Fever and shit...

Blakely is sick.  We have been swimming in shit for the past four days.  Fever and shit actually.


It all started when she woke up on Sunday morning and I thought she was way hot.  Took her temp (rectally) and it was 102.  Not cool.  We had Lonnie's family down for the holiday weekend so this was not really great timing.  We gave her Tyl.enol and Ad.vil and her fever got better.  But then the diarrhea started.  Like seriously 10-12 times a day.  Although today it has pretty much been every hour.  


She was so miserable all day Sunday.  I stayed inside with her and we cuddled and slept all day long.  On Sunday evening her temp was 103.9 and I noticed she had blood in her diarrhea.  The crazy mommy freak out was on at that point.  We gave her more meds and put her in a bath to help cool her off.  Her temp got better and we put her down for the night.  We decided if she wasn't any better in the morning then we would call the doctor.  Why does this always happen on holiday weekends?!?!?!


On Monday morning she seemed a little better...no fever and no diarrhea.  I had checked on her every hour during the night to make sure her temp didn't go back up.  I thought maybe she just had a little tummy bug.  Her fever stayed down the first half of the day although she kept having diarhea (sometimes with a little blood).  Her fever spiked in the afternoon and she had quite a bit more blood in her diaper.  I decided to call the dr.  Well they use a nurse hotline through Arkan.sas Chil.drens Hosp.ital.  She asked me a bazillion questions.  Finally she told me that they go by a protocol and that it was saying that we needed to go to the emergency room because she had more than 8 poops in an hour and more than 3 were bloody.  By this time it was 5 pm on MEMORIAL DAY.  Are you kidding me??  I thought they were going to say something along the lines of "take her to the pediatrician first thing in the morning".  The ER sounded like a horrible idea to me.  We would have to wait for a good 8-9 hours....maybe more since it was a holiday.  They were going to jab and poke her and she would be traumatized.  AND AND AND there wouldn't even be a pediatrician there...so it would be just an ER dr taking care of her.  Not ok with me.  So we decided to watch her and keep her temp down and take her in the next day.  Small sidenote.  The only reason I felt ok with this is because Lonnie did.  I always defer medical decisions to him and if he thought we needed to go to the ER you bet your ass we would have been there in a second.  I trust my husband to make medical decisions more than I do most ER doctors.  So that is why we waited...just a little disclaimer :)


We took her to the doctor yesterday even though she seemed to be feeling better.  She would at least smile and play.  Her temp was about 102 but would go down with meds.  She was still a pooping machine but the blood was minimal.  The weird part about all of this is that she hasn't been throwing up.  She has still been eating just fine.  Not as great as she normally does but eating plenty.  They wanted a stool sample so I took two diapers with us.  He is thinking it is probably something viral and but they wanted to test for E.Co.li and Salmon.ella and a few other things.  Most of which you don't treat, you just let it run its course.  


I got a message this morning telling me that they couldn't get a sample out of those diapers.  I called the lab tech back and she told me that the diapers soak it all up and they can't get it out of the diapers.  SOOOOOO, she suggested putting Sar.an Wr.ap between the diaper and Blakely and "catching the poop".  Yeah, how easy does that sound to y'all???  Her poop is like green water.  Not very "catchable".  I really can't describe to you my morning of trying to do this.  I took one sample up there and she didn't think she could get enough out of it.  So I tried again and FINALLY got a puddle.  I was so damn happy that was over with and so was Blakely.  I'm certain that Sar.an Wr.apped ass is not very comfortable. 


Now we wait to see what they find.  She obviously doesn't feel good today either.  She grunts and groans to poop for about 10 minutes and doesn't get much relief when she does go.  Her temp has been ok today but not normal.  She hasn't let me put her down all day.  She SCREAMS when I do.  So we have just been snuggling all day long.  She is in the jumparoo right now and I have about a minute and a half left before she loses it.  


On top of all of this poop....my washing machine broke.  Which wouldn't be that huge of a deal except that I use CLOTH DIAPERS.  Yeah....we've switched to disposables for now.  Also, my brother in law's law office burned to the ground on Sunday as well.  They were here for the weekend and he got the call.  He had to leave early to go deal with that.  Very sad stuff.  AND THEN, we've had drama with the shaved ice stand.  We were in it with another couple and we all had specific jobs for the stand.  The other woman was an accountant so she was dealing with the money, payroll, and staffing.  Well she just up and decided to QUIT...not like "oh I don't want to do this anymore, here is all of my information" quitting but more like "I quit, don't call me, don't text me, I'm going to make this as hard on you as possible, GO AWAY" quitting.  We haven't spoken to her since and I don't plan on ever speaking to her.  I plan to blog about this situation in detail when I get time to give me some closure with her.  Because, honestly, I want to punch her in her throat right about now.  


