Brag time

Today I just feel like bragging about my little girl. Its something I try not to too to much of in "real life", cause I know others don't really care as much about my girl as I do. Same goes for every child and their parents I am sure. But here in the virtual world I think its ok? We need someplace to showoff don't we? :)

Why I'm so proud of my little girl...
Daycare - she has been a trouper! She fits right in, and is loving it. I asked today how she is getting along with the other kids, and I was told great! Even when an older boy tries to run her over with his big truck, she sticks up for herself and yells at him, as if to say get away! HAHA Good for her!

Sleeping. WOW! I thought we had it good before, but now its amazing. Other then when we were on vacation, I can't remember the last time that she woke up during the night. I also can't remember the last time she cried when she wakes up (she normally wakes up playing, or just whining a little), nor when she cries when put down to sleep or nap. We put her to lay down and boom she's asleep. Even when my, ummm, wonderful? DH goes into her room 3 times in a night to check on her, she doesn't wake up. Just looks at him, then goes right to sleep.
Eating - she is still not a big eater, and is still somewhat picky..but we've got her figured out a bit more now and she's getting what she needs everyday. Its not as stressful now feeding her.

Walking...what can I say. I'm so super proud of her walking on her own. Keeping me busy...but I am loving it.
Here is a picture when she first started walking...a little blurry but you can still see :)

Walking and Pictures

This week has been one amazing one.
On July 13th, my little girl officially began to walk!
I mean she's been walking holding onto things and walking that way forever now, but on Tuesday, she starting taking more and more steps alone. And with each day she's doing it more and more.
It is so cute to see her pick up something, like a ball, or 2 shoes, or 2 items of clothes, and walk all around the room with them. I'm sure this newness will ware of soon, but right now I think its the cutest thing ever.

Today we took a short little walk down the sidewalk. Me next to the road, and her walking next to me. Oh so super cute!!! Oh, except when she falls on the sidewalk with her hands. Think I might be best to get some polysporin to be prepared for the scratches and scrapes that are about to come.



Also this week I had some pictures taken by a friend who sadly is moving away tomorrow. Her blog is here. You really should check it out!

I'll post some more later on, but here is one :)

Mixed emotions

Today is a day of mixed emotions. It is late Saturday night, nearly Sunday, the day before I go back to work after having been off for more then a year. One small part of me is happy to be getting back to work, to be able to use my career minded brain again. But most of me, is sad, worried, scared and nervous.

Sad because I will be missing so much time spent with ohhh. I am going to miss her smile, her laugh her claps, even her mischievous ways that make me say No many times a day. :) All the things that maker her, her.
Worried because I can't control what happens to her at daycare. I won't be there to catch her if she is about to fall, or is upset and needs her mommy.
Scared of her forgetting who I am, and her wanting to stay there instead of coming home because of all the toys and kids to play with.
Nervous/ anxious about going back to work. The politics in my job suck, and I don't want to get sucked into all that again. I'm also realizing that I don't want to do this job forever anymore. I have been thinking of a career change but I can't possibly find an entry level job making the money I am, so I will need to stick this out for several more years at least.


So too make me feel better, I am going to list the positives of going back to work and having little ohh in daycare.

I will be getting a regular paycheck again!
I should be all refreshed and go into my job with new found energy.
It will be good to relearn all of my skills (even if I feel like I'll be starting over from scratch)
It will be nice to have some more adult conversation.
It will be good to be feeling more productive then I have lately.
Ohh will like playing with other kids
Playing with kids 5 days a week will help her out socially
Daycare should help her prepare better for school
Going back to work, and having a child will be keeping me busy and organized
Being busy will help to keep us on our VERY tight budget


ahhh...better already.

12 Month Dr's appointment.

She is sleeping away right now after her traumatic morning of getting her 12 month vaccinations. Poor girl. I hate when she does that hyperventilating crying, and holds her breath. Makes my heart break. Hopefully after some rest she'll be back to her regular self. (fingers crossed for no fevers or anything)


Weight 17 pounds, 13 oz
Height 63 cm
Head circumference 43 cm

She is tiny. Her height especially is way below the bottom of the chart. Her weight is slightly below. Her head circumference is right in the middle (at least one thing is on track!)

The Dr asked if I wanted to be reassured and send her to the pediatrician to be checked out. After some discussion, I opted not too. She is a very happy, and busy little girl, so I'm not overly concerned. We decided to see the numbers at her 15 month appointment. If they are still not improving he will refer me elsewhere at that point.

So her small size is still nagging at me a bit, but not enough to prompt me to investigate further at this point. I hope that was the right decision.

Now off to finish enjoying my last week of not working!!

Happy First Birthday!!!

Because I will be away on her actual birthday, and this week is busy, thought I would celebrate her birthday here now!

I can't believe that in just over a week, at 7:35 pm, it has been a year since my daughter entered this world! I can still picture that moment when they showed her to me. It still brings tears to my eyes!

The journey...


I never thought I would be a mom. In fact I never thought I wanted children when I was younger. But after meeting my husband and helping to take care of step children I knew that I desperately wanted a child of our own.
After a failed vasectomy reversal in 2007, ultrasounds, bloodwork, hsg test, a bunch of money, and whole heck of a lot of waiting we were blessed to get pregnant with our first IVF attempt in Sept 2008.


In June 2010, via an emergency c-sxn she entered my life. I have never felt so much love as I do with her.
It is impossible to summarize the last 12 months, but if I had to, this is what I would have to say about my life with her and adapting to motherhood. (the good, and the hard parts)

• Tiring
• Stressful
• amazing
• thrilling
• life changing
• Challenging
• confusing
• Loving
• exciting

As I did for several of her "monthly" birthdays, this is what I know about her right now...

