Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours!

Adventures in Infant Reflux...part deux

After much thinking, Tim and I came to the conclusion that when I dont eat ANYTHING and breastfeed Cooper is when he doesnt have any reflux.  And he's a happy baby during those times. Cooing, laughing, playing, smiling, and just being....without tears :)

I noticed that when I was feeding him at night, he wasnt having reflux and was sleeping longer/more soundly.  I realized it was because I wasnt eating at night. So the next day, I decided not to eat anything and see if that worked and sure enough, all was fine...happy baby.  Then I ate a granola bar and drank a glass of water and bam, next feeding he had reflux. So if I dont eat anything, my kid will be okay. Okay, simple enough...except for the fact that I have to eat to survive.  Ugh.  So back to formula feeding during the day and me eating more than a granola bar. 

I've put in a few calls to the dr (shes not working this week) but I have a feeling she still wont give us the prevacid.  I want Cooper to be breastfed for the mere fact that he is more satisfied and sleeps better on the breastmilk, otherwise I would just go to formula altogether and be done with it.  So I need him to be on the prevacid so we can do that.  Even if I watch very carefully what I'm eating and not eating, he's still having bad reflux.  The acid in his body is so bad that his butt is raw from pooing out all the acid! 

We dont go back to see the doctor til the 29th and I think I've found a system that is working, for the most part.  I breastfeed Cooper at night (since I'm not eating at night, and he does well and sleeps better on the breastmilk) and formula feed him during the day.  This has brought his episodes down to 1-3 per day (usually during the formula feeds), which is better than the all-day fits he was having.  He's still in pain during those fits, but we work through them.  And on the 29th if he's still having problems, I'm demanding she put him on prevacid immediately and I will go back to nursing full time.  Until then, let's hope something starts to work.

Adventures in Infant Reflux....

I'm not sure how many moms out there can say they've experienced infant reflux.  If you have, you can agree with me when I say my life has been a living hell the past 3 weeks!  UGH!   Dont worry, before you go all "oh my god, she has PPD" on me, just know that we are still enjoying Cooper, I am not stressed or overwhelmed, but he sure isnt enjoying life too much. 

So.....around 3 weeks ago, Cooper started doing this projectile vomiting thing.  It was always after he ate and then after he vomitted he would cry for up to an hour sometimes. It would take a lot of late night and mid-night rocking and walking around the house to calm him down, but he'd eventually go back to sleep.  This continued for a few days until I decided to call the dr's about it.  Projectile vomitting is something they worry about in babies. So, dr visit #1 went a little like this:  **baby is healthy, gaining weight, **projectile vomitting is "probably" normal, **not to worry, **try nursing in a more upright position (my boobs only bend so many different ways jerkwad), **quit being worrysome first time parent (um, we've done this before punk).

So, after a few more days, the projectile vomitting subsided (no more laying in bed nursing sessions=sucky) and turned more into spit up (which I can handle, Taylor was a puker for sure).  But, along with this came the episodes of crying.  And the crying wasnt just "I'm cranky", "I'm hungry", or "I'm tired" crying. It was full-out bloody murder screaming...like "Oh my god, you just broke my arm" crying. But of course, without the breaking of the arms.  So, we just rocked him through each episode (some would take up to an hour) and went about normal babyhood.  Then came the arching of the back while having these episodes, the kid was so tense, he was like holding a board and was rarely ever NOT arched when we held him.  And was rarely ever not crying.  Ugh, so tired momma calls the dr again. Only this time, we get a different doctor. 

Doctor visit #2 goes like this:  **all is normal, **baby is fine, gaining weight, **probably just comfortable arching his back, **go home you paranoid crazy parents. 

After a week of this, the episodes are happening about 23 hours of the day and were even interrupting his feedings.  I start googling and find that he has acid reflux (um, what doctor doesnt notice with the symptoms I've been presenting), so I do all that it says to do.....start avoid certain foods, more frequent smaller nursing sessions, keep him upright during feedings and for 20-30 min after, elevate his bed, etc.  NOTHING. WAS. WORKING. So I call the dr again.  (at this point, the nurses knew me by name....they are awesome nurses btw).  They get me in to see Dr Brewer (she was seeing me for my bp issues a month ago).  She comes in, he's having one of his episodes and she says right away, it's reflux.  Yes, I know this, let's fix him.  She prescribes Zantac for him and tells me to do everything I've been doing. 

