date night, bottles, and a milestone...

My honey took me on a date last night.  I can't even tell you how great it was!  I have decided we need to do this at least every other week.  We went out after we put Blakely to bed so I didn't have to worry about anyone giving her a bottle.  It was so nice to just hang out with Lonnie and talk and drink wine!  It had been so long and it made me feel so good.  Must do it again soon for mommy's sanity :)

Blakely did good while we were gone.  My aunt came over to watch her and to hang out with my mom.  She did wake up and cry about 45 minutes after I put her down.  Jenni rocked her and she eventually went back to sleep.  

She has been doing that lately...waking up screaming...what is the deal with that?  I don't think she is hungry although if I give her the boob she will eat, of course.  Also, the past two nights she woke up at 330 to eat.  I guess it is a growth spurt...

Last night when she woke up at 330 I was afraid to feed her.  I only had one cocktail and a glass of wine but still....I worry.  So I had Lonnie try to give her the bottle.  She took it like a champ and drank 4 ounces!!!!

She has been doing better with the bottle lately.  I can get her to take it with minimal screaming and Lonnie has given it to her the past three days with no screaming at all.  So now I just need other people to do it!  I think I am going to start having my mom give her one tomorrow.  She likes the tommee tippee the best so I am sticking with that.  That is good news because it has the least amount of parts to wash!  Yea!  I think it is just a matter of me being consistent with it.  I have to give her one every day.  

At first the only way she wouldn't scream at it was for me to speed walk in circles around my kitchen while bouncing her.  She would at least keep it in her mouth then, playing with it and chewing on it.  After about 30 minutes of this she would latch on.  I can't even tell you how sore my arm was after this.  I did this for about 5 days.  Then she started latching on sooner.  Then I would only have to speed walk until she latched on and then I could sit down.  Then after a few days of that I could get her to take it while she was in the bouncer.  I think the key is to keep her happy.  If she gets upset then there is no way she will take it.  You have to get/keep her calm to even have a chance.  We have made loads of progress and it is getting so much easier.  Thank goodness....

On another note, my girl is growing up so much!  She ROLLED OVER yesterday!!  I put her on her tummy for some tummy time and she just ducked her head and over she went.  Lonnie and I both saw it and we started clapping and yelling.  She was quite surprised but I'm not sure if it was from rolling over or from our reaction.  She did it two more times after that and we got it on video.  I can't believe she is growing up so much....I love it and it makes me sad all at the same time....

Totally random post but that's all I've got for a Sunday :)  Go Patriots!!!

TVT

I was going to do a separate post for most of these but I don't have time.  Life has been crazy hectic lately.  

TVT for you :)

• I can't seem to shake this cold.  I have had it for almost 2 weeks.  I feel better but I still have a terrible cough that keeps me up at night.  Good news is that Blakely has not gotten sick....fingers crossed.  

• We went to visit some of Lonnie's family last Friday.  They live about 2 hours away and had not met Blakely yet.  We had a great time and B was sooooooo good.  She wasn't fussy at all and pretty much showed off the whole time.  She slept the whole way there and the way back....great!

• Saturday we had a surprise 30th birthday party for my bestie Sarah.  I think she was actually surprised and we had a great time.  I didn't get to stay very long because I had to come home and feed the baby (who was, of course, refusing a bottle).  

Birthday girl!

 decorations...

cake

centerpieces that I made...thank you Pinterest!

all of the girls!

• My 30th birthday is two months away....EEEEK!!!!

• I got my Erin Condren life planner last week....I am so excited!!!  

• My mom came home from the hospital Tuesday and she is staying with us for a while.  She has to be non weight bearing for 6-10 weeks, they aren't sure exactly how long.  I am happy to have my mom here as long as she needs to stay.  She can't get around very well but a physical therapist is coming a couple of times a week to help teach her how to get around easier.  She is actually doing a lot better than I thought she would be doing.  Since she can't put any weight on it, she kind of has to hop on her good leg but she can't go very far doing this.  She probably hasn't hopped in 20 years!  She just makes it to the bathroom and then back to the bed.  Then we come to the living room and sit in the recliner for a bit.  She is in pain most of the time so we are trying to keep that under control.  I think once the pain gets better she will start to be able to do more.  I really hope this recovery goes smooth for her because I know she hates having to depend on me for everything.  I really don't mind and I would take care of her forever!  She thinks that she is being a burdon but we really like having her here.  Even though she can't take care of Blakely, she can play with her on the bed while I get some things done.  So helpful!