• She is still such a happy baby
• She is a busy busy girl
• She is stubborn, just like mom and dad
• Little Miss Independent
• She has taken a couple steps, and I am sure she will walk anytime now.
• She (or more like I) has survived a few minor illnesses
• Her nickname is now Hover, because she finds every spec of anything on the ground
• She is the fastest crawler around
• She loves water
• She is cute!
• Her favourite book is the peekaboo baby animals book. (she says dog and duck...although only hubby and I can tell it at this point in time :) )
• She loves to look at people

There is so much more I could say about her...but above all she is my amazing little girl and she makes me so proud.

Here is a collage that shows how much she has changed over the year....amazing!

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY MY LITTLE GIRL!!

Out of the funk

Well whatever little funk I was in, seems to have passed. Yippee!! I'm still stressed, but that is just a ton of things to do, going back to work kind of stress. That kind of stress I can handle. Married life is back to normal, (but we still plan on working on some things once things slow down a little.) so that makes me feel so much better.

As for little oh. She's still a sleeping machine. Too much I think, but thinking it should be ok until her vaccine appointment at the end of June when I'll talk to the Dr. Thinking she must still be recovering from the rash/virus thing she had. But playing that day by day.

She is sleeping up to 16-17 hours a day...isn't that an insane amount of sleep?? Yet she's super happy/active when she is awake, and goes right to sleep when I lay her down. So she must need it right?? I'm on the fence about whether or not to worry. 1 minute I think I should, the next not. But if I do, I will call the Dr again.

Walking...not yet. But oh soo close. She stands for a while, and has even taken a couple steps ( a few times the last couple of days), but she much prefers to sit down and then crawl.

Eating...miss picky.

Here is my daily routine.

• I try and feed her (insert food here) on a spoon, she hits the spoon out of my hand,
• I try to get her to open her mouth to feed it by hand, and she closes her mouth, and hits my hand, til the food goes flying. No amount of chew chew, or little songs usually help here.
• I put the food on the highchair, and she throws it off the highchair
• I put a raspberry (or other fruit) with other food , and she grabs it and hits her hand on the highchair until the other food falls off, and then just eats the raspberry.So smart!!
  
• I put a fruit on the table, and she eats it!

Uggh...becoming frustrating. Can a baby eat too many fruits? Out of all of these attempts she will get some amount of other food into here, but not soo much. I think, maybe just maybe she's getting more other foods into her now, but it sure is a fight. Oh and she rips any type of bib right off, so these fruits make a nice mess when we are out, and she can't be naked :)

Weight
At her pediatrition appt she was only 17.5 pounds. On the infamous chart, but at the bottom. I need to have her rechecked at her vaccine appt. Hopefully she's gained some by then. If not, we'll see what happens then.

Better

Well its amazing how a couple hours can make a world of difference.
Seems hubby and I just had a little blip, that got blown well out of proportion! What we've come away with, is that this marriage thing takes more work then we have been putting into it lately. We need to focus on "us" along as our little girl, and everything around us.

This quiz here, `test your marraige` has helped us realize that we do really have a great marriage, and that we can at least acknowledge our `problem` areas. So we've committed to working harder at our relationship.

I probably shouldn't even blog about this, since it's so private, but nobody seems to talk about this that I know of unless they are in dire straits, so it feels good to be able to vent here, without anyone thinking we are headed for divorce!

All better

Yeah, the rash is almost completely gone! Great news!


As for me, I'm feeling kind of blah these last few days. Feeling kind of depressed if I'm being honest. Blaming it on financial problems, marital problems, and also I think because my baby is almost 1 and I'll be going back to work soon.

I know I will be better soon, just a down in the dumps kind day.

But I always keep these kind of feelings (especially financial and marital) to myself secret as much as I can in my "real" life. So I'll put on a brave face and hope that this feeling will soon pass. I am certainly looking forward to a group mom and baby party this week too get my mind off these things.

worse today

Here ae some better pictures...the rash is worse today.

At least she isn't itchy, and she's not sick otherwise.

What is that???

I just want to document, what happened today. It turned into a novel....sorry! :) so here is the summary so you don't need to read it all!

• Ohh Has a rash
• Thought it was measles, but its not
  
• Its another, virus, not too worry.
• Not contagious now that the rash has appeared.
  
• Go back next week to see pediatrician if still present
• Symptoms - Tired this week (sleeping more then usual), and rash today.

This morning started like all others. Woke up to a playing baby. Changed her diaper, brought her downstairs and fed her breakfast and a bottle. She was rather fussy, not wanting to eat (even less then normal...I'll have to blog about her poor eating habits another time), but I didn't think much of it.
I decided on short notice to go swimming with her, but upon getting her dressed noticed something alarming.
She had a rash. A rash behind one of her ears. Strange I thought, where is this coming from? Then I noticed it appearing behind her other ear. Now I was getting worried. I brought her downstairs for closer observation with my husband. Then I noticed that there were red spots appearing on her chest and belly, then on her back too. I admit, I was scared. I thought she was having some type of allergic reaction, and was watching closely for any swelling, or difficulty breathing. Thankfully that never happened.
I called my mom (I always do when something is wrong!) and she thought maybe a heat rash. She mentioned measles, but thought more likely heat trash. So I gave her a bath, and thought that the rash stopped spreading further.

For a couple hours hubby, my mom and me tried to figure out what it was. I was sure it wasn't measles, and thought it must be hives or something. But, we couldn't figure out what it would have been. I started googling, while she took a nap, and couldn't find what exactly it was. But was starting to think measles because of the pattern. After much humming and hawwing (hmm is that a word? lol) I called the Dr. and was sent to the pediatrition. I had to be there within 1/2 hour!!! I wasn't sure if it was because it was an emergency, or because of booking issues. Turns out it was the latter. But I am sure you can imagine the chaos as we tried to get her dressed, and gather up some supplies to be out the door in less then 10 minutes, all the while while we discuss what the heck was wrong with her.

We made it there with 1 minute to spare.

He examined her. (she weighed 17.5 pounds which is on the small side, and he mentioned wanting to recheck her weight later on)
First thing he said was, well, it looks like measles. YIKES!!! but its not. WHEW!!!
If it was measles she would be sick, have red eyes, have a fever etc etc.
So it is likely another virus ( which one, he said, didn't matter) and would go away on its own.