After a week of the meds, he was getting worse, at one point, he cried for 5 straight hours (NO SHIT), to the point where he lost his voice and passed out from exhaustion on my chest and slept for 2 hours (the longest since the first few weeks home).  Called the dr, begged for prevacid at this point.  She said she was going to write the px, but to bring him for a weight check before she did. While we're at the weight check, she calls us in and says she did some talking to her colleagues and they dont want to give him prevacid because he's too young. She says he's gotta be 3 months. I guess it doesnt count he's the size of a 3 month old (12 lbs, 14 oz at this visit).  So.....she says to stop breastfeeding and try to put him on Nutramigen formula, which is a milk protein allergy formula.  We're hoping that his cause of reflux at this point might have been from this?!  So, since nothing else was working, we go home with this and start it.  I pump in the meantime so I dont lose my milk supply and give Coop the formula.  After about 4 days, it wasnt working at during one of his fits, I give in and nurse him in the middle of the night.  He did great, so I nurse him the next few night feedings and he does fine.  I then nursed him during the day and he had an episode. Ugh, so back to square one.....back to formula the rest of the day, more fits. 

So at this point, I'm ready to lose my mind.  Not because of his crying, but because I cant help him. The poor guy is in pain and I cant do anything about it. As a parent that is the worst. You wanna fix your kids, you wanna make sure they arent in pain, you kiss their boo boos all better.  And I cant do anything but rock him and cry through his episodes as he screams in pain. 

.....to be continued....

Cooper is here! All is well!

As if I had time (or remembered) to blog before, now I am the proud parent of two kids and will, officially, have no time at all to blog.  (Does anyone even read this?)

Cooper is here.  I'll post pics when I have time (haha...I hope), but for now, the details:

He arrived on November 11, 2010 at 2:26 pm.  He weighed a whopping 9 lbs, 4 oz and was 20.5 inches long.  I started having high blood pressure issues and after a few days of tests, they determined I have pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH) and decided to go ahead and induce me for fear that my bp would get too high.  I was induced the night of the 10th, starting around 9ish.  After a crap night of sleep and being doped up on painkillers all night for mild contractions, I asked for the epidural at 6 am (I was only dialated to a 3, but they were painful and I'm a baby, so what) and called my mom to head up to the hospital.  It took the anesthesiologist (sp?) two tries but I was nice and numb.  Then came the hard part.  Around noon-ish, the nurse realized that they had never turned me from laying on my right side (I had been that way ALL NIGHT and DAY!) and Cooper had lodged himself in my right side and was somehow blocking my epidural from working. They kept calling it a "hot spot", but I could feel everything!  Every contraction, movement, etc.  So they flipped me and tried to position me to get him to come down the birth canal.  After laying there feeling every freaking contraction in that "spot" on my right side for what seemed like days (but was only an hour or so), I thought I felt the "bear down" thing they always talk about. (I had NEVER felt it with Taylor because I was extremely numb and felt nothing LOL) so we called in the docs.  Sure enough, it was close but not time. This happened about 2 or 3 more times.  I think it was more my impatience, but I swear I kept feeling like he was right there!  Time was ticking and with every contraction (worst pain I've ever felt in my life by the way), I was getting more tired and worried I wasnt going to be able to get him out!  Around 2pm, I felt it for real and it was time!  So the docs came in and we started pushing.  And lemme tell you, I felt everything.  UGH!  And yes, it was the worst pain I'd ever felt.  And yes, I can remember it (for now).  And yes, we may be done having kids after this one!  HA!  You think I'm kidding?  Try birthing a 9lb, 4oz kid out of your who-ha! 

But Cooper arrived safely and he is definitely a keeper!  He looks exactly like his big sister did at this age!  Funny to say that and even funnier I keep looking at her envisioning him at 2, except with shorter hair and boy clothes of course :)

But we're all doing well. It only took Taylor a few days to understand he wasnt in my stomach anymore and now she loves him and looks after him (She has to kiss him goodnight every night on her way to bed or she freaks out!).  We're just all adjusting to life as a family of four :)

The adventures of Taylor the Preschooler :)

So a little background:  For the past few months, I've become a freaking hermit and can barely do anything with my Taylor.....even get on the playroom floor and play with her.  For fear of her turning into a hermit and not having any social interaction with other kids, I decided to sign her up for preschool.  Most of the kids in the neighborhood go to a local baptist church for preschool (they have a 2, 3 and 4 year old program) so I decided to look into and loved it!  She goes on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30-1:30.  And she started this past Tuesday and absolutely loves it! 

