down for 2 hours...hopefully she will sleep at least 1 more. :-)

Brian's family (mom, dad, and sister) are coming to visit for Easter and we can't wait!  His parents will be here from Friday thru Wednesday and Julie will be here just for the weekend.  We can't wait to celebrate Hannah's first Easter!