The only symptom she's had, has been being unusually tired this week. She has been sleeping her normal 12 hour nights, then taking a three hour nap, and then 2 more hours. I had been worried earlier in the week, but had called the Dr, and was told to keep an eye on her, and if she got worse or I became more worried to call. I still don't know if the 2 are related for sure, but I am highly suspicious. If she's been fighting a virus, then it makes sense that she's been tired.


If she still has it next week, I am too go back in. Fingers crossed that it will be gone. Especially since she's to go to daycare again on Wed, and I'm going to a group baby birthday party with 4 other babies.

So tonight the rash looked worse, but we gave her another bath, and she's sound asleep now. So we will see what tomorrow brings.

Ahh, what a day!
But oh so glad its not Measles!!!
I tried to take pictures, but they didn't turn out so well, but I'll still post a couple.

Happy 11 months!

Today little Ohh is 11 months old. I just can't believe it! 1 more month til she is a year old. How did that happen?!

We had a fun weekend away in Kingston visiting family. I miss it there. Sometimes I wish I was back.

Here are some pictures from a wondeful weekend. It makes me wish we had a pool. Time to get some sleep...stupid cold.

What a week

It went from the crappiest ever to a wonderful much needed relaxing day at a spa with some great momma friends.

I was supposed to have a busy week of storytime, photo shoot for Ohh, swimming, and a little mommy/baby party at my house. Ending today with a pedicure and drinks. But of course things didn't go quite as planned. Our house ended up with some type stomach flu. I was MISERABLE! And trying to take care of my little girl was near impossible for a couple days, especially when she started to get sick. Thank goodness for a wonderful hubby that let me take some gravol and live next to the bathroom when he was home! (even if I wasn't appreciative at the time)

So this is what I learned about babies and having dirrhea. ( I want to document what happend to maybe help some other moms, and also to remind me of what to do, the next time it happens.)

• There is nothing you can do about it. My Dr at least thinks letting it run it's course is the best thing. Giving drugs to stop it aren't good because it's the bodies way of getting rid of some type of infection.
• The most dangerous thing is dehydration. Babies can die from this. You don't need to be super stressed, but you do need to be mindful and use your instincts.

When Ohh was at the peak of her sickness, she was much more tired, she would sleep her regular 11/12 hour night, then take a 3 hour nap 2-3 hours later, then take up to another 1-2 hour nap 2-3 hours after waking up again. I knew that she wasn't in "danger" mode because she was still relatively happy when she was awake, and would still play with her toys. If she hadn't been, then I would have been more worried.
The day she didn't eat so well, she also looked a little "spacey" or "lost". To others I'm sure she looked like a happy, hyper little baby, but DH and I kept saying to each other that something wasn't quite right for her. And we talked about how if we took here to the dr's they would think she was totally fine. Now I know that, that was a sign of some dehydration. And I will know how to deal with it for next time. Luckily though, she ate better the next day and was more herself again.

• In adults, not eating for a day is a good way to give your gut a break, but in babies that isn't an option, so feeding a diet that is full of banana's, apples, rice, starchy foods is the best idea.
• If on formula which is milk based, switching to pedialyte is best because the milk can be yucky on their tummies. (I`m not sure what you would do if they were on breast milk? would you still switch?) We were told to completely stop the formula and feed pedialyte until firm bm's were seen.
  

We gave it in the bottle, and she loved it. She drank quite a bit of it, which was good, and you could soon see her getting more energy, and getting back to her old self. It isn`t very filling, so she was more hungry for solids food!

My only regret in all of this, is that I hadn't called the Dr sooner. I mean I knew there wasn't much I could do, and I knew pedialyte was a good option, but I didn't realize that you replaced it completely from the formula. I had also been too sick to make it too the store, so from now on I will have at least one container on hand just in case for the next time. Next time I will know to start this plan sooner.

So I know have a new found respect when other mothers tell me they are sick (especially with the stomach flu) and have a baby to take care of, whether they are sick or not. It really is the worst thing around. Maybe I`m just a wuss, but I just wanted to sleep, and was glad when she was sleeping more too. Its the only time I`ve wished little Ohh was old enough to take care of herself. Bad mom? No I don't think so, just a sick one!

But now I`m back to feeling wonderful, and oh so glad to be able to mother my little girl.
Good news is, she was in a great mood today, and had a "firm" poop for the first time in 4-5 days. So we restarted formula, and await for the next "movement". If its still firm, then I'm satisfied that we've survived our first but certainly not our last stomach flu!


P.s...we found a daycare!!!! so no more stressing about that!

Picture updates!

Its been a while since I've posted some pictures...so here are some over the last little bit. She she is growing up. Looking at her pictures always make me feel better!
I can't believe she'll be 10 months in just a few days!!! And even more amazing is that her hat is on in all of them. It lasts a whole 2 seconds on her head now! I'm sure she'll have a burned head by the end of the summer.

The second picture is of her in the swing for the first time...she loved it!

Count down - 2 months, 2 weeks

Thats about how much time I have left on my Mat leave. Yuck. That is exactly how I am feeling today...Blah!

The rush is on right now to find daycare. I had a little meltdown on Tuesday. Not sure exactly why, partly because I'm in the 2 week hell of PMS, partly because reality is sinking in, and partly because I'm scared of not finding the right place, let alone a place at all.

So this is what has been happening.

We've figured out for certain that we can't afford the daycare centre. If we took her there we'd have less then $300 a month for groceries, diapers, some bills, and life in general! I think I was living in a fantasy world before thinking that somehow it would magically work out, but no it won't. I had my heart set on a centre and was upset that I was being a bad mom by not being able to give her the best because of money. We'll still be broke with a homedaycare, but at least it will be more managable.
Well I've come around, and found that there can be some good home daycares, I just have to find it.

