Stressful week

It's been a stressful week/month and full of changes. 

First off, oh Avery.  Why won't you sleep??  She's actually doing much better at night.  We've been trying to let her fuss a little when we lay her down.  (We still rock her although I know we shouldn't).  But we've been letting her fuss for 5 minutes before going back in.  After a few nights of really not much crying, she seems to be going down better. She's still waking in the MOTN, but a bit later - around 3 or so.  I've been trying not to feed her though and she's been going back to sleep until between 4:30 and 5.  I'll take it.  But the naps!  UGH.  She's a cat-napper!  She just won't sleep for long in her crib.  I know they struggle w/ her at daycare and I feel so bad that she's sort of high-maintenance.  But that led to stressful event #72 for the week.  I was talking to her teacher about how she'd finally had a couple decent naps in her crib.  And then she told me why.  She put her down on her belly.  On.  Her.  Belly.  I was so upset.  I tend to react slowly, especially with stuff like that because I never want to upset other people w/ my reaction.  I don't like to question or second-guess people.  I feel bad.  But when it comes to my child, my most precious things in the world, I have to speak up.  I told her no, she could never do that.  But that's all I could muster out right then.  I tried to blow it off.  But by the time I got down to Carson's room, I felt like I was either going to cry or throw up.  I mean, there's a reason the "Back to Sleep" campaign was started decades ago!  There's a reason the # of baby deaths decreased after that.  There's a reason the State and the American Academy of Pediatrics tell you to only put babies down sleeping on their backs.  I know that they would never do anything intentionally to harm her.  I know that.  And I know that they love her and she gets very good care.  But man, that shook me.  By the time I got to my car, I was bawling.  I mean, thank God she was ok.  That's all I kept thinking.  I know that many parents put their babies down on their tummies and many babies are ok.  But I just feel very strongly about that one.  And it really upset me in light of a discussion just the week previous where I made sure they put her down on her back (since I saw another on her belly - she had rolled).  She said they did.  And of course, if she rolls that way on her own, fine.  Freaked me out the first time Carson did.  I remember I was in a panic when I walked in and saw him on his tummy, face down.  But he was fine.  At at that point though, he could roll easily both ways.  She's just starting to roll and does not do it consistently at all.  Even if she could, I would never lay her down that way.  Always back.  I just keep thinking that she could've suffocated.  I just can't think about it.  Anyway, I kind of felt like a jackass for saying something to them (I talked again to the teacher and asst. director), but like I said, that upset me for sure.  She said she totally understood and apologized and promised she'd never do it again.  And I'm not trying to bash her at all - she's very nice and I really like her.  I know she cares for Avery so much.  But that shouldn't have happened in my opinion so I just had to say something.  I just hate upsetting people.  :(  I began to question if I was just overreacting, but it seems pretty unanimous amongst my mommy friends.  I guess regardless of what others think, that's something I feel strongly about, and I'm the mommy.  :) 

So that happened at the end of a long and stressful week and I just felt like I literally was going to break.  Do you ever just feel that you can't take anymore?  Things individually may not be a huge deal, but everything on top of each other just sometimes feels unbearable.  It's getting better though. 


So, on to the big changes.  I've accepted a new position at work.  Eek!  It was SUCH a hard decision.  I literally made myself sick over it.  Back and forth, back and forth.  I struggled a lot because overall I really like what I do.  I like crunching numbers.  :)  I like the people.  And I feel like I've worked so hard to get to the position I'm in.  How do I just give that up?  But - I just don't feel like I have enough of a balance for this point in my life.  After talking about it to death w/ Lucas, I decided that I need to make a change.  After I made my decision, I felt such a sense of relief!  There's always the worry of going from something you know to something you don't.  I just don't want to suck at it and let anyone down.  :)  But I'm looking forward to the new challenge!  It's at the same company, so no changes there.  And it's a great group of people too!  I just think/hope it can offer a bit more of a balance while still being a challenging job.  My babies/family have always been #1 in my life, but I don't think they've known that and I do think I've often put work first at times.  I just think this new position will allow me to put them first officially.  I just don't want to regret anything else or miss out on anything else while they're growing up.  Change is scary, but I'm looking forward to it! 

So like I said, the week's getting better.  :)  AND, daycare has reported that Miss Avery is napping better too!  Knock on wood, but she's taken solid naps, in her crib, for the past 2 days.   Woo hoo Avery!