DAY 1: Of course, I thought this was going to be harder on her....and ME, but she was a pro. All her teachers and the other moms said she acted as if she's been there all year! I was so proud to hear that. And of course, it made it easy on me.

All ready for school!



This is where she was when I left her, she could have cared less that I was leaving :(

DAY 2:  After her first day, she couldnt stop talking about school!  And last night when we put her to bed, she was so excited to wake up and go to school the next morning!  Even when she woke up, she was so impatient and kept asking when it was time for school!  She barely made it til 9:30! LOL   She started on a good week too, this was the day of the Fall Fest. They were scheduled to have a pumpkin hunt, a hayride and lots of cool things planned. Unfortunately, the weather killed all hopes of having it outside so they set up in the gym.

Day 2...impatiently awaiting time to go!

Choosing a pumpkin!

Decorating her pumpkin!

Having a snack!

Decorating her scarecrow! She's a pro!

Taking a hayride between rain showers!

And finally, walking back to class....IN LINE! 

I will have to say it's been a very bittersweet week for me.  My baby girl is growing up and way too fast if you ask me.  I thought it'd be years before we had to experience the preschool thing, but it came sooner than I had hoped.  And she has made it so easy. No tears, no attachment issues, she's just having a ball! 



Ohio, oh how I've missed you...

Taylor and I decided to take a trip to Ohio...for almost a month!  Yup, you're reading that right.  My cousin on my dad's side got married Aug 14, so I wanted to be there for that.  And Tim's Mom's side had a family reunion up in Toledo labor day weekend, so being they were 3 weeks apart, we decided just to hang out in Ohio and do both.  Tim had a few trips planned anyway and I hate when he's on his trips, so I figured it'd be good company.

We got there on Aug 12 and stayed until Sept 7.  It was AMAZING!  Well, except the staying with my parents part. Who really loves to stay at their parents' house?  I dont care if I was 30 or 50, I just hate staying at other people's house. It's the whole "out of your element" thing that gets me. Not to mention Taylor gained some bad habits being out of her element.  With the average of ten time-outs per day (for just plain old not listening) and the gained bad habit of sleeping in bed with me, it was rough for her.  But she loved being around Nana and Papa, Uncle Shane and the doggies. 

The first weekend I was there, I got to attend my cousin's wedding. It was really nice to see everyone on the Miller side.  Well, I guess just the few immediate cousins. And Sam looked amazing!  But it was fun.  I got to see my "real" dad, which doesnt happen all that often.

(Me and my dad---notice his Mickey Mouse tie...yup, that's my dad for ya)

(My cousins Sam and Ski----brother and sister)

And, of course, I enjoyed being in Toledo because of the approaching fall weather (which made for great bonfires in the backyard!)

(Taylor and Uncle Shane chillin by the fire)

(She loved it!)

And jeds!  Which we ate 4 times while I was there!  Yum.  If you know me, you know I talk about it often, but Jeds is a restaurant in Toledo that serves boneless chicken chunks in their special sauces or done up in really cool ways (my dad always eats the Bacon Double Cheese balls...which are basically a heart attack on a plate).

One of the weekends on the trip, my mom's side of the family (the Cooper side) had a 50th wedding anniversary celebration.  I got to meet my mom's Uncle and his wife.  Good people!  And fun, I know if I had spent more time around my Great Uncle growing up, we would have gotten along great! 

(This is my Great Uncle Danny and his wife, Gloria---like I said, fun people!)

And to top off the trip, we had the family reunion out at Maumee Bay.  I took my camera, but for some reason I only got a total of 5 pictures. Dont ask.  But it was fun. It was the Fournier side, which is Tim's Grandma's maiden name, so it was a good 5 generations of his family, that was neat to see.  Of course, my favorite person there....