Ok the baby has shut down.  I wrote all of this in about ten minutes so I hope it makes sense!  

Beach baby

We had such a wonderful time at the beach this year!  Blakely was at a great age to be there....able to enjoy everything but not yet mobile.  Although she really wants to be...dear God.

We left Saturday morning at 530.  In our car it was me, Lonnie, my mom, and Blakely.  In the other car it was Grand, Jenni (my aunt), Casey (family friend although more like just family), and my great aunt Jerry.  My cousin Jan lives in Colorado and she meets us down there.  It took us 12 hours to get down there.  Blakely did well the entire way.  My mom was in the back with her so she was able to keep her entertained.  We only stopped 3 times total.  But those stops each lasted about an hour.  With 7 adults and a baby it just takes forever to do anything.  By the time we got there we were all ready to get the heck out of the car.  We dropped Grand, my mom, Blakely, and Aunt Jerry off at the condo and the rest of us went to the grocery and liquor store for the week.  We always hate doing that but it helps to just get it over with.  

This was just one of the carts  :)

We were all exhausted from the trip so it was early to bed.  We had two condos each with two bedrooms.  It was me, Lonnie, Blakely, Grand, and my mom in one.  And the rest were in the other.  

The next morning we got up leisurely and drank our coffee/cokes and ate our traditional cheese toast topped with fresh tomatoes.  It was so yummy and even Lonnie liked it!  Then we got all ready for the beach.  I got Blakely naked and lathered her up in sunscreen.  And then I did it again.  She was a gooey gooey mess.  She didn't mind it though.  She actually giggled while I was putting it on her.  A friend of mine suggested getting a baby swimming pool and putting that under the shade with all of her toys.  That turned out to be such a great idea!  She could just sit there and play without getting sand everywhere.  If I had just put her on a towel it would have been a huge mess and I wouldn't have been able to take my eye off of her for a single second.  Of course, there were times that I did let her play in the sand.  Just not sitting in it constantly.  

Blakely with her grand cousin Jan and then with daddy.  

Toes in the water....ass in the sand....

The first night (Sunday) we always go to dinner at Staff's.  Blakely wore the dress that I MADE HER.  You read that correctly...I made her dress.  Kinda wish I had a better picture of her in it!

The next morning everyone got up and did the cheese toast/coffee/cokes thing.  And when I say everyone, I mean everyone but me because, apparently, I consumed a wee to much alcohol the night before.  So daddy was on baby duty while mommy recovered.  After that it was pretty much a lazy day in the condo.  We just played on the balcony and took naps all day.  That night we did go to eat at a place called Louisiana Lagniappe.  This place has the best shrimp and grits ever.

The next day we decided to take Blake to the pool.  This was her first time ever in a pool.  It was a little chilly at first so I had to ease her in so she wouldn't cry.  I held her for a bit and then I sat her on the ledge of the pool.  She loved it!  

Then I put her in her little boat and she REALLY loved it!  She kicked her little legs constantly.  It was adorable :)

We finally got out of the pool and we were both all wrinkled up.  We sat out by the pool and played for a little bit before it was time for her nap.  

The next day we went to the beach in the morning but then it looked like it was going to rain so we went back up to the condo for the afternoon.  We played games and Blakely just sat and watched and entertained us.  She loved the UNO cards and helping mommy play :)

That night we went to a restaurant called Captain Dave's in Destin.  It was super yum!

Beach again the next day.  She played in her little pool for a while but she really just wanted to be climbing all over daddy.  

redo solo cup of course....

For being so out of her element Blakely did well.  She didn't really want to nap in the pack n play though.  Naps were a struggle unless I nursed her and then laid down with her for a little bit.  I think she felt like she was going to miss something.  This day she didn't nap at all.  I knew if she didn't nap before we went to dinner it would not be pleasant.  So I nursed her right before we left and she fell asleep.  SOUND asleep.

I thought she would sleep through dinner for sure but she only slept for 30 minutes!  This was the only time she was cranky.  And since she didn't nap well that day she didn't sleep good that night.  Up at 2,4,and 6....  I was tired!  Oh well...we got to sleep in at least!  And, daddy made us breakfast!  You know you married a great man when he goes on vacation with 7 women and a baby and also cooks you breakfast on said vacation!  