Miss April sent me this yesterday!  :)

4 month checkup

Avery had her 4 mo. checkup yesterday (7/18).  She got 2 shots and another dose of the oral rotavirus vaccine.  Hopefully, that one will help knock out what's left of the virus in her system.  Thank goodness, the probiotics that we started seemed to have helped.  She still had a couple of nasty poos last week, but definitely not as often as she was having them.  Anyway, she of course cried but stopped as soon as I picked her up.  Brave girl!  I swear she glared at the nurse after.  It was pretty cute.

She did so well for Dr. Boley and he said that she looks great!  She literally is off the charts for height and weight!  The nurse had to redo her height twice to be sure.

Stats:
Height:  27.5" (100%)  Hmmmmm.....the nurse told me 27.75.  Either way, she's long/tall!
Weight:  19 lb. 8 oz.  (100%)
Head:  42 cm. (77%)

As big as Carson was, I don't think he ever hit 100%!  :)  I asked Dr. Boley (kind of jokingly, kind of not) if it was/would ever be a concern.  He said no, she was just healthy and was just going to be tall.  :)  Especially since she's breastfed, he had no concerns at all with her weight.  Carson thinned out w/out issue once he started moving around.  I love all the rolls!  I'd much rather her be chunky than scrawny.  :)

Dr. Boley said she seems right on track as far as development goes. And her head is rounding out.  :)  Just a barely noticeable flat spot still.

He said we can go ahead and start cereal and fruits/veggies whenever we want now!  Anytime between now and 6 months.  WHAT?!  :)  I knew it was coming, but how is she that old already???  I just had her!  Sigh.  I think I'll try to wait a bit longer before starting her on cereal.  But he did say to go ahead and introduce whatever we want.  I guess you no longer have to wait 3 days between new foods?  He said said to start w/ cereal and then go for it.  "Grab your camera and have fun!"  He suggested that Carson help feed her too to get involved.  Cute.  I can see poor Avery though now getting stabbed in the eye with a tiny little spoon by an over eager Carson.  LOL.  :) 

I'll be sure to post once we start!

Daddy showing off her bandaids

Thank goodness those legs have some meat on them!  ;)

Her pretty dress from Aunt Mandy

Milestones!

(Originally written July 9th)

Seems like a lot has gone on the last couple of weeks!  Avery turned 4 mos. old.  We celebrated the 4th of July.  We got a new deck.  We dealt with illness.  And lots and lots of sleepless nights.  :)

First off, our new deck.  We really wanted a patio but we don't plan on being at our house long-term, so we figured just replacing our existing (dilapidated!) deck was the best (most cost effective) thing.  We're excited to have a bigger space! 

Before

After

Avery Update:

Milestones:  Lots of milestones hit lately for little miss Avery!!  She's rolling!  Well, she has rolled.  LOL.  She rolled belly to back on 6/29 (16w 4d).  She had been showing signs the preceding days so I put her on her belly again that night to see if she'd get close again.  I think she was so pissed at tummy time that she finally flipped herself over - haha!  She looked a little shocked when she ended up on her back.  :)  We all started clapping and yelling.  Carson too - "Good job Avery!"  It was so cute.  I was so excited that Lucas and I were both there to see it.  It seemed like I missed a bunch of Carson's firsts.

Right before.  Notice how MAD she is!

YAY Avery!!

That same night, she found her toes!  She's been grabbing at them since then.

Then on 7/5 (4 mos. exactly), she rolled from back to belly!  I think she was just trying to see the TV, but...she did it.
She can stop growing up now any time.  :)

Ear infection:  Avery had a cold for a couple of weeks but was pretty much over it.  I went out for the first time w/ Mandy (6/30)  (so much fun!), and not even 10 minutes into our night, Lucas called to say that Avery had a fever!  (Another first I missed I guess!) It wasn't that high but enough to make her fussy for sure.  She ran a fever the rest of the weekend, getting up to 102.1.  Not horrible since she's over 3 months old, but it was obvious that she was miserable.  Her skin was hot to the touch and we had to just leave her in her diaper.  Poor thing!  I went ahead and took her to the doctor Monday to rule out an ear infection, etc.  But he actually confirmed that she DID have one.  He said she probably had a virus too but her right ear looked pretty bad and it was obvious that she felt pretty awful.  :(  So we've got one dose left of our first antibiotic.  He confirmed that she definitely had rotavirus (AKA nasty poo) too.  He said to start a probiotic and hopefully that would help.  She's pooing w/ every single feeding now, but knock on wood, it's normal poo!  Anyway, it took a few days of her feeling pretty yucky, but she seems to be on the mend.  :) 

Teething:  We think Avery's teething now too (started around 17-18 weeks).  She's been drooling constantly for a while and lately, she's been chewing on everything and pretty fussy.  If I remember correctly, Carson started teething early and had symptoms for months before that first tooth popped through!

