christmas

Well we had a ton of people at my house over the christmas week. My mom stepdad sister and grandparents all flew in from florida. I hosted the christmas day dinner at my house and we had just shy of 20 people at my house. It was a little cramped but came out beautifully simply because everyone was there! I am sad to have sent them all home this monday, but everyone made it home okay. We had our picture taken by george dunlap on friday...the whole group of 20, I proofed them yesterday and they came out good. I had to have daisys head replaced...lol. There was one pic that simply was the best for everyone except daisy who was off in la la land somewhere looking at the ceiling. So for $20 they offered to take her head from a different pic and replace it. Ha ha ha it still amuzes me- the whole head removal and replacement thing- if only it was really that simple! Well anyways it was amuzing and hectic and I loved every minute of having my family back together- probably for the last time as my grandparents just can't take the cold anymore. But i must run as james needs to get to sleep so he can go to work tonight. the next post will probably be in the new year. Wow!!! Welcome 2009, I hope it brings good fortune and joy to everyone!!!

1 year old

Well our daisy ann celebrated her first birthday on wed. as did james his 24th. we had the party on sunday, the turn out was good and i wanted to thank everyone who made it special for my baby. hard to believe that a year ago today we brought her home. she really is a precious little angel. they get so big so fast. for all you first time moms- dont rush your babies into getting to big too fast, i did that with baylie and regret it very much. let them be little as long as you can cuz one day you'll wake up and they wont be anymore.

Birthday for a baby!

Hey ya'll! I just wanted to give an open invite to all those who would want to come to Daisy's 1st birthday. its dec 7 at 2pm at our house. if your going to come using this as an invite i would really like it if you would rsvp so that i can make sure we have enough cake and drinks. just let me know!
sam

So our internet has been down up she's up an running again! The trip to SD was fun and it went well. We are now gearing up to take Baylie back to Denver for a sleep study this time. I have been diagnosed with gastroparesis. Which is litterally a moderate poralysis of the gastric (stomach) muscles. There is no cure for it and the medications dont work for me. So the holidays will still suck for me where food is concerned. On the other hand, my family will be here from florida mom, stepdad, sister and grandparents! my sister and grandparents have never met daisy. daisy is getting her top two front teeth, she has her bottom 2 and the top side 2...its hasn't been easy on her. lots of pain an ear infection and moderate fevers (102) I feel bad but luckily it will be over in a couple days. i hope the others go easier for her. baylie has all the teeth she will get until she is between 5-7 so yay on that one. baylie has now started therapy - it doesnt seem to help her much but i guess we just started. anyways thats about it.

I'm feeling a little stressed

So i am beggining to feel a little stressed out. I have had 3 paychecks inwhich to save up enough money to get all 4 of us (because his family insisted) to sd. the place is 6 hours from here if you dont have kids its 8 if you do. Because its october we will be taking the truck which will cost us around $350 round trip to put gas in. Then when we get back from that I have another 3 paychecks to get money saved up so that we can take baylie back yo denver for her sleep test. Again we will take the truck due to unpredictable weather it should be about the same as driving to sd.but somewhere in there i have to find a way to have a birthday for my daisy who will be 1, and then right after we get back i have to find a way to make a presentable christmas happen because all of my family from fl will be here. it will be the first time in over 12 years all the cousins uncles aunts and grandparents have been together for christmas. Now to add to the stress a little i still dont know whats wrong with my stomach and they are getting ready to do a myriad of tests on it, including a blood draw (not a big deal), a ct scan inwhich i have to drink two huge bottles of barrium, and then i have to go to casper (cuz like we can afford that) and have a gastric emptying test. woo hoo, i hope they find something becuase i would really hate for the holidays to come up and not be able to eat or enjoy any of the most excellent food that the familys make.

She'll be the death of me someday...

I swear she's going to give me a heart attack and I am going to die. Baylie decided today as I was checking my email to go (this is right after breakfast) open the bags of muffins i just made last night for james' lunches and either smoosh them or take one bite out of each. it wasn't good enough that she got in trouble for it once but then she went back and got the other bag and opened that one and did the same she just waisted 1/2 a dozen fresh banana muffins and i now in a very long time out. i swear that she just spends all night and all day thinking of ways to get in trouble it is soo agrivating. i just know one day she'll go to far and the next thing you know i will be in cardiac arrest or in the looney bin with 4 padded walls.

Working Out

Hello everyone. well I finally decided to start working out, i am starting today. I signed up for it on monday but since james was on days off i decided to hold off on going for a couple of days. For all who dont know you can sign up for a month for $46 and they do have daycare for babies 6 months or older. the fee for daycare is $3/child for drop-ins or you can buy a punch card. They have all kinds of classes so i think i am going to do a mix of class time with lap swims and on days i dont get up in time for class i will just do the gym workout thing (elipticles and such). ok gotta run its time to go sweat!