But my first interview sure didn't help. She was an elderly lady. She was super nice, and I honestly wouldn't mind her to be a babysitter once in a while, but it just wouldn't work out long term.
So I found out from this, that I am looking for a place that will do more activities with them, something that is more like a centre where they are playing and learning a lot more.

I have an interview at this place next week....to me it seems to be a great place. And if you had seen the other place I had the interview at, you'd agree. She has lots of rules/policies, but from looking around that seems pretty common, and my mom said she has to protect herself. I suspect this interview will be different, and she will be interviewing me, just like I am her. Better be on my best behaviour...haha! I hope this turns out to be the one, and I won't need to search anymore.

ahh...I really should get outside when Ohh wakes up from her nap...

Holy smokes...she's 9 months old.

Wow..She's 9 months old today! I can't believe it.
More and more she is turning into a little girl. Is that possible at 9 months?

So what do I know about her at this time....

• She's getting quite the little personality. I'm realizing more and more what the little extrovert and chatter box she is. (way different from momma).
  
• She makes me laugh a million times a day!
• Shes also quite the busy little beaver. Inquisitive of everything, and wanting to grab anything that isn't tied down. Especially the remote controls!
• She's no longer a puker at all. Just normally spit up here and there I would say!(makes me so happy!)
  
• She still has a sensitive stomach, but I am thinking more and more, it's just her body getting used to new foods, and not any particular foods. At least there is no pattern then I can see so far.
• She isn't walking yet, as I had predicted. That doesn't bother me in the slightest. I get the feeling she is just happy with how fast she can get around on all fours, and can't be bothered.
  
• She loves being out with other babies, we love our nice little mommy and baby group!
• Still just has one tooth...wondering when the others will appear.
• Is still on the small side, but I've ALMOST stopped worrying. She really is the happiest baby I know, and so super active, I think it's just her.
• She is an excellent sleeper (knock on wood...please please don't let that be a jinx) and when we are at home we have a pretty good idea know of what to do.
• Naps outside the crib are rough unless she goes in the car or stroller.
  
• She loves bath time...especially with Daddy
• She LOVES daddy. He plays rough with her, and she loves it.
• She LOVES me more all the time I think. When she's not feeling well, I'm the one she wants. This is new. Before she wouldn't care, but she's getting a bit clingy now. It's bittersweet. Makes my heart melt when she wants to cuddle with me.
• Shes starting to use a sippy cup, but only a tiny bit at a time
• She is eating pretty much anything we are at this point. If it can be mushed, we'll let her try it. (except peanuts, egg white and tomatoes)

What do I know about me at this time...

• I feel like I am finally getting to know what I am doing. I am going more on instinct now, then reading books or looking up things online. It's a weird transition. I'll still look up some stuff, but really, as far as feeding goes (which has been my biggest stress) - I am just winging it, and going with what feels right. I'm not stressing over numbers anymore.
  
• I haven't lost any weight as I had planned. Still a work in progress. I want to lose weight now so I can be happy to be in pictures with her. I feel bad for not having any good ones of the 2 of us :(

So over all things are wonderful!

(can you tell I just ended my 2 weeks of hell...and am in the happy phase of my cycle? haha)

Back burner

Sadly my mommy blog has gone to the back burner lately. I have a feeling I will only be using this blog when I need to vent..sorry everyone! I don't have too much to vent about right now .... which is a good thing!

Well for me..I had my second dental surgery on Friday. I have to say so far (knock on wood) - it's not nearly as bad as last time. Of course it's not pleasant, but much more manageable so far.


My new genealogy blog is taking off with flying colours. Already, I have 15 followers! Now just how do I get them all to click on the ads so I can make a bit of cash? haha

Family history fun!

I'm starting on a new blogging adventure....gonna see how it goes...

http://familyhistoryfunforall.blogspot.com/

Family Findings

This is just one of the many documents I have found while doing my genealogy. You can click on it to see it more closely.

This is the marriage certificate of my paternal great grand parents. Florence Elizabeth (Elin) Aldous and George Austin Rowe. They were married on June 18 1914.

I am finding marriage certificates to be giving me a wealth of information. You can find out a lot of facts from them.

This is what you can learn just from this one. By using other documents like census and death records, you can find out even more!

George A. Rowe -

• Born about 1887, in Chippawa Ontario
• Currently living in Chippawa
• He is an Iron worker
• His religion is Church of England
• His parents Are Delos Rowe and Susan Tice

Born about 1892 Chippawa Ontario

• Currently living in Chippawa
  
• She is Baptist
• Her parents are William Aldous and Jane Humphries

The witnesses to the wedding are D.O Aldous and [Eric Stienman] (the brackets are there because I can't quite read that name), both of Chippawa.
The person who performed the ceremony was W.E.B. McKenzie in Chippawa.


Anyone else find this kind of thing as interesting as I do? I love uncovering new things.


Here is a picture of my Great Grandmother Florence. It is at her 80's birthday. She died in 1979 at 87.

Fresh start

Today was my appointment with the nutritionist.
Nothing earth shattering...all things I know, but it was good for someone to tell me, and to be accountable with. She was really good with making sure to set realistic goals. Nothing to extreme to start, or I would feel "demotivated" if I couldn't follow through.

So - 5 goals we set, and discussed some ideas on what to eat to help stay fuller.

1. Eat more vegges and fruit. (recommend 7-8 servings a day, currently eating only 1-2, so goal is to up to about 4-5 servings to start)
2. Try hummas to have with vegatbles and I will try cottage cheese to see if I like it. (would be good to have with fruit)
3. Decrease grains. (my major weakness)
4. Increase intake of water.
5. Increase exercise. Get out for at 3 walks a week - 1/2 hour - 60 minutes each.

SO it's very doable...I just have to do it. So off too the grocery store tonight...thinking about our discussion today.

Oh, and I got a little peak at my blood work, that will be discussed in more detail at the appointment I have in April with the OB. Cholesterol was fine. Good cholestorol was a little low though. Vitamin B12 is slightly decreased (hardly at all though), glucose was fine. So nothing major there...we'll see how my hormones turned out.