That evening Lonnie and I decided that we wanted to take Blakely for a walk on the beach instead of going to dinner with everyone else.  We strapped her into her daddymobile and off we went.  We walked a LONG way and stopped to eat some dinner.  It was great family time. 

This is what it looked like on our way back.  BEAUTIFUL!

The last day we did more beach!

Look MOM!  I stood up!

This was the view from our balcony.  

The last night Lonnie took some pictures of us before dinner.  Here we all are!  

Four generations :)

All in all it was a great trip!  Blakely did great and Lonnie did great dealing with all of us.  My Grand got to spend a lot of time with Blakely which makes me happy.  I had a few moments when I got emotional.  Everything has just come full circle.  We do this trip every year and there were a few years that I yearned to be pregnant or have a baby at the beach.  Then last year I was pregnant.  And now I got to take my beautiful baby girl on her first beach trip...perfect!  


I have to say though, I am happy to be back in our normal routine.  Even on vacation, mama doesn't get "vacation" ;) 

We're back!

I wish I had time to do a long and thoughtful Mother's Day post, but I just don't!  We got back from the beach last night and I am still recovering.  We had a great time but it was definitely exhausting!  


Today has been wonderful.  I have just been spending time with my sweet girl and soaking up every second of her.  I am so thankful to have her in my life.  She makes me a better person.  Speaking of the sweet girl...she is 7 months old today!  How has this happened?  That sounds old!  She will be turning 13, like, tomorrow or something...GAH!  


Full beach post and seven month post coming this week!  But just to tide you over until then...here is some cuteness!!!!

TVT

Thought Vomit Thursday...because I don't have time for anything coherent right now.

1.  I am frantically getting everything ready for our beach vacation.  Laundry, errands, packing, but most of all baking!  I am making 2 batches of "just the best cookies" and then 2 batches of peanut butter fudge.  Yeah, I'll probably gain weight on this trip...

2.  Since we are going to be gone, I am also busy trying to make sure our shaved ice stand is stocked up so our partners don't have to deal with any of that.  This means making a shit ton of syrup...I'm thinking about 40 gallons.  It's messy...

3.  I am going to use our cloth diapers on our trip.  I'm a little nervous about it and have considered backing out of it but I feel like I need to try.  Wish me luck!

4.  Blakely has figured out how to actually jump in her jumper.  And, OMG, it is the most awesome thing EVER!  She wants to bounce constantly and she gets a look of sheer excitement on her face...I love when she's happy.  

5.  Speaking of B, I'm not sure if I posted this pic or not....preview of 6 month photos

I mean seriously.....I can't believe I am even still alive after seeing that picture...

both photos from Melanie McKnight Photography

6.  I've stopped pinning.  I know this is a sad thing but that damn Pin.terest makes me feel like a LOSER!!!  There are so many things on there that I want to do and when I don't have enough time to do a single one I feel like as asshole.  I had some great ideas for Mother's Day....yeah, none of them happened.  I pinned some things to do for Father's Day and I'm sure those won't happen either.  I get on there and I want to eat and workout at the same time.  So I just eat the crap I have here and get sad that I don't workout.  See what I mean???  It was actually making me stressed and anxious to PIN!!!  Sweet Jesus!  So I've backed off...not to say I won't ever pin again but not now ;)

7.  I am, however, completely addicted to Insta.gram.  Heart it bunches...  If you want to follow me just let me know :)  

8.  Blakely has 11 new outfits for our trip.  We are only there for 7 nights.  Hmmmmm........

9.  If I don't get a pedicure before we leave for our trip, I am going to hurt someone.  Probably my husband...

10.  Hope y'all have an amazing weekend!!! 

Breastfeeding has become a contact sport.

I am not even kidding.  

I have battle wounds.  

It all started when she hit 5 months old and realized that eating took her away from playing longer than she liked.  So she would eat as fast as possible and then get back to playing pronto.  

Well now she has figured out that she can play AND eat...at the same time.  

She flails her arms about constantly.  I can pin one of them down but the other one is a little more difficult.  She hits me in the chest, face, or arm the whole time.  It doesn't help that she has what I call fingerclaws.  Yeah, those are her nails.  They grow over night I tell you!  I bite them down and then the next day they are longer than the day before.  And yes, I do bite them. I tried to clip them and she almost lost the tip of her finger so I'm too scared to try that again.  I have had scratch marks on my chest and one day she literally punctured my lip!  There was blood involved.  She loves when she gets my lip or nose...she puts them in a vise grip!  

She also somehow manages to pinch the heck out of the flab on my arm with her feet every.single.time.  She rubs her feet together and my arm gets caught in the mix.  Not cool.