Daisys ears

Well i got daisy's ears piereced today...that was kinda hard to watch, a bit like having the shots done. just keeping everyone up to date.

feeling sentimental

this is her last set. left: face view, the blob under her chin is her elbow. right: looking from the head down you see the top of her head, her knee and lower leg and the tips of her toes.
This on is actually her 1st ultrasound at 10 weeks.
this is daisy earlier this summer

this is the first ultrasound of Baylie at 8 weeks, if i remember right.
This is the second one at 20ish weeks, the blob above her is her fist and yes she is punching me.

i am feeling a little sentimental so i have decided to post before and after pictures of the kids *sigh* it is truely amazing to know that they started out and an alien looking creature and come out as beautiful children.

Daisy's New Development

My Daisy Ann finally got her first tooth in. Its the bottom left. and all i can say is its about time!!! fevers, ear infections, drool...and now the end product. for those of you with small babies the doctors will tell you that "there is no real proof that teething causes fever, ear infections, and or runny noses." which is in my opinion b.s. because every child i have ever seen go through teething (which is quite a few) has had at least one if not all of those symptoms. I have only the 2 children, but i do have 9 other nieces and nephews who all have teeth. they all went through some of the symptoms. what i will tell you is to keep extra diaper cream on hand when teething begins because the extra saliva from the drool will cause a change in the pH and consistancy of poo which ultimately leads to mild, incredibly stubborn, diaper rash. try as you may to prevent it, it will happen.

The Hardest Thing

For all of you who have girls you will sympathize or will soon someday. Today I cut Baylie's hair...up to her shoulders. If you dont know it was down to her waist, so i took 3 inches off it. This was hard for me because I have never really cut her hair. She has had it trimmed before but never truely cut. But today she did. I just couldn't keep fighting the HUGE mats that she got in her hair every nap and bed time. Poor baby just kept getting them right by her temples at the most tender part of her head, and then we had a war to keep it brushed out like 4 times a day. I even tried to put baby oil in it to see if that would help the knots come out...nope. Next week we will have to take her in and have it professionally fixed, but mine will work for now. Ya know it kinda looks like a sassy bobby cut, not bad on her round face.

Big Girl

*Sigh* It makes me happy and a little sad to say that my Daisy had real unmased adult food today. Mac-N-Cheese goes down easy with little chewing so I thought she could have a few bites today at lunch, she loved it. But it makes me sad cuz that means she's growing up on me. She crawls on all fours now and sometimes she even does the bear crawl...which is the step that comes right before walking. She says ma ma and ba ba and tries to make the other sounds i do whe i talk to her. she can take off her diaper, and as i am typing she has pulled herself onto the rocking bouncer we have and is attempting to stand and pull herself into the chair...oh, now she is standing....ahh, she wanted the buckle of the chair to chew on. she took her first steps holding on to me today. we walked all over the living room that way. i know its all part of her growing up but, it makes me sad. She will be a terror to her sister in no time now. okay okay enough whining for today.

Advise on cribs

Just a word on cribs for all of you out there looking to buy one soon. From experience:

Baylie's Crib- we got a convertable crib (which i strongly recommend) the front slid up and down (which i also recommend) but the back piece that would one day be the head board was solid, no gaps between the bars. it looked pretty but was a real pain becuase you don't have anywhere to attach the ties to the bumper pad. By the way if you're going to have a bumper pad it should attach at at least 6 different locations on the crib.

Daisy's Crib- we got her a convertable sleigh crib. it was beautiful ( i think). problem: i didnt pay enough attention to the front of the bed, it doesnt have a sliding front. I am 5'7 and i have to really strech to pick her up out of there and the mattress support is on the highest level. if your tall this bed would be no problem, but if your short or kinda short not exactly the easiest thing to have around.

BumperPads- if you sew i suggest doing a little reinforcement before baby comes, because the manufacturers dont secure the ties as much as they should. i have had to reattach Daisy's 3 times already.

Any questions please feel free to drop me a line. all cribs bought from stores today have the right spacing between bars, if your using your old one or a second hand crib make sure the bars are the right distance apart. you can find the right distance by looking in any baby book (What to Expect or something similar).

The First One

Hmmm, I guess the first is always the hardest. Well I decided to do this because it seems I have a number of people that I know on this site, and its a good way to keep in touch with them. I will use this site to keep everyone updated with our family...all of them. So let's start with the kids. Baylie is...well she just is. She never shuts down and she can be mean to her sister ( but aren't we all) but i think deep down she loves her. she's 2 1/2 and is the total deffinition of a "terrible two" yes people it really does exsist. Daisy is my dollbaby! she is such and easy going child that it almost makes up for baylie's two-year-old-ness. shes a big girl coming in at 22 lbs at 8months old. but she also wears size 18month clothing sooo... James is really liking working out at the mine. I am glad for that, it makes him happier. I am back at wal-mart in the deli. i work from 8-midnight-YUCK! but we need the extra for doctor bills. My mom and step dad just came back for a visit and to go to the rally...they had a good time. That's about it i guess. Pictures are soon to follow. I am hoping to use this to keep everyone up to date with everything, but also as a way to talk to everyone...for all of you new parents or soon to be's please dont hesitate to ask questions, sometimes even though you know your parents know you just want the advise of someone who is doing it here and now, not 20+ years ago. Well that all for now!!!