Yeah to hopefully starting off a healthier lifestyle?

Some people!!

I know this blog is turning more into a venting blog...but honestly I feel better after I vent so bare with me.

Today when I went to pick up my hubby from our mutual workplace I went in for a short visit.
Everyone was commenting on how blonde her hair is. I don't see it. I think its turning a lighter brown, but not blonde...whatever, its not a big thing.
That is until 2 people start to make comments like, "how can she have blonde hair...your DH has dark hair, and so do you...hmm, interesting"

WTF?? Maybe you need too know these people and their passive aggressive ways, but they were definetly implying, that she wasn't my DH's child! They know we used IVF to conceive her, and in the past I've heard them talk badly of someone else that used fertility treatments. I never would have discussed the particulars with them though. (they are nosy and like to dis people behind their backs). I found myself getting defensive, which I am sure made it seem like they were on the right track. I am sure the rumours at work must be that she isn't his.

I'm not sure why this bugs me so much. We know that she is his, and that is all that should matter. Maybe it's because we almost had to use donor sperm. We even had to go through the process of talking to a counsellor to make sure we were really ok with it. We even had it ordered, and ready to use the day of the retrieval. We were very fortunate though that the sperm frozen from his surgery survived the thaw, and we didn't have to use plan B.

DH says to just ignore them. They have been getting in everyone's business lately. He said if he (yes, one of the busy bodies is a him!) makes any remarks to him tomorrow, he is going to tell him off. (GO DH!)

This really makes me not want to go back to work even more. I don't mind he work, it's the stupid politics in this place that drive me crazy.

ahhhh.....ok, better now :)

She's a star!

My little Ohh, is famous. Well maybe not. But Momma sure is proud and telling everyone!

A friend started up a photography business and just launched her website.


peatreephotography


And well, to my delite, my little girls pictures from when she was just 3 weeks old can be found all over.

Look for the little girl with the cute hats on, and also the ones with a laughing/crying baby on a black background. And yes, even her feet, like the one on top of my blog.


Let me know what you think!

Day Care

I'm starting to give the idea of Daycare search a bit more thought lately.

I am already on the wait list for a few Daycare centers. Only one of them however will take an infant as young as 1 year old. Most of the day cares won't take them until they are 16 or 18 months old. Most moms go back to work at 1 year so I don't quit get this logistic. But it is what it is.

I liked the one that she could go to at one year, but the problem is we won't know if she will get in until a month before. Talk about stress if she doesn't get in! The other thing is its really expensive. About $1300 per month!! Geez, it's almost not worth going back to work! I think I would be better off having a weekend job, but that won't work, cause I won't get a high enough paying job for the weekends, plus I don't want to loose my seniority and pay from my current job. So we're just gonna have to buckle down and start really saving pennies!

So as a back up, I probably should at least think of home daycares...but in my mind there are too many cons if I were too have the choice. However I still have too give it some more thought and research.

Pros of home daycare
Less expensive
More like home environment
Maybe more personal attention

Cons
If Not licensed - not really sure what you are getting (therefore will only look at Licensed daycare)
Still not sure how "regulated" licensed daycare is
If they have their own children, they will likely get more attention, my child
If caregiver gets sick, or wants vacation will we need to find alternative care?


I am sure there are more pros and cons....but that is what I can come up with for now.



Have any of you been through the daycare process....what are your thoughts?

ohhhh Canada!

Happy 8 months my little OHH!!

I can't believe it. 8 months already on Wed!! Happy birthday little ohh!! Mommy loves you oh so much! I can't imagine my life without you now. You're smile is so contagious! You're my little munchin!


I will post some new pictures later.
I'm at the end of my 2 weeks of hell (AKA PMS), and she's officially teething so it's been a bit rough...more on me then here I think.

I'm so looking forward to the new session of mother goose starting tomorrow as well. It will be good for both of us!

Can it be true?

I hope this doesn`t jinx it but....


My spitter upper/pukey baby doesn't spit up anymore!!! Yipee!!
Well at least not to the degree she was. I just realized that over the last 3 days, I've only had to clean up spitup once! So the doctor was right...she would grow out of it. Only took nearly 8 months.

I am sure we will still have some spit up. And I won't trust her out in public for a while. I'll always be following her with a receiving blanket when I'm out, but the end is near!! :)

Terrible night

I just need to vent...

As mentioned in an earlier post, I was having some oral surgery. Well it happened this past Friday. As expected, it sucked, and I was on Tylenol 3's for a few days. But I was managing and waiting for the putty like dressing and sutures on my gums to be removed this Friday, so that I can enjoy a nice weekend away with my hubby.

Change in plans.

Last night a chunk of the dressing fell off. And then in about 5-10 minutes I started to get this weird sensation. It wasn't extreme pain, its really hard to describe. I felt queezy. I got completely disoriented, and was told I went very white. I felt like I I couldn't really talk, and was going to pass out. And apparently, I did. Twice. My mom said that before I passed out once, I kind of convulsed. Weird. Scary.
Long story, but called Telehealth, and they told me to call 911. I disagreed, as at this point I was able to speak and wasn't feeling quite as "weird". So after some arguing with my mom (who thank god had ended up coming down to visit early...Moms intuition??) I went to emerg. After sitting there for a couple hours I was feeling much better, so we left.
So today, got the dressing put on at the dentist. He said he didn't know why I passed out, but suspected my blood pressure dropped, and I should have it investigated by my Dr.

so yucky day. And Friday will probably be just as bad when I have to go in to have the dressing removed, and cold water sprayed on my very sensitive teeth! OUCH!

My hope is that I will still be able to enjoy our first overnight trip away from Alexis to enjoy a hockey game in Buffalo and celebrate valentines day. Maybe it will be warm beer instead of a nice cold one?


