6 weeks

Caleigh turned 6 weeks on Wednesday. I had a goal counting down to 6 weeks and made it. I don't mean to sound negative but the first 6 weeks to me are the hardest so I kept telling myself to make it 6 weeks. From there you go another 6 weeks and you are at 12 weeks and by then they are doing well on a schedule, have a lot of personality and are sleeping well. I know one day I will regret that I was wishing for her to grow up faster- but in the middle of the night that's hard to do. She has changed so much in 6 weeks. She is smiling and wanting to talk back to you. Her personality is really showing and she is a big fan of mine.

Reese spent part of the week with Grandma and Grandpa. He has had an absolute blast. I have enjoyed my time at home alone with Caleigh. I spent 3 days listing all of Reese's clothes on ebay. Started to think towards the end I should have just taken them to the resale store and called it a day. We will see how I make out when my auction ends this week.

I am a bit scared tonight because I think I may be set up for disappointment - but last night Caleigh slept from 10:45 until 7 am. When Rusty woke up to go fishing at 5:30 I had a panic moment because I never got up during the night with her. I went and checked on her and she was fine- lets hope she keeps it up.

I spent the day at the outlet mall and Rusty out at the lake. Thank goodness for such wonderful grandparents.

Playdate

Rusty and I got 2 babysitters last night and went on the big date last night for his bday. I fed her when we got home around 10:15 and she slept until 5!!! Funny thing is I went in at 4:45 to check on her because I woke up looking at the clock and hoping everything was ok! Lets hope this continues. The funny thing is she has slept 6 hrs for 3 out of the last 4 nights- and the one night she didn't was the one night in the miracle blanket- how backwards is that. I just hope this keeps up and that the 6 week growth spurt doesn't mess up the progress we are making.

Today we had a playdate with Carter and Ally. We are so excited they are back in town- even if they aren't our neighbors anymore.

We also had a playdate with Casey on Saturday. Jackie and Andy drove up to meet Caleigh. Reese and Casey had a lot of fun together. We were glad to get to visit and to meet each others kids. We have seen each other several times but never with the kids.

I would also like to thank my husband for teaching Reese the term "spit bath". The other day he wiped him down and called it a spit bath and now Reese calls his hand towel a spit bath. He tells me all the time he needs a spit bath when he needs to be cleaned up from lunch

Joyful times

Rusty joked that we need to go buy a lottery ticket. Last night we took a chance on taking her out to dinner and she slept the entire time at Fuddruckers. We got home and she cried a bit of the walk but just enough to go to sleep. Then we swaddled her and put her in the swing (which she usually hates) and she just sat there looking around happy as can be. I joked that she is happy because its quiet and she is saying thank goodness that loud boy went to bed:) I thought it might come back to haunt us with her being up all night, but she went to bed like a champ and didn't wake until 3:30. We all feel refreshed today.

I am not sure if its having Caleigh or Reese is changing that quickly but he is really quite a little boy and no longer a baby. He is 99% of the time (there are tantrums at time) a joy to be around. He is so funny and fun to talk to. Its funny how after having her, running errands with him or putting him to bed is a treat. He and Daddy went to run errands today and ended up at the Outdoor Expo at Gander Mountain. He went down a fish slide, road a mechanical bull, went in a bounce house and several other outdoor activities. He had the time of his life. Such a big kid now and so much fun to see his reaction to everything.

Pictures

Here are the professional pictures ->link

I don't want to say anything too soon but 2 nights in a row now she has gone 5-6 hrs between feedings. Last night she woke up to feed at midnight (very unusual) and at first I was a bit agitated because I had just layed down. Well next cry I woke up to and it was daylight outside. I even woke Rusty up to tell him- it was 6 am. It was hard to get back to bed since it was daylight out but so nice to not be 3-4 am. I think she did it in honor of Rustys bday!

5 weeks and counting

I tried to be really prepared this time and pre order my envelopes for my announcements. Well I am still waiting to get my professional pictures back that we are going to use on them so we are on hold- funny thing is several friends have since moved since I addressed them. Its a bit crazy how many friends have moved in the 6 weeks since I addressed them.

Things with Caleigh are progressing. She pretty much cries from 7-10 at night but after that goes down until around 3 am and then until around 7-8. I have actually gotten pretty used to getting up at 3 am- but ready for it to be over. Not too much to think about or do to pass the time at 3 am. Makes me wish for a short while that I had an iphone so I could at least read.

Reeses MDO summer session ended today. Tomorrow I have a babysitter coming so that we can go swimming with his playgroup. He has only been swimming once since his lessons so this was a good opportunity to get him back in the pool. Monday we have another playdate and then on Tues the grandparents show up to help out for the next 2 weeks until MDO starts back. Caleigh pretty much cries in the car on the way too and from taking and picking up Reese everyday but otherwise we are getting out of the house and getting their on time. Poor Caleigh is just about asleep every time we have to leave to pick him up so I don't think she enjoys being put in the car seat and lugged around. I figure she will be a different baby in 2 weeks when it starts back so this may not be a problem forever.