• I broke my toe on Saturday.  It feels awesome.  I slammed it into Blakely's swing.  It hurt like a mother but I was too scared to look down at it.  I thought I might faint.  I can't even imagine how my mom felt when she fell and shattered and dislocated her ankle...I am such a weenie!

• Mom had started Weight.Watchers before she fell so I have been inspired to help her to lose weight (and us too).  Bad news for her is that I control all the things that she gets to eat since she can't get up ;)  I didn't know anything about WW before now but I have been researching for the past few days.  As far as cooking healthy meals goes, it seems like this will be pretty easy...Pinterest helps ;)  And, hey, if it will help me lose those 10 IVF pounds I won't complain!  

• Since everything has been so crazy, Blakely has gotten COMPLETELY off schedule.  The other night she just pretty much wouldn't go to sleep.  Her naps were off, her feedings were off, just everything was off.  She has also started waking up 45 minutes to an hour after I put her down for the night.  She just cries and cries.  I thought she would just cry for a few minutes and go back to sleep but not so much.  I rocked her back to sleep and the second I put her down she would cry.  Lonnie would do the same thing.  The other night I was pretty desperate and gave her the boob like 4 times in just over an hour.  Usually that is the magic fix  boob=sleepy baby.  She would fall asleep but then cry the second her butt hit the crib.  My nipples haven't been that raw and sore since the first week of breast feeding!  Starting today we are getting back on schedule and I am going to be a strict momma!!!

• Speaking of Blakely, she has been packing some serious power behind her poops recently.  I mean wow!  We've had quite a few blowouts in the past few days....

• The bottle situation is getting better.  Although she will only take a little and only from me or Lonnie.  Pretty sure that doesn't help us very much....

check out that latch!  I had her tricked....she thought she was sucking on Sophie the Giraffe the whole time :)

• Does anyone else think Sophie the Giraffe is really just a dog toy???  My dogs FLIP OUT when this thing squeaks...

That's all I've got for today!  

Bottle Saga

The bottle saga continues here at my house...

Let me just give you a quick rundown of this....and also so I can have it all in one post ;)

We gave Blakely her first bottle of breast milk when she was 4 1/2 weeks old.  It was a Dr. Brown's and she took it great.  We started giving her one a day or every other day after that.  She would take it from Lonnie, my mom, my dad, my mother in law, and even from me.  

Well the day she turned 8 weeks old she decided that she HATED the bottle.  You would have thought we were trying to put razorblades covered in alcohol into her mouth.  She started screaming, crying, arching her back, flailing her arms, and kicking her legs.  It was a show.  A horrible make you feel like the worst mother in the world show....with real tears people!

I thought this was just a short phase and maybe she was just revolting for a few feedings...ummm NO!  She is now12 weeks old so this has been going on for a month.  

People have told me "Oh she will take it when she gets hungry enough".  This is not true.  She will just cry herself to sleep and skip a feeding.  I am not willing to let her go 24 hours without the food...and I think that is just what she would do.  

I have tried four different kinds of bottles...Dr. Browns, Tommee Tippee, Born Free, and Playtex Natural Latch.  All of these with the level one nipple and also with the level two nipple.  I have a pretty fast let down so I thought maybe she was just getting frustrated with the slow flow.  Not the case.  She screamed at all of them except Tommee Tippee.  She wouldn't scream as much with that one.  She would just play with it.  Roll her tongue around on it, chew on it, make herself gag, etc....  Then after a little bit of that she would flip out and realize she was hungry...

Now let me be clear.  I LOVE that she loves to nurse.  I love it as well and I am so happy that we are able to do it.  I worried so much while I was pregnant about breast feeding.  I wanted it to go well so badly.  I am very thankful that it is and I plan on continuing to do it until she is at least nine months old maybe even a year.  I LOVE BREAST FEEDING....ok, just so you know ;)

BUT, momma wants a cocktail!!!!!  Actually, I really need a cocktail...or three.  I would also like to leave baby with a grand parent so I can get a massage, have lunch with a friend, or just whatever without totally stressing about getting a call that she won't eat and is screaming.  I want her to spend time, without me, with her grand parents.  They want to spend time with her and get to know her without me running around always taking care of things.  Is this too much to ask?  Am I being selfish?  I don't think that I am.  But when your husband has been trying to give your child a bottle for 3 hours and then you get home and feed her and she latches on and eats vigorously, all while staring up at you with leftover tears in her eyes, you feel like shit...total shit.  I have cried about this.  Should I just give up?  Some people tell me that their kids never took a bottle and went strait from boob to sippy cup.  OMG.......