Swaddle-buster:  We're still struggling hard-core with sleep.  We swaddle at night and she's been busting out!  She wants that right arm out for sure.  But she usually wakes up then.  I'm tempted to just wean her now, since her sleep isn't great anyway.  But she does sleep better with it, and selfishly, I'm so tired.

"I will not be contained!" 

Carson Update: 

Quotes:  I've been bad lately about writing everything he says down, but I've caught a few.  He just cracks us up pretty much constantly.  I'm amazed at some of the stuff he says.  :)
 - "Crayons, line up.  Ready to go outside.  Good job crayons."  :)  (They must line up to go outside at daycare!"
 - "It's ok, Avery.  Mommy needs to get your boogies!" - Reassuring Avery when Mommy had to get out the nose bulb sucker!
 - "Avery can't play in the pool Mommy.  She's too little.  Maybe when she's bigger". - This in fact is the start of many things.  Avery can't do quite a lot because she's too little.  But maybe soon.....  :)
 - "She's too little to wrestle bellies with me?"
 - "My piggy toes are too cute!"
 - "I just wanna........(you name it!)" - Watch TV, take a bath, see my friends, etc., etc.
 - "Could I.......(again, you name it!)" - But oh how cute!  I'm not sure if they do this at daycare, but lately everything is "Could I please.....".  I just love it!!

Sweet brother:  Carson continues to be the best big brother!  He just adores his sister and is always looking out for her.  I just love seeing them interact more.  I hope they grow up to be the best of friends.  When they're not beating each other up, that is.  :)

Best brother ever 

More pictures from the last few weeks:

Avery's first ponytail!  The air broke at daycare (yikes!), so Miss April kept her cool!

Snuggling w/ Mommy and a fever.  :(

Mr. Cool in the pool

Starting to feel better.  Stayed home w/ Mommy. 

How cute is this dress??

Outfit from the Milli!

Her first shoes!!

On our way to Nana and Papa's

Look at those thighs!!

Found her thumb!

Smiles!!

More piggytails courtesy of daycare  :)

4th of July

It was 102 degrees here on the 4th of July.  Gross.  So the Bland family stayed indoors a majority of the day.  :)  We did finally venture out into the kiddie pool for a bit.  Avery had her first swim.  She seemed to not hate it at least.  Haha. 

Daddy REALLY wanted Carson to see the fireworks this year.  It was just too hot and the kids are just too little to sit out anywhere or fight the crowds.  But we did at least park down the hill so we could see many of the big ones.  (Avery and I stayed in the air conditioned truck).  Avery had a meltdown about 5-10 minutes in though so we cut it short and convinced Carson that they were over.  :)  He enjoyed what he saw.  Maybe next year, we can do a baseball game or something.
(

Outfit #1

Sweet brother

Tickle Avery!

Outfit #2 which perhaps was unable to be buttoned up in the back!  But still totally adorable for pictures! 

Handsome boy  :)

Outfit #3  (Note that I did not buy all of these!)

I love this, despite the fact that he's squishing his sister's head! 

And here are some pool pics for the day!  Avery's first time.  She was less than thrilled about putting on her swimsuit.  (Which by the way is her second one because the first one that I bought (SO cute!!) was too small and she never got to wear it.  :(  ).  We put a giant umbrella up in the corner of the pool and hung out for a bit.  She seemed to like it. 

Does this make me look fat??

Fireworks with Daddy!

4 Months!

Avery turned 4 months old on July 5th!  I can't believe how fast the time is flying!  I just want to slow her down sometimes!  :)

Avery weights approximately 18 lbs!  She's still wearing 3-6 mos. clothes (some of it barely).  She's technically still in size 2 diapers but needs to move up to size 3.  (We still have 2 boxes of size 2.  One we just opened so we'll try to use up.  The second, we'll have to try to trade in).  She's rolling!  (More to come on that one).  She found her toes.  She grabs/holds toys and brings them to her mouth.  She holds herself  up really well/does well with tummy time.  She sits in her bumbo.  She babbles and smiles all the time.  :)  She's all around pretty wonderful. 

I think she looks so much bigger in her pictures than in person!  But here are her "elephant" pics!  :)