(I think she knows she's cute)

All in all, I think it was a fun trip. I am looking forward to living back home for a while here in a few years.  It's going to be.....amazing, great, exciting, awesome.....yup, prolly every adjective in the book!  :)

Is anyone even reading this?

Sometimes I wonder why I stress about not keeping up with the blog considering I dont think anyone even reads it.  But then, every once in a blue moon, I get a comment from someone and they actually are reading it.

Anywho, for the one person who cares/reads this, we are alive.  My $500 laptop that I bought from Office Depot while Tim was in Iraq finally decided to break on me.  Yup, that $500 laptop lasted a WHOLE 6 years.  Tim says that's "amazing" in computer world.  Especially considering the way I treat laptops (according to him).  And that, ladies and gents is why I love my PC's.   I've asked for a new laptop for Christmas. Tim keeps trying to talk me into an iPad, but I'm not convinced.  I dont like MAC's.  Horrible operating systems and I hear you cant word process on the iPad.  Oh and not to mention I do not want a touch screen keyboard. I rock on a keyboard, like 1000 words per second (I know it's impossible, but I love embellishing a little).  But seriously, I am a great typer. Must have been all those bullcrap computer classes senior year of high school....hey, I had to fill blank spots and didnt wanna graduate a year ahead of time even though I could have.  ......back to the point....I just told him to buy me another $500 HP or dell or some crap like that from Office Depot (do they even still exist?) and I can get another 6 years out of it.  LOL.  We'll see.  Until then, Tim set up an old desktop computer he had upstairs so I'll be using that for a while. It works, has a keyboard...so I'm good.

But just a few things to hold you over til I can get to blogging:
1. We are alive
2.  I'm still pregnant....but only for up to 10 weeks from now! (If I have it my way, this kid will be out at least a week or two before his due date, I'm planning my miles and miles of walking now....as I sit and type this).
3.  I have a lot of posts to catch up on, I'll try to get them up. I promise.
4.  I am using a desktop.  I havent used one of those for years. HAHA I feel so "ancient".  

Yes, we're still alive...

Dont send out a search party just yet. We are alive.  It's just that my laptop finally took its last breath and died on me :(  My $800 laptop lasted for a wonderful 6ish years. It made it through 5 moves (2 states), multiple travels, a couple of power cords, a few dozen upgrades and viruses, and 2 years of a kid's life.  I'd say I got my $800 worth :) RIP HP.

But, I'm back...or at least I hope. Tim took the harddrive out of my laptop and put it in an old desktop computer he had lying around (my mouse looks like it was made in 1980 LOL) and we're back up and running. 

Um, as usual, not much has happened...we're not that exciting...but let's see if I can give you a good update.

1.  Taylor's still cute as ever.  She's still not close to potty training. We tried panties once or twice and it didnt even phase her.  I also tried candy as a bribe for going on the potty but now she just wants to sit on there , not go and still get her candy (though she doesnt get it when she doesnt go, but assumes she will...ugh).  

2.  We traded in both our cars for a MOMMY MOBILE!  Yup, I am officially a minivan driver.  We got a 2010 Volkswagen Routan.  IT. IS. AWESOME!  I never thought I'd enjoy having a minivan so much, but if you've ever been in one, you know it is saweet!  And we've already tested out the double screen dvd entertainment system in the back in the past few days.

3.  Speaking of which, Tim is agonizingly looking for a cash car.  We've been on craigslist for a few hours now trying to find him something. I leave on Thursday for Ohio and he'll have no vehicle after I leave, so he's been desperately searching. I think a trip to Atlanta to look at a few is in our future for tomorrow. Ugh.  Thankfully, we have a DVD PLAYER in the van to keep Taylor busy.  And the way I see it, I can take a pillow and crawl into the back seat and sleep...HAHA Love it!

4.  Um....I'm still uncomfortably pregnant and this kid still better make me millions.  Though sleeping has become much harder these days because my stomach has been pushed up into my chest and I have raving heartburn every night and have actually awaken to puke in my mouth (yummy, right?) because of that reason.  UCK. Last night I had to practically sleep sitting up.  But yes, still pregnant and still looking forward to November!