I started pumping pretty early to help with my supply and also because I thought I was going back to work.  I have a ridiculous amount of milk frozen.  So whenever I do decide to stop nursing she will still be able to have breast milk for quite a while after....IF she decides to take a bottle!  Surely I haven't worked this hard just for the milk to go to waste???

We have always tried letting anyone besides me give her the bottle.  Although, I did give her a few in the early days.  Well I think that she has learned now that if anyone else tries to feed her she doesn't want it.  She starts screaming immediately.  I also think that trying with the bottle and then giving up and giving her the boob is totally reinforcing the fact that if she cries at the bottle she will get what she wants.  Smart girl...gotta give her that.  

I also really don't want to mess up the great routine we have going.  Refusing the bottle and not giving the boob means missing a feeding, less calories for the day, and I feel sure that will lead to not sleeping through the night.  So I haven't been trying very hard the past two weeks to give her the bottle.  

Well that changes today.  Lonnie is off next week and it is going to be OPERATION: BABY TAKE THE BOTTLE around here for the next 10 days.  I am not going to worry about messing up our routine...I can always get her back on it.  She must take the bottle....


If she isn't screaming at it then she is just playing with the nipple.  It almost looks like she can't figure out how to latch on to it.  Do y'all think that is possible?  What can I do to help her?  Please please please give me any advice or tips you can think of.  I have tried putting gripe water on the nipple to help her take it and that hasn't worked.... It also seems like the nipples are too long and she gags a lot...I don't have a clue what to do about that.  Help!


Wish us luck!  I am pretty sure we will need it...


And I hope this post makes sense because I don't have time to go back and proof read...baby is waking up!   

Here's what is happening...

These are the happenings around here this week!

• Blakely is still on the bottle strike.  It is only getting worse.  On Wednesday we had my husband's work Christmas party and she stayed with my mom.  Usually in the evenings she eats every 1 1/2 to 2 hours (saving up for her awesome night sleep!).  We were gone from 530 to 930 and she refused the bottle the whole time.  I'm pretty sure she screamed the whole time as well, although my mom didn't say that.  I felt like a HORRIBLE mother.  I am denying her the thing she wants just so we can go to a party???  Yeah, not happening again.  I gave her the boob every time she even looked at me yesterday so hopefully she won't have abandonment issues.  UGH!  I guess I'll try some different nipples/bottles....or maybe I will just let her have my boob forever...

• I finally got my Christmas tree up.  It took a lot of effort and it might not come down til July. Mostly because the twinkle lights are a meltdown saver...that and Pandora's lullaby station that I have mentioned before.

 It's not my best work but it is up and that is all that I care about.

 This is the ornament I got Lonnie this year...adorbs!

          Yes, I still need to get some presents under this tree...

• I did go to the cookie bake the other day and it was SUPER fun!  I took B with me for the first couple of hours and she slept the whole time.  I think half of the girls didn't even know she was there!  Then I ran her home and my mom watched her for a few more hours while I went back.  We made a boatload of cookies....gained a pound and counting....

I look like a regular Martha Flippin' Stewart here...don't get confused

• So you know that Blakely has been sleeping in her crib since about three weeks and I have been sleeping in the bed in her room while my husband sleeps in our room upstairs.  Well this weekend we moved our big, nice, awesome mattress into the master downstairs that is right by her room.  So for the past 5 nights Lonnie and I have been sleeping together!  Well, you know, not sleeping together, just, physically sleeping in the same bed :)  Yea!!  I think this set up is going to work well.  The only problem is that now we need to move our entire master suite that is upstairs to the one downstairs.  That does not sound fun....AT.ALL.

• I have two Christmas parties tonight.  One with the girls from work that starts at 6 and the other with my girlfriends at 730.  I am taking B to the first one because they haven't seen her since she was born and NO way am I taking her up to the hospital to see them...GERM CITY.  I figured this was the perfect opportunity.  I am excited about them, I just have a zillion things to do before then.  

• We have been trying to not watch much tv while B is awake.  The other night we were watching and I looked over and she was so staring at the TV.  It was that mesmerized, best thing that ever happened to her look, similar to what she gets when looking at the Christmas tree.   

We turned it off and she started fussing.  Ummm no...that is not allowed.  No more TV in the evenings....until she goes to bed and then, of course, we can watch our Teen Mom, Tough Love and all the other crazy crap we watch.  

