New Additions

Since David recently took up his new hobby of fishing, I thought it was time to dust off my old aquarium and set it up for him. He loves all animals and I really think he is going to enjoy having some fish of his own.  So, yesterday David was a big helper as we cleaned it out and got it all ready for the fish. Then today we headed to the pet store and picked out his very first pet fish. 

Helping me get it set up

[sometimes potty training calls for a little "naked time"]

Pointing at his brand new fish - 10 fancy guppy babies

He absolutely LOVES his new aquarium!!

SLEEP

Recently, a good night's sleep in our house has been a hot commodity. Last night, for example, there was very little sleeping going on. Here's how it all went:




10:38pm

I finally finish all of my work for the day and hand Rachael off (asleep) to Ryan so I can take a

shower and get into bed at a reasonable time.




11:02pm

I get out of the shower and hear Rachael screaming at the top of her lungs! I rush through the

rest of my nightly routine and rescue Ryan as quickly as I can.




11:17pm

Ryan, Rachael, Bogie, and I head upstairs to our bedroom.




11:34pm

I nurse Rachael for her last feeding of the night and place her in the bassinet next to the bed.




11:46pm

Ryan turns off the tv and I fall asleep within minutes.




1:39am

Rachael would like to eat again. During this time I have to nudge Ryan several times to quiet his

snoring so that he doesn't wake Rachael completely.




2:00am

Back to sleep.




4:11am

Rachael is restless and can't get comfortable. I decide to feed her again, then place her on my

chest were I know she will be happy.




4:28am

As I'm drifting off to sleep, Bogie begins to dream about all the squirrels he has never been able

to catch in the backyard, and they are taunting him. He is barking so loud that he can't hear me

calling his name. Finally, Ryan snaps his fingers and tells him to be quiet.




6:10am

David wakes up crying and yells for me. I quickly roll Rachael onto the bed next to Ryan, who

also heard David and now knows that Rachael is in the bed. I feel around for my glasses, grab

them, and put them on as I open the door to David's room. There he is, sitting up in his bed,

lamp on, Spider-Man flashlight in hand. "Mama!", he says with a sniffle. "Do you want me to get

in bed with you?", I ask. He nods "yes". I don't close his door all the way so that I can hear

Rachael should she start to cry.




6:20am

David is drifting off to sleep and I begin to make my plan of escape back to my own bed. But,

just before I start to make my move, Bogie pushes the door open so hard it whams the door-

stop causing David to sit up in bed and proclaim, "Ba Ba!". I told David that it was still night time

and he needed to close his eyes.




6:48am

My eyes are doing their best to stay awake, I think I may have dosed off once or twice. David is

still not asleep, but is resting quietly. I have to keep checking the clock. I know that if Rachael

stays on the eating schedule she established during the night she will be hungry soon. I told David

that I would get Daddy to help him go back to sleep. David reluctantly agrees.




6:52am

I wake Ryan up and ask him to see if could have better success with David than I did. I crawl

back into bed and snuggle with the sleeping little girl next to me.




7:26am

Rachael starts crying as if she's having a bad dream. The only way to make it stop is to wake

her. This is easier said than done. I start by gently patting her back and whispering her name.

When that doesn't work I say her name louder and put my cold hand on her cheek. She continues

to cry and at this point it starts to scare me. I prop her up on my pillow and pat her all over trying

to do anything to rouse her. Finally, she opens her eyes, looks right at me, realizes it was just a

dream, and her little face is overcome with the biggest, most adorable, toothless grin. And I am

not tired anymore. [It's amazing what that precious smile can do to your energy level. 1,000 times

more than any cup of coffee.]




7:30am

As I'm feeding Rachael, I hear Ryan and David moving around in his room.




Time to begin another day.

Amid all the woodworking Ryan has been doing, he also made this beautiful step stool for Rachael. He loved the one Santa gave David so much, he just had to make one for Rachael with much more girly-ness, of course. The flowers were given to him by our sweet neighbor, Ms. Linda. She is very crafty and had painted them years ago for a project she never finished. When Ryan mentioned that I requested flowers for Rachael's stool, she generously offer these. I think they look PERFECT!! What a special gift from her Daddy that I know Rachael will treasure forever.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BIG DADDY!

This past weekend we celebrated Big Daddy's birthday. 

David watched as patiently as he possibly could as Ricky put the candles on the cake and lit them. 

Then it was finally time to sing and blow out the candles!

 Big Daddy with all his grandchildren. 

 David learned how to gently steal a little frosting with the help of a candle. He got the hang of it real quick.

 He liked helping Big Daddy open presents too.

Over the last few days I have captured some of the most precious moments between David and Rachael. He absolutely adores his little sister and she is pretty sure he hung the moon. 

For Ryan's next project he is going to build a table and chairs set just like the one he had as a kid. So, a few days ago Bing and Twinkle brought the original over so Ryan could use it as his template to build one for David and Rachael. 

David enjoyed snack time at the same table his Daddy once used. 

The nightstand Ryan made for David is now next to his bed. It's absolutely perfect! Ryan did such a great job making something so special for his son. 