5.  The baby's rug is done!  And looks great!  All I have to do is figure out how to finish the edges.  I havent decided if I'm going to sew some rug binding around the edges or just use some yarn to kind of crochet around the edges.  We'll see. But it looks awesome!  And I'll post pics when I have time...hopefully tomorrow. I'm so far behind. 

Uh...I think that might be it.  If I left something out, I'm sure I'll catch it eventually.  I plan to get up some pics tomorrow, I hope I'll have time.  Got some pics of the rug, the new van, more Taylor pics (of course) and if Tim gets a car, we'll even post a pic of that. 

Operation Baby Boy Room 2010: THE RUG

So every nursery has a rug in it (I couldnt tell you why, but when you look at sets, they all have rugs...Taylor's has a rug).  So in googling (yes, google is now my best friend these days), I found a really cute rug I liked.  However, they were asking $100+ for it!  No kidding!  So I figured I used to do latch-hook kits in high school back when and actually had fun and those things usually ended up lasting me a while.  So, why not?

This was my inspiration for my rug (the one they wanted $100+ for!):

We all know when "making" my own, it wont be this awesome.  But it'll be awesome in the fact that I MADE IT!  HA!  Eat that Martha Stewart!

And here's the "rough draft" of my rug.  I measured and drew it all myself...took me a whole day to get it right and of course, I made it a little more realistic than the rug above (i.e., the blue lines are closer to the center line than the goals, goals dont look authentic,etc). 

Wish me luck...it's taking me a while.  I've been working on it here and there (when Taylor naps or after she goes to bed at night) for almost 2 weeks now.

Operation Baby Boy Room 2010

After looking through baby boy nursery sets, I've come to the conclusion that having a boy means you're putting sports, cars or animals in his room.  But they're either all too cutesy (is that a word?) or uglier than sin.  Not to mention that a lot of sets have A LOT of green and I'm sorry but I am not a fan of green! Well, not in a kids room. Oh and the sports sets NEVER include hockey, but rather the basic football, baseball, and basketball. Heck, there's even soccer sets out there!  But nothing that's just purely hockey.  And I want hockey.  And since we're a divided household (I'm a Pittsburgh Penguins fan and Tim is a Carolina Hurricanes fan), I couldnt choose one team over the other, so I wanted just a hockey theme in general.  But alas, they dont make or sell ANYTHING for baby nurseries that are hockey themed.  Which meant if I wantd a hockey theme, I'd have to make it work. 

After researching for the past few weeks, I've found that not only would I get my wish of a hockey room for my boy if I just make it, but it'd also be less costly to make the set myself.  And, of course, decorate accordingly.   So, over the course of the next few months, I'm going to be making my hockey themed nursery for my boy.   It'll be a hockey theme with red/white/blue fabrics and accents (those are the colors on the ice).

I hope I keep my sanity.
I hope I dont "give up" and end up just buying something in the end.
I hope I learn how to use a sewing machine, having NEVER touched one in my life.
I hope it doesnt end up looking horrible in the end.
I hope my kid will end up liking hockey or I will be one pissed off mom!  HAHA

Wish me luck!

The "other" side....

So, for years I've had to shop on the girl side of the major clothing stores (babies r us, gymboree, children's place, gap, carters, etc) and always looked over on the other side thinking of how cute and preppy the boys clothes were and I couldnt wait til I could shop boys clothes one day.   Of course, the day we found out it was a boy (last Friday), me and Taylor headed to the mall here.  Our first stop was Gymboree, where the only cute thing in the entire store was a onesie that said "Little Brother" but cost 15 stinking dollars!  Too much for ONE onesie if you ask me (I miss the outlets at Potomac Mills ugh).  Then we headed to Gap where everything was an ugly animal theme. Not like cute puppy dogs and such....more like elephants and rhinos.  Not cute at all if you ask me.  Oh and their whole 0-6 months section was a whopping 5 different shirts and a few pairs of shorts.  The girls side has HUNDREDS of options.  Then we headed to children's place, where the clothes were halfway decent and I found what I was looking for!

Had to get a "little brother" onesie, since Taylor has her "big sister" tshirt.

And also found this:

I figured it would get Tim in the mood for his little boy.  He wanted another girl, but he's slowly starting to warm up to the idea of a little boy! 

And after another trip today to the mall, I found a few more cute things! 