Oh, and did I mention we then had a flat tire today after the dentist. *Sigh*

Does it work

My first attempt at seeing if I can post video on here.... Watch out if it works... :)

My little girl

Just a couple health related things....

At our last Dr. appointments OHH was not on the chart for height. She is short. I'm short (5'2") and husband is about (5'9") so I guess it's not really a surprise. But shouldn't she at least be on the chart? The Dr didn't seem concerned, just said to see how she is at 1 year.

I just measured her, and she is 24" tall at almost 7 1/2 months old. Still below the bottom of the chart.

I know there is nothing I can do to change this, but I can't find any information about if this is common or not. What could be causes of it? Should I be concerned or no?

Time for some more googling I guess.

Oh, and little Ohh (hmm, that sounded funny) gave us quite the scare yesterday.
So if you recall she is a spitter upper. This I am used to. But this time she did a projectile vomit, and was gagging, like she was choking. Scared the crap out of me. No crying, just gagging. We turned her upside down, and hit her back in case she was choking on anything, but she didn't seem to be. When I turned her back over she puked again, and was as white as a ghost. I was so very close to calling 911, but then just as quickly as it started it ended. She was still quite pale though for some time. I called the Dr's office right away and talked to the nurse. We were told this...

• Going pale is normal from projectile vomiting, and is due to low blood pressure...not too worry.(yeah right!)
• I was to watch for any signs of fever and dehydration if it continued. If it continued that night I was to call Telehealth (Note - I put this number into my cellphone, along with poison control and Dr's office, so that I will have it if needed when I'm not at home) and find out if I needed to take her to emerg.
• She thought it could either be a one time thing, or she could have gotten a flu bug.

Well, phew it was a one time thing....but I find myself today being PARANOID! Every time she coughs (like when drinking her bottle) - I think she's having another episode. But luckily not.

Fingers crossed that it won't happen again. I think my heart might finally be slowing down.

Play time vs nap time

Today instead of napping she decided it would be much more fun to play. She can't get enough of standing up. Unfortunately standing and being tired don't always go well together.

Chatty Cathy!

She's officially found her voice.
I have to admit, it was in the back of my head about how she hasn't really made any of the Consonant sounds up to this point. I wasn't really concerned, but I was wondering if she should be there yet. Well no more wondering. Over the last few days she was consistently saying Mama, and then yesterday she started Dada. It seems Dada is her favourite sound cause she won't stop! Its so funny to listen to her "voice" I've got it on video, and if I get a moment to figure out how to get it on here I will.

Right now she tends to say Dada when she's playing and happy. Mama/Nana/Baba comes out when she's upset. Not sure why, but thats the way things are right now. Its just funny how much she likes making these noises. My husband and I have been laughing so much at her for the last couple of days!

On the feeding front, things have once again changed...surprise! haha. She's eating more again, and isn't skipping the snacks anymore. Although she tending to want to "snack" on the bottles. Eat a little, play, then eat the rest later. It's kind of a pain, but I guess it can't hurt??

Brrr, its cold out, so we've been hunkered up in the house for a few days...looking forward to getting out this upcoming week!

2 weeks of Heaven

I was wondering why I was starting to feel a bit better today, in terms of emotions, and feeling more like me again. Now I have my answer.... AF just arrived :) So in a couple days, if my evaluations of late are correct, my hormones should be evened out, and I'll be in an overall good mood until ovulation time.

On that note, today was a good day. Went to the baby/aquafit classes today. It has been a while since we made it there, so I was glad to have gone. Little OHHH seemed to handle the cold better then the last time, and was able to last the entire class. It was also a great workout today!

Then we went to Ikea. Oh how I wish I had money to spend on all things Ikea, but still it was nice to look! Then I took little OHH to another petsmart. Again, she was in love with the birds.

Well it's game night/American Idol watching with the step kids again today. These Tuesday nights have really been a great bonding time with them!

Well, till next time!

Full of beans!

Well, the feeding schedule must have been enough for little OHH, cause she slept through the night. Not 12 hours, but at least she didn't wake up to feed. Just woke up several times cause she soother fell out (we're thinking of trying to wean her off, but not sure right now) so we had to go in to give it too her several times.

Plus, OMG she is so full of beans for the second day in a row. Seems she's got a whole lot of energy the last couple of days. She's not happy anywhere but on the ground crawling around, and trying to get into trouble. (as in chasing the cats around!)

I don't know if its possible, but I think she might be starting to grasp the word no. When she tries to grab something she shouldn't I first tell her no, and seems the majority of the time she stops. Sometimes she'll go back to trying after looking at me (hope this isn't an early sign of defiance haha), in which case I move her away. Other times she'll turn around and go somewhere else.

Well gotta go, shes on the move!

Feeding change-up

Here is little Ohh's new feeding schedule. We'll see how long this lasts for.

Im needing to change it because she's been just snacking a couple oz of a bottle at a time, and then waking up a couple times during the night to eat.

It seems she really doesn't want to drink her bottles lately. I was a bit worried, but after doing some research and talking to some other moms at Mother goose today, it is quite normal when they are eating more solids, and they are more interested in crawling around and discovering the world then eating.

*note I offer 6 oz, but rarely does she eat all of it, more like 4 or 5**

AM - 6 oz bottle
Cereal and Fruit
- sometimes she'll eat like a champion at breakfast, other times not so much.

Snack - I think we now skip this. I had been pushing this on her, but today, we skipped it, and she did just great.

Lunch - 1 6oz bottle
Veggies and fruit
Because of skipping the snack, she did much better at eating almost the whole bottle at once.

Snack - I think this might be hit or miss if she wants a bottle. She drank it today, but I was forcing her to stay on my lap for a movie, so it might have been more out of boredom then hunger - since she did puke most of it back up. I think I will try not to offer her this bottle unless she is protesting.