4 Month Check-Up

Rachael went in for her 4 month check-up today. After taking her height and weight measurements, the nurse told me the NP [Nurse Practitioner] would be right in to see Rachael. Just a minute later the NP came in and asked if they could weigh Rachael again. My mind started wondering. Why did they need her weight again? My guesses were that perhaps the nurse forgot to write it on Rachael's chart. Or maybe they didn't have the scale tared. I placed Rachael on the scale again and again it read 11lbs. 10oz. Back in the patient room the NP voiced her concern. Rachael is in the 12% percentile for her weight and 30% for her height [24 inches]. As with our doctor, I really like our NP. Instead of encouraging me to start supplementing Rachael with formula, she suggested I nurse Rachael every 2 hours during the day to help her get more calories. This should also help her sleep better at night. I was very happy to hear that. I nursed David for 12 months and it is my goal to do the same for Rachael. It will be tough having to feed her every 2 hours, but I will do whatever it takes to make sure I have a healthy baby girl. She also said Rachael could start on solids whenever I feel she is ready.
The rest of the check-up went well. The NP was impressed with Rachael's neck strength and head control.
Then came the shots, one in each leg. I don't think I will ever be prepared enough to not cry right along with either of my babies as I try to be the strong one. It's truly heartbreaking.
So, now my main focus is to put some weight on my tiny girl. I will take her by the doctor's office in a month for a weigh-in. I hope to see some significant gains by then.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!

My two sweethearts dressed up in their Valentine's attire to show the love today. Rachael wore her "I [heart] my big brother" top and David was in his "Made with LOVE courtesy of Mom and Dad"shirt. They both looked so cute, as usual. 

To celebrate the day, the three of us made some red velvet chocolate chip cookies with a cream cheese frosting all from scratch. 

They were very yummy!

Happy Valentine's Day!

This weekend we attended the National Wild Turkey Federation convention in Nashville, just like last year. David was very excited to be going to the "turkey show" because he still loves to play his turkey call and pretend to"boom" them. Now, as the Mama of this family I had been thinking about this trip for some time. How in the world were the four of us going to share one room? How was David going to stay asleep through Rachael's nightly fits that are very loud, long crying spells? Would Ryan and I be able to tip-toe around them while getting ready for bed? I didn't know how it was all going to work, but I knew it would somehow. During our drive to Nashville, I got more and more worried about it. I asked for God's help, for Him to calm my fears and give me the confidence to make it all work smoothly. 

We arrived at the hotel and while checking in asked if we could have the room we requested when I made the reservation- an interior facing room with king bed. [Our reason: The hotel is so beautiful on the inside and I thought David would love looking at all the people, especially if we could get a balcony too. I wanted the king bed so that Rachael could sleep in our bed more comfortably and we would only have to lug in one pack-n-play for David.] The receptionist said they had the king bed, but no rooms with a balcony, just a bay window. We settled for the room. We took the elevator to the top floor. Found our room. Opened the door. Walked in. Looked to our left and saw this:

The doors joining our room to a suite next door were wide open and so were our mouths. Could this be right? Are we supposed to be in this room? Did someone make a mistake? Ryan immediately called the front desk to make sure we were allowed to be in the suite and that it was ours for the our entire stay. We were told it was our "lucky day", we had been upgraded free of charge. Right there, in that hotel room, I praised my God for answering my prayers more than I could have ever imagined. My fears relieved. We had more than enough space for David to have his own room (the kitchen just off the suite's living room area) and to run around. Do you see that gigantic window? That's the bay window.  

Pretty Girl stretching her legs after a long drive.

David was so surprise we had such a big room.

My two babies. I'm in love with this picture.

Once we got settled in the room, changed some diapers, and ate a snack we were off to explore all the hotel had to offer.

David was so excited to see everything.

Are you still back there Mama?

He would stop for just a moment to look at the beautiful flowers and waterfalls all over the place.

Next we took a boat ride inside the hotel.

Ryan and David see some fish in the water!

Rachael had a great time too.

One of the many beautiful waterfalls.

After dinner we headed to the Water Show, a fountain set to music and changing colors. David was in awe. He absolutely loved it. 

               

     

Being fed chocolate ice cream while watching didn't hurt either.

Rachael taking in the show.

David giving the show a standing ovation. 

The next day, Friday, was the first day of the convention. We all got ready and headed out. David was just in amazement at all that was going on. SO much to see. We talked with a man from the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency with a Broad-Winged Hawk.  

 David had such a fun time all day long.

 Checking in with Mr. Tommy.

It was a full day of fun, fun, and more fun (with some meals and a nap somewhere in between). The next day (Saturday) it was time to leave. It felt like we had just arrived. Ryan and I agreed we will need more time next year so that we don't feel so rushed with it all. 

 Mama and Rachael saying goodbye to the hotel.

David and "Beer" (a bear dressed like a deer) in the lobby just before leaving.

I can't believe Baby Girl is 4 months old (yesterday)! She is growing so much everyday. She is a Mama's girl, like no other. She will tolerate some else holding her for a maximum of 10 minutes and then she MUST be returned to her Mama's arms to stop the very loud, heartbreaking crying coming for such a little package. Often times the crying stops immediately once returned to me. She loves to snuggle with her Mama, which I love of course. I end up holding her most all day, so I have learned how to do pretty much everything with just one hand. Unloading the dishwasher with one hand, while holding a 12ish lbs. weight in the other, is an incredible workout. But, I don't mind, I know sooner than later she'll be running right behind David and I'll be wishing she would want me to hold her. 

My beautiful little girl in a precious hat made just for her by her GranGran.