And lets not even get into the hair pulling.  How does she manage to grab the little painful hairs every time!?!?

Usually once my milk lets down she will be still for about 30 seconds but then its back to constantly moving her arms and legs.  Oh but she keeps her head still while there is milk...most of the time.  But once she is done she doesn't slowly back off...oh no.   She clamps her gums down and then throws her head back.  I promise you she is going to rip my nipple off....it is just a matter of time.  I'll be sure to let you know when it happens.  What am I going to do when she has teeth???

It is pretty funny to watch actually.  My husband just laughs.  And then she flies off my boob because she heard him laugh.  Then I have to coax her back on.  And then this process repeats over and over.  I usually take her away to another room and that helps the de-latching but not the squirmy wiggly nursing.  


Now, don't get me wrong.  She LOVES to nurse.  At night she would stay on there forever if I would let her.  She is just so mobile!  She doesn't want to be still for a second.  What happened to my little blob of a baby that just laid there exactly how I put her?  


She got big :(

Six months old!!!

Our sweet girl turned 6 months old on April 13!!  That is half of a year people!!  

doesn't she look like such a big girl in this pic???

Firsts this month
Blakely's first time celebrating mama's birthday/St. Patrick's day


First time drinking out of a sippy cup

Blakely rolled from back to belly for the first time on 4-2-12.  She has only done this a handful of times.  She hasn't figured out (or doesn't care) that rolling can get her places.  


She started sitting up without assistance on 4-3-12.  Since then she never wants to be laying down...just sitting up.  

What mom?  I'm busy!

This is what happens when you try to make her lay down

First Easter

First boat ride!!!!


First time swinging

First time to go to church


First time trying solid food (besides cereal)


Feeding:  I am still exclusively breastfeeding.  She nurses 6 times a day, sometimes 7.  We were giving her one bottle a day, but now we are giving her one every other day or every third day.  I am doing this to help store up more milk...because you know I am total wreck about my milk!  There are many reasons why I want to store more milk, but I will save all of that for its own post.  I am pretty confidant that I will continue nursing her until she is one year old.  It is going so well I just don't want to stop.  I am able to provide this for her so I feel like I should.  I have lots of feelings about this but, seriously, I should save it for another post.  She is seriously distracted while nursing these days.  I have started taking her down to her room and feeding her in the glider and that has seemed to help.  If I stay upstairs she hops off the boob at every noise.  Then I end up spraying her in the face while trying to shove it back in her mouth.  Fun times....


This month Blakely has tried avocado, squash (acorn), carrots, and green beans...in that order.  She is doing much better now with the spoon and actually leans in to get a bite sometimes. I have been trying to be more consistent with giving her the solids and I think that is paying off.  We tried green beans last night and she LOVED them.  She still doesn't really seem to like cereal, rice or oatmeal.  I don't feel like her tastes are that developed yet so I am wondering if maybe it is the time of day I am giving her the cereal?  Anyway, the doctor said since she is breastfed she does need the cereal for the iron.  He said I could mix it with whatever veggie I am giving her.  So I think I will start trying that once a day.  

ehhh...not sure about it

I have been making all of her food and it is surprisingly SO SO EASY!  Yesterday I bought 4 acorn squash.  Then I baked then, smashed them, and put them in an ice tray.  Now I have enough squash for her for a long while!  Easy peasy....and cheap!  I also did green beans and carrots.  I actually enjoy it.  


Sleeping:  B is still a great sleeper, although we had a bit of a setback this month.  It is all my fault really.  I tried to change up her schedule and she let me know that was so not cool.  We had been putting her to bed at 9 every night for a long time.  She always took a cat nap...10-20 minutes...at 6:45.  Then she would eat at 715 and then 9 before bed.  Well she stopped taking that nap and was super sleeping at 8-830.  So I decided to start putting her down at 8. For the first 3 night she slept from 8 at night to 8 in the morning!  I was so excited.  Then all hell broke loose.  She woke up at 2 or 3 the next four nights, then again at 4 or 5.  Now, she has totally spoiled me, I know.  She hadn't gotten up in the middle of the night since she was about 2 1/2 months old.  I was dead tired and thinking omg what have I done???  After about 2 weeks she would sleep 8-4.  At 4 I would feed her and she would go back to sleep until about 630.  Well I am not a morning person and this was starting to wear on me.  So I went back to putting her down at 9...about a week ago.  She is sleeping great.  She will sleep until about 630 or 7, eat, and then sleep until 830 or 9.  Thank God...