Supper - This is her favourite meal I think, as she'll drink a whole bottle, and eat a lot of the other food.
6 oz bottle
Meat/veggies mix
Fruit
1 triangle of laughing cow cheese ( I just started this yesterday. I know, you're not supposed to give cheese til later, but the soft cheese is the better choice, and I hear the high fat content is good for brain development. If nothing else she LOVES it! And it's slowly helping me get over my fear of her choking, since she can practice biting of little pieces and it essentially just melts in her mouth.)

Bedtime - 6 oz bottle
Tonight she didn't really want too much, but she did go to sleep at 8 ish.

So the test will be...will she wake up to feed in the middle of the night cause she's hungry tonight?

No news...yet

Well no real information from my Dr's today, but glad he took me seriously and has sent me for some bloodwork. Then I am to get a referral to the OB that delivered my baby, too discuss my concerns in more detail. Now I'm not quite sure why. I thought she was just a baby Dr. (and usually just for high risk patients), and not for this kind of thing, but I guess I'll find out when I go. Plus I have an appointment with a nutritionist in a couple of months. Was hoping it would be sooner...but oh well at least I got the ball rolling.

He did kinda have me a bit worried with all the health problems that can be caused by PCOS. Any metabolic diseases, like Diabetes is number one. Also high cholesterol, and cardiovascular disease along with kidney disease etc etc...well you get the point.

I'm in that 2 week time before my period, and I can totally feel it. Almost had road rage today over something stupid, getting super mad at my husband for nothing really. Just waiting for the big crying fits to come on sometime within the next week.....Blah!! Can't wait to get this sorted out.

On a positive note though, had a good day with OHH today after my appointment. Tomorrow will be another busy day. Mother goose, then off to stars and strollers.

I will blog soon about her changes in eating and sleeping lately. It's changed once again, and I have to find out what will work for us again.

k, off to spend the night with the step kids...it's game night!

Happy 101!

I have given a blog award by one of my new mommy friends. Basically I was tagged and need to list 10 things that make me happy. You should check out her blog here at birds on wire. I love seeing her wonderful photographes and artwork. Her blogs are always inspiring me to be more crafty, and to also to observe and enjoy the simple things in life.

This is perfect timing for me. In the dead of winter things can get very gloomy so it's a great time to remind myself of all the things in my life that I have that make me happy!


Little Ohh
She is obviously the thing that makes me the most happy. I can't imagine my life without her now. Her smiles and laughs are so contagious. Isn't she just the cutest thing ever?! :)




My husband.
It took me a long time to find him, but boy am I glad I did. He is the only person I feel like I can totally be myself around. He is an amazing man! I can't imagine having a better caring loving husband as him. (ok so remind me of this when I'm in the mist of PMSing...but it really is true!)




My mom
She is amazing. She raised me (pretty well I have to say) after my dad died when I was just a baby. Now being a mom, I can't even imagine what a traumatic time that was for her. But she made it through, and although we had some rough years when I was a teen, she really is my best friend now. My mom can cheer me up, no matter what is going on.

Step kids
As they are getting older, I feel like I am getting closer to them, especially the girl. They have taught me a lot about child rearing and the patience needed. My only regret is that they were my guinea pigs. Sorry K and M! I still love you!

Family
Family seems even more important to me, now that I have my own daughter. I don't have any family in the city that I live, and I am really bad at making phone calls and visiting, but they are always in my mind and in my thoughts. I really do love visiting them, and need to do it more.


Genealogy
I guess this kind of goes along with family, but I think more so this quenches my need for investigative work. It is something I recently have gotten back into, but that I hope to continue and hope to increase my knowledge of. Here is just one of many pictures/documents I have been uncovering.




Home
By nature, because we are both rather shy, my husband and I are homebodies. We are both happy to just be spending time in our home together.


Mommy Friends
This might seem to contradict the above comments about being a homebody, but I have found this great group of ladies with whom I just love getting together with. It great for our babies, but right now, more so for the mommies. Knowing that there is a network of super nice women available to talk to has been really helpful. It makes me happy just to think of these babies growing up together, it's like they are all little cousins!

Animals
I don't do this now because I'm not working. But ever since I started Vet Tech school in 97, and my subsequent jobs in a vet clinic and a research setting, I have been taking care of sick animals. I like the idea that I have played a part of making an animal get well, or even simply helped to make an ill animal feel more comfortable through my nursing skills. Although I really do not want to go back to work, that part of my job is very rewarding, and it makes me happy to see a happy animal.


Computers
I know I'm a nerd, but my computer makes me happy. I'm not sure that it's the actual machine, or the tasks that I can perform on them. As mentioned earlier I like to investigate things. So
mr google has been my favourite tool. Sometimes I think I am addicted, but it does make me happy ;)


So now, I would like to award the following people with this award. Just copy, and paste the Happy 101 picture and post it on your blog. And start to think about makes you happy!

HapEllyEverafter
Motherhood

What is it?

What is it that I need to figure out exactly.

I have been putting off dealing with any personal health issues over the course of the last 2 years due to trying to have a baby, and then being pregnant and having one. But now I think I need to focus on me a bit.

I am trying to get myself sorted out before I go back to work.

So I'm having some pretty extensive dental work/surgery done sometime in the next few months. Not something I am looking forward too, but something I need to do. (thanks goodness for insurance!) Basically it's due to bad home care, and years of not flossing. Bad Bad me! So they'll end up cutting my gums and reattaching them. 4 hours of surgery, and needles in my mouth, and a liquid diet for a few days after, and some tylenol threes. Oh Joy...I can hardly wait!

I am trying to lose weight, and exercise more. Yuck! I am getting better at not eating junk, and trying to walk more...but still need to work on this.

So now I've made a Dr's appointment to talk about some things. But what exactly do I need to talk to him about. I really have the feeling that I'm not going to get anything that will help me out, so is there any point really?

1. Going to ask for a referral to a nutritionist. Maybe she will have some advice for a good diet when you have PCOS, and you are afraid of getting diabetes. (Mom was just diagnosed) I bet they will just say to follow the Canadian food guide.