She has already changed so much- she is getting so big and is smiling. She definitely knows who you are and for some reason will take a bottle from me but not Rusty- go figure. We are working on getting her to take the bottle better so I can start leaving with her babysitters more- hopefully in time for me to go on a clothes shopping trip next weekend. We are going to leave her for sure one day next week to go out to dinner for Rustys birthday. In the 9 years we have been married I know he has been gone at least 3 of his birthdays- good thing he is a guy who isn't birthday focused because we are a bit limited in what we can do this year

I am not sure if you follow my brother in laws blog but there are some really neat pictures of Afghanistan on this latest post. He went up into the mountains for a few weeks to meet with local farmers. I never saw pictures like this when Rusty was there

Babies galore

Its no secret that all of my friends are having babies. Well yesterday at Reese's playgroup we took a picture of all the babies from oldest to youngest. Its funny how its 3 boys and then 3 girls. I woke Caleigh up for the picture and as you can see she wasn't thrilled

Star Struck

I am going to embarrass myself by saying I am a bit star struck by our worship leader. I know he is just a person, but I still have never brought myself to talk to him. The closest I ever came was during the Christmas celebration when he was looking for his wife to watch the kids so he could go and sing- I told him I would look in the bathroom for him. When I first moved back to town I went to his church once (he wasn't there) and when I found out he was going to be our worship leader I was ecstatic. I did send him an email to let him know how blessed we are to have him. I have alot of his cd's and have followed him for 15 plus years so I guess its just funny to see someone every Sunday when you listen to their music all week at home. Anyway- all of this to say you should read his blog because its really funny- especially the may 18th one.


Why am I so crazy? Who knows because I am not a shy person at all. Its like the time I was at the Hilton Head celebrity golf tournament and Robert Newman was there and I was so shy I couldn't talk to him. He is from Guiding Light (which might I mention has been cancelled this fall) but to me I couldn't speak to him. I would see him around and would basically run the other way. I did finally speak to him once our host basically walked up to him and said- she is a fan and would like a picture. I was 6 months pregnant and the picture looks crazy but none the less I did briefly speak to him.

On the road to recovery?

I have posted some new pictures under the 4th of July post.

We were all prepared to go back to MDO today when a cranky Reese woke up with a rash. Back to the dr we went where I was told it was a different rash that looked viral and that was good because it meant he was almost well. Provided no fever or major turn for the worse he will be back at MDO tomorrow. He only has MDO this summer for 12 days and he has already missed 2. I desperately need to make a trip to Target so I am hoping tomorrow he gets to go so I can run errands.

Caleigh has cried for 2 hrs for the past 2 nights. I am still doing no dairy and no sure if its making a difference since she is still crying. Lucky for me I was gone part of both the nights- not so lucky for Rusty and Reese.

4 weeks today

Reese woke up with 103 again yesterday so back to the dr we went. They took him off the antibiotics since the bacterial rash was gone in hopes that it would help settle his stomach. He woke up today asking to drink (he is a huge drinker and refused to drink or eat at all the past few days) and was happy. We went to gymnastics (sadly his last class) and his energy level is back up. Lets hope it stays that way and that he can return to MDO tomorrow.

I worked at the Food Bank last night and have Moms Night Out tonight so Rusty has been on his own for 2 nights. Caleigh did her 2 hr crying fit last night but after she went to bed early (10:30) she did sleep until 3:30 so I got a solid 4 hrs- yeah!

Caleigh is 4 weeks old today. The first 3 weeks crept by but this last week has flown by. I think getting out of town for the weekend and Rusty being off for 4 days really helped me mentally. She still has crying fits but is settling into a good routine. My goal each day is to get them down for a nap at the same time so I can nap or get things done. Baby acne has invaded Caleighs face- just in time for her open house this Sat of course.

Reese has been sick so we havent been able to see our friends alot but I am hoping to get back in the swing of our social schedule here in the next few days. Getting out with the other moms is my saving grace some days- adult conversation can never be underestimated.

Pictures to be posted soon

Reese update

Reese has been fighting this bacterial infection all week. I took him to the dr on Friday and was told that even though the rash was spreading that it was healing and just being irritated by his diapers.

Sat we had a great day- took him to the parade and then left both with grandma and grandpa off and on throughout to go on a few dates. Last night while we were watching fireworks we noticed he was really warm and pretty quiet. It was late and hot out so at first we thought that was it but he continued to be hot even in the car. Got home and his temp under the arm was 103 so Rusty and his dad took him to the ER at Scott and White. They checked him out since he had a high fever with the bacterial infection (despite being on antibiotics) and sent him home at 3 am basically saying nothing. Rusty said he came alive at 2 am and was playing with his cars in the hospital bed. He had no clue of the time because at 3 am he asked to kiss mom and Caleigh good night and read books. He had 5 hrs sleep last night and was up at his normal time today. He and Rusty stayed home from church and rested all morning. He is still really hot and very low energy today. Can hardly get him to drink (never happens) or speak. We are headed back home tomorrow and hope all of this passes soon and that is really is not contagious like they say because we don't want her to get it for sure.

It has otherwise been a very restful trip and it has been really revitalizing for me to get out of the house. I am going stir crazy sitting around the house as much as I have been.

Meeting Aunt Molly

4th of July fun

Hope for the future

We had our best night yet. Rusty and I were exhausted last night- he was asleep by 8 and me by 8:30. Woke up to feed her when she woke up at 10:15 and she slept until 3 am. I actually got 4 hrs straight sleep. It was hard to go to bed that early but paid off in that we both feel better today.
Reese has a bacterial infection which has caused a very painful rash on his leg and bad bad diapers. My entire day yesterday can be summed up with bad diapers from both kids. We went to the dr on Tues and was told if it wasn't better in a day he would have to be admitted to the hospital. Thank goodness the antibiotics are working and he is doing better. He finally ate last night and his energy level seems to be up. I was really broke in on being a mom to two with an hr and half doctor visit in which Reese vomited and she had to be fed. I think I can do anything after surviving the past few days.

The good point of yesterday is that grandma and grandpa came to visit. We also got to visit with Danielle since she is back from London and Angela who was in town from NYC. We had a fun day with visitors