Around that time I also started focusing more on getting her to take good naps.  When she naps good she sleeps longer at night.  I have been trying to put her down in the crib at least twice a day for nap.  She has started taking a great afternoon nap, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours!  Heck yeah!  Morning nap is so so.

Diapers:  We are still in cloth all day and then a disposable at night.  We are going on vacation in a couple of weeks and staying in a condo that has a washer.  I am going to use cloth on vacation and I am a little nervous about it!  I'll let y'all know how it goes :)

Clothing:  Blakely wears some 6 month stuff but mostly 9 month clothes.  I think 9 month pants would probably be too big but since it is so warm she never has to wear pants!  Speaking of clothes, I made my first dress for her!!!  My mother in law is teaching me how to sew...not sure if I have mentioned that or not.  She got me a sewing machine for my birthday and I made her a dress for our vacation.  I am pumped about this!!

Weight:  15 pounds 15 oz.  I thought she would weigh more and was a little worried until I talked to the doctor and he showed me the charts.  She is right in the 50th percentile and doing just fine :)  


Height:  She was 26 inches long this morning.That is just above the 50th percentile.  




Hair:  It has thinned out quite a bit but she has a ton that is starting to grow back in.  It looks really light..maybe light light brown or strawberry blonde?  Hard to tell.  She still has some long hair in the front and then a big ole patch of dark hair on the back really low.  


Eyes:  blue blue blue!  This picture is the best one that shows her eye color.

Dr Appt:  We went today and he said she was doing perfectly!  A mama always loves to hear this.  She got her last round of shots until she is one!  YAY!  SHe did a great job with them too.  She screamed hen she was getting them, of course, but as soon as I picked her up she stopped.  When we got home she went to sleep and has been napping ever since.  Almost 2 hours!  Which is why I have time to write this post ;)

whiny face...

Daily Routine:  Our daily routine hasn't changed much.  Like I said, she eats about 6-7 times a day.  She takes a morning nap (30-45 min) at about 10 or 1030.  Then she takes and afternoon nap around 3 (1 1/2 to 2 hours).  She goes down for the night at 9pm.  


Favorite Toy:  This month, her favorite toy is, BY FAR, a damn red solo cup.  Who knew??She gets so excited when she sees it.  We give it to her in the bath tub and it just gives her fits!  

this is a good one of the dark patch of hair!

A few other things about Blakely at 6 months old that I don't want to forget...ever.  

• How when she gets excited she moves her arms and legs all over the place and gets this look on her face that screams...I AM SO EXCITED AND I CAN BARELY STAND IT, MOM!!!!  So cute...
• The noises she makes when she nurses.  I have taken quite a few videos lately of this because I want to remember what it was like.  Before my milk lets down she will whine whine whine.  Then when she gets the milk she is such a loud nurser!  Smacking away!
• How after I feed her she loves to play on my chest while we are face to face.  She gives me kisses, pulls my hair, plays with my shirt.  We usually take pictures or videos to send to daddy at work.  

• How much she loves her daddy and gives him the biggest grin when he gets home from work every day.  And then they sit like this for the rest of the night!  

• How she has really bonded with her Grand Di (my mom)

• How she sleeps in "the position".  Her head turned to the right with her right arm above her head.  Her left arm draped over her face.  
• How she puts herself to sleep by sucking on the back of her left hand.  Sometimes she will be so tired that her hand doesn't even make it up to her mouth and she makes a couple sucking noises and she is out!  
• How she can say mamamamamama, dadadadadadadada, bababababababa, gagagagagaga, and yayayayayaya.  Sometimes she will even say mamagagadada.  Her favorite is dadadada though.  I can't wait until she actually says it and knows what she means!  
• How she loves to play with my phone.  
• How she loves to watch videos of herself.  She laughs out loud at those!
• How she loves the Bonanza theme song.  Don't ask me why but she loves it for real.  
• How I just know that she is going to love roller coasters just like me.  She loves to be "dropped", thrown in the air, spooked, and startled. 

Dear sweet Blakely, 

I can't believe you have been in our lives for half of a year already.  You have grown up so fast.  You are a wiggly, happy, energetic baby.  Everyone always asks me if you smile like that all the time and I tell them YES!  You will smile at anyone...the checker at the store, the person behind us at the restaurant.  You just give them that grin and they start laughing every time.  You have changed my life in a way that I didn't even know was possible.  Thank you so much for that.  I am so proud of you, sweet pea, so so proud.  I am lucky to be your mommy and I try every day to be the best mommy I can be.  Love you bunches, my little pea pod.  

Mommy