The onesie on the left has a MEERKAT on it!  How cool is that?  We love meerkats in this house!  Tim's gonna love that one!  And on the right was the only elephant print that was actually cute.  And I figured that sleeper will be money!  IT UNSNAPS IN THE FRONT!  And if I remember correctly, Taylor LIVED in onesies and sleepers for the first 3 months of life!

And of course, something for daddy.  :)

**Dont worry, I wont post pictures of everything clothing item we buy/get from this point on, if he's anything like his sister, he'll have a closet full (yes, we have spoiled kids).  I'm just so excited to be shopping on the "other" side now :)

To move or not to move....

If you're a parent, you've faced the "to move or not to move" scenario and always wonder what's best and more than likely regret your decision either way....yup, I had that come up today.

Taylor literally PASSED out on the floor this afternoon while playing. 

For 20 minutes, I waited for her to hit her deepest sleep and wondered if I should move her or not.  If I left her there, she'd prolly wake up from the sun being in her eyes or because she's on a hard floor or because she'd roll and hit her head on the wall.  But if I moved her, she'd prolly wake up in the process and then not go back to sleep.  Ugh, for 20 stinking minutes I debated.  And finally decided to move her.  Needless to say....she woke up and was not happy.

I should have left her there.

We dont need no stinking daddy...

One of Taylor's "things" with her daddy is building forts.  She doesnt do it with mommy, only daddy.  But today, we took daddy to the airport to go on business til Friday.  When we got back, she grabbed the blanket and went to town by herself building her fort. 

It certainly doesnt look like fun, but she loved it! 

And of course, Moose had to be in the fort too!

After about 10 minutes of playing in her "fort", she was done. But for 10 whole minutes, she had fun! And no daddies were necessary in the making of this fort HAHA!

Twins

For our nightly family walk, Taylor put on a cute dress (she was in undies all day so I had to put something on her and she wanted her yellow dress). When I put it on her, she looked so cute, but then as I looked at the pictures I shot, I realized something really eerie!  She looks identical to her cousin Fayth! 

Here's Taylor getting ready to go for her walk...

And here's her cousin Fayth in 2005...close to Taylor's age!  The similarities are eerie!

IT'S A BOY!!!

Baby #2 was not shy at the ultrasound this morning and was showing off his goods like crazy!

And sure enough, there was no mistaking it was a boy :)

And if that picture's just too graphic for ya (Tim said "that's disgusting"), then try this one....

There, that's more PG-13 rated instead of R! :) 

Happy Birthday America!

Our holiday weekend was jam-packed with fun, family and fireworks.

On Friday night, we set out to see the fireworks at Fort Gordon.  We got a front row seat!  Taylor loved the fireworks and is still talking about them!

(waiting for the fireworks to begin)

They were RIGHT above us!

On Saturday, we entertained Tim's siblings (all but one) and their families....which added up to 14 people staying in our house. We had fun on Uncle Bobby's boat, ate some good food at our favorite "hole-in-the-wall" place, and enjoyed the company of family!

"I'm on a boat!"

Ridge Road Cafe :)

On the 4th, we had a 14-person breakfast (in shifts, of course), then headed out to the beach/boat for some more fun on the lake!  After that, we all headed back to the house, showered, went out for some pizza then took the kids down the road to the park to see the fireworks there!

Shift #1 at breakfast

Our setup on the beach

On the boat!

Jenny, Matt and Mary Kathryn doing some tubing!

Bobby and Jack in their matching outfits, waiting for their pizza!

All in all, we had a great holiday weekend and loved being together with family!  We hope to do it again next year...but with the new addition to the family, I'm sure we wont have room to "sleep" everyone!  HAHA

Whoops!

Someone is just a tad bit obsessed with water and her pool. As she was hanging out with Mommy and Nana on a Sunday afternoon, she decided she was going to go in her pool....clothes, diaper and all!  HA HA I love this kid!

Daddy Time

Taylor has been having a blast at her new house...and today she had even more of a reason to love her new backyard...Daddy decided to play with her!  They ran around in the sprinklers, played in the pool and even played "Tag".  It was tough teaching her the rules and she still only semi-understands what to do, but either way....a good time had by all!

(Playing tag----daddy was "it")

(Sitting in the pool, with the sprinklers on...and the hose on as well!)

Just chillin with daddy!