• When Lonnie was leaving for work yesterday morning, at 715, he asked me when I put those ice cubes in the freezer.  Yes, we have ice trays....we are old school like that.  I thought, wow, this is a random question.  I put them in there when I put her down last night...so 1130?  He tells me they aren't frozen.  It took me all of one tenth of a second to realize what this meant....Holy hell the freezer isn't working!!!  I have a ridiculous amount of milk stored up so I bolted upstairs to check it out.  Everything was still frozen, milk included, but it was definitely not freezing temp in there.  I thought I might black out from the stress of it all.  I gave it an hour and then checked again because I thought surely our freezer didn't just stop working.  Sure enough it was much colder...I think I must not have closed the door all the way the night before.  Needless to say, I was awake after the sheer panic of that.  

• Oh and yes you read those times correctly.  I put her down at 1130 and she fell asleep about 1200 and was still not awake at 715.  I love her to pieces for that.  I actually had to wake her at 730 because I was sure my boobs were about to explode.  

• And just because they looked so yummy here is the recipe for the triple chocolate cookies.  Easy and awesome....

2 sticks butter, softened

1/2 cup veg shortening

3/4 cup sugar

1 3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

3 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

3 3/4 cup all purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 12 oz package semi-sweet choc chips

1 cup milk chocolate chips (I used white chocolate chips..pretty!)

3 1oz squares bittersweet choc chopped

1 cup almond brickle chips (I used a whole package of Heath toffee chips)

Beat butter and shortening med speed until creamy.

Gradually add sugars, beating until fluffy.

Add vanilla, beating well.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt; gradually add to butter mixture until blended.  

Stir in chocolate chips, choc chunks, and toffee chips.

Drop cookies by 1/4 cupfuls about 3 in apart.

Bake at 375 for 11-12 minutes (I did 10) or until lightly browned.

Let cool on pan for 2 minutes then remove to wire racks.  

Makes 3 dozen HUGE cookies

Have a great weekend everyone!!!!

TVT

Thought Vomit Thursday....watch out!!!

• I just got our new personalized stockings in the mail and had a total crying breakdown.  We are a family of three...wow!  Now, what do you fill a stocking with for a two month old???

• B is wearing Christmas outfits pretty much everyday this month.  Gotta get good use out of them :)  I will post pictures later this week, ya know, because I have taken like a zillion.  

• Speaking of pictures, I just read that you aren't supposed to use the flash on your camera unless you are more than 40 inches away on your new baby.  Well that is just fantastic!  Why didn't I read the manual BEFORE I started taking her picture.  Now I am going to stress out about her eyesight for the rest of my life and blame myself.   

• I have a new friend!  Yea for me :)  Anyway, she invited me to her annual cookie bake.  How awesome does this sound?  She gets all the basics to make cookies (sugar, flour, nuts, chocolate chips, etc) and one day after they take their kids to school they go to her house and bake cookies ALL DAY LONG.  If you have a random ingredient then you bring that yourself.  She also feeds everyone breakfast and lunch and they also have a fun festive holiday drink.  You then get to take home a huge assortment of cookies!!!  There are going to be about 10 people there and she said I could bring Blakely.  All of their kids will be in school so I will be the only one bringing a baby but she said everyone would love that.  I should go, right???  I really want to because it sounds so very fun but SUPER nervous about taking B.  I mean this will be around people that I will be meeting for the first time.  And if I take some cookie recipes it isn't like I can just leave if she freaks out.  Then there is the issue of feeding the baby...not really up for whippin' out the boob in front of strangers.  Anyhow, I will let y'all know if I go.  And I will so be keeping this idea in mind for the future...so fun!

• On the issue of feeding the babe, she is totally on a bottle strike.  We started giving her about one a day (sometimes skipping a day) when she was five weeks old.  She did fine.  She never ate as well from the bottle but she would eat and not fuss at all.  Well now it is a mess trying to give her that thing!  Arching back, screaming, the whole bit.  I tried a different brand of bottle...same thing.  So now I am flipping out because, I mean, SHE HAS TO TAKE THE BOTTLE!  I love that she loves to nurse so much but I need to be able to go places....  This is why I can't take a bottle to the cookie bake...that scene would be worse than flashing everyone!

• I am really starting to enjoy nursing.  I thought I was weird for not really getting the bonding thing with nursing that everyone talks about.  But now I am getting it.  I think it is because she is more alert while doing it and smiles A LOT.

• B is 8 weeks old today :)

• OK she fell asleep on her play mat.  QUICK, mommy, finish decorating the tree!