2. Going to ask if I need any treatment for my PCOS. I think the only tx he would offer is going on the pill, and I don't think that is a good idea. I get so emotional on that.

3. Going to ask if there is anything I can do for my stupid PMS. I really need to get it under control. PMS is driving me crazy. I'll have to write a whole blog on it! Am I the only one who hates the 2 weeks after ovulation?
Again, I think the pill (specifically YAZ) will be suggested, but again, I've tried that, and it was awful. I've also tried antidepressents, and well, I don't want to be all spacy, and that just made my libido crash!


4. Which brings me to a decreased libido. Yes I admit it, my libido sucks. It has for a long time. But I really want to get it fixed. But not sure that there is any magic pill out there. I think its because of my PCOS??

So other then #1, I'm not sure if there is any real point to asking about the other 3. And talking to someone about low libido, especially my male Dr, feels kinda strange for me. But I think I should. Hmm, I keep changing my mind, even as I type this.

Got some thinkin to do.

Update # 2

Just a quick update...

Thank goodness. Oh is much better today.
Only 2 poops, and the last this evening was totally back to normal.
Now just to clear up the diaper rash. That too is looking better...yeah!

Oh boy....my life is revolving around poop! so sad! :)

Update

Well, I think she is on the mend..slowly... but getting there.

It's strange...while she was at the height of her explosions we noticed that she wasn't spitting up/puking like she normally does. But now, she's started again, and for some reason it's telling me that this means she's getting back to normal. To anyone else this probably sounds ridiculous but I guess its because the puking is "normal" for her.

I think now the biggest problem is her red bum.

Her bum was really red again all morning, but when I just changed it, it was looking better, with no poop...so fingers crossed it will continue to get better. I wonder if it's because I used a different Zinc oxide cream instead of the penatene?
This morning after her bath, I let her crawl around in her room for a little bit naked to let her "air out". So cute really. She really enjoyed it I think. Too bad I can't leave her like that more often. I should have gotten a blackmail picture.




Oh no..as I write this, I can see that look on her face! So maybe it's not over yet.
CRAP! Literally! haha

P is for.....

If you are squimish or don't like the talk of poop...please move on, I might be rather graphic. (there, that is my disclaimer ) :)

It's day 2 of my little girl having the poops. I feel so bad for her, but I'm not sure what else I can do.
In the past 30 or so hours she has had about 6 poops. She normally has 1, maybe 2 a day. Not all are the normal full amount, but some are just like water or pretty runny. She never seems in pain while pooping, I don't even know she's done it half the time until I smell it. It's when I change her diaper that it really bothers her.

I still think it's the oat cereal which I have obviously stopped. Today is day 2 of no oats, so I am hoping this will end soon. My understanding is I don't need to worry unless she gets dehydrated. She's still eating/drinking and is happy as long as she has a dry bum, and I'm not trying to change her.

Her nether regions are so very red. She never gets diaper rash so I can only imagine that this is unbearable too her. It looks so sore.

This is what I've been doing...but if anyone has any suggestions on how to make her more comfortable, I'm all ears!

• Change her diaper as soon as I notice it's wet (even her going pee seems to be hurting hurting, it must be burning?) So it's been at least every hour, or more frequent as needed. I almost want to wake her up while she's napping right now to keep her dry, but I've learned, that would just be stupid! :)
• Put penetin cream (hmm, can't be bothered to see how to spell it at the moment) on after every diaper change.
• I gave her a bath to get her nice and clean (she was happy in there, but within 15 min of getting out of the bath she had a poop)
• At the suggestion of my mom I've put a warm cloth on the redness the last couple diaper changes for a few minutes, then patted it dry.
• My mom suggested using cornstarch and airing it out. I haven't tried that yet. Will need to get cornstartch, and how do you air it out when you know she'll pee everywhere? I guess I could put her on a towel..but she loves to crawl around, I doubt she'd stay put!
• We gave tylenol last night. I haven't given any today, but if she gets bad again tonight we may do that again.
  

Fingers crossed that the worst is over, and she'll be on the mend now!

What a good girl

On Saturday we went to the Mandarin buffet for my husbands daughters 18 birthday. (Yes, he can't believe it either that he has an 18 year old and a 6 month old!). It was the first time we had taken little Ohh to a restaurant since she was very little, and when all she did was sleep. We were all a little nervous of how she would behave since we were going right smack in the middle of when she should have been napping, and she was oh so tired.

But yeah! She was such a good girl. She was asleep when we got there, but then woke up, so oh no we thought. But then she sat in the high chair for a good amount of time before I had to put her on my lap.
She (as always) was mesmerized with all the people, and was giving everyone smiles. The elderly ladies walking by were all stopping to say hi. The ladies next to us commented on how happy she was, and how good she was!

Way to go little OHH!!


On a yucky note....
I tried giving her oat cereal again for a few days. But nope, she can't tolerate them. Once again she got the poops. 4 times today! And her bum was so red and sore. She was in so much pain. Thank god for some tylenol, cuddling and now some sleep to get her through. So its back to rice cereal to get her back on track.

Family Tree

Can I just say I am loving the site Ancestry.ca!

I was into genealogy many years ago, and have just gotten back into it. I am loving researching and finding all this information about my ancestors. Seeing their names on old census's or birth records is fun. It's like solving some type of mystery and following the clues you find with each new document. I should have been a detective! :)

So far I have being using the the internet for my research, and I can't believe what I have found so far. I am sure that if I go to the local library I will find even more since I have found out that part of my family was actually from this area. Very strange since I didn't grow up here, and just moved here about 5 years ago.

Last spring I dragged my husband to a cemetery in a city we were visiting and I took pictures of relatives graves. Once this spring hits I plan on taking him and Alexis on some cemetery runs so I can find out more information.

Do you think it would be too creepy to take a then 9-10 month old to a cemetery? Maybe she's too young. hmm, I'll have to think about that. It might be a solo event.

So if anyone wants something looked up on the site about your family let me know, and I will see what I can find for you!


Back to some searching!