Anna Kate - 8 months

Where does the time go?!?!?! Anna Kate is 8 months old now - weighing in at 19.8 pounds, she is quite a handful. It's funny how it seems like time flies, but in the same instance I can barely remember life without her around. Her personality is showing through so much now - sweet and loving yet quite opinionated.

I'm excited to tell you that She started crawling a couple weeks ago. Here's a video I made of her - crawling is just so cute!

You all know what comes with crawling, right? PULLING UP of course! Two days after she officially started crawling (she's been going backwards for a good 2 months now) I looked over at her playing by her toys and she was standing up holding on to the side of the basket! This led me to try to see if she would walk while holding my hands which has become her new favorite thing to do - we spent the last 10 minutes of Gracie's basketball game last Saturday "walking" because it was the only thing that made her stop crying...

Here she is enjoying her first Oreo cookie - we had to take it away and distract quickly - she is definitely a fan! 

Some other things Anna Kate is doing now include giving kisses to everyone and everything (stuffed animals, etc) and playing peek-a-boo with us. The peek-a-boo is so funny! Of course we've been playing it with her for several weeks now - Jon holds his hands up in front of her and says "Where's punkin'?" and she grabs his hands and pulls them down; I put the blanket over her head and she pulls it off, etc... Now Anna Kate has her own version of the game and she plays it at various times - including the middle of the night when she wakes up... Here's how it goes: She usually wakes up at least once per night - I know I should be working toward stopping this, but I'm not actually worried about it - When I go to pick her up from her bed, she pulls the blanket up over her head and "hides" until I get close. Then, she quickly pulls the blanket down and smiles at me, but just as quickly covers her head back up with the blanket! It just doesn't get much sweeter than that - even at 2 o'clock in the morning!

I wanted to tell you about a recent "scare" we had at her 6 month checkup. The doctor was concerned about her head circumference. He said it had grown too quickly and wanted to re-measure it 6 weeks later - which was a couple weeks ago. The possible concern was that the fluid wasn't draining off of her brain as it should which could have made her head grow too quickly. Jon and I talked about it and decided to have Anna Kate prayed for at church. I don't know if your church does things like this or not, but if someone is sick, has tests coming up, or needs God's healing touch in some other way, we have a special prayer for them (if requested) at our church. My prayer was that when we took Anna Kate back for the re-measure for it all to be just perfect and for her not to need any further testing. [If you have ever had to watch your child go through testing at a hospital or doctor's office you will understand this - when Caroline had heart surgery, it was soooooo hard for me to watch her getting poked and prodded by the doctors and nurses.] I was able to pray that prayer for Anna Kate and God took the concern from me nearly immediately! I had a few moments over that 6 week waiting period when I would play out the possibilities in my mind, but for the most part I didn't even think about it. When we went back to the doctor, Anna Kate's head measured perfectly - the doctor was no longer concerned and required no further testing! I am so very thankful that God was mindful of me and my prayer - I wanted to share this with you all because I feel so small and unworthy of the great things that he has done for me in my life!

Trials of a Mother of 3

This is going to the most interesting thing you've read all day - no doubt about it...

I haven't felt great all week, but my stubbornness showed through this week and I didn't go to the doctor. I kept thinking I would get better, but that just didn't happen. Maybe I would have been okay if it hadn't been for Tuesday night. Anna Kate slept no more than 3 hours all night long so neither did I :( It went something like this -

8:00 PM - Anna Kate goes to bed at the normal time (8-ish)and all seems to be well with our world.
10:00 PM - Jon and I go to bed.
10:10 PM - Anna Kate wakes up crying (screaming actually) - I'm thinking she may be hungry but most likely just needs a cuddle and will go back to sleep
10:50 PM she's still awake and I begin to wonder if she's cutting another tooth, but when I feel around her mouth there are no "tooth bumps" - turn on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse - more crying
11:30 PM - still awake - try to watch Word World - her all time favorite show - no good! Give her tylenol and wonder if I should call the doctor
12:00 PM finally get to sleep - thanks Tylenol -
1:00 AM - Anna Kate wakes up again and I know I should be moving faster but it's just not happening - still wonder what on earth is keeping her up all night long...
2:00 AM - back to sleep in the recliner
4:00 AM - wake Jon up because I can't hold my head up any longer
6:00 AM - get up and iron school clothes, make breakfast and lunches, and be pleasant when waking Gracie and Caroline for school
7:00 AM plan to call the doctor at 8:00 

AND THEN IT HAPPENED ********FLASHBACK to 10 years ago**************

I finally figured out it had to be an ear infection! So, I called the doctor at 8:00 and took the first appointment I could get (with a different doctor than our regular one, of course). Lucky for us it was at 8:45! Jon and I got in the car and headed to Rivergate only to get behind the absolute slowest car on the road Wednesday morning - my nerves were shot! I can't remember the last time I passed someone on a highway, but it happened Wednesday morning because it was just getting on my nerves that he would not exceed 40 MPH - not even going down the ridge!

The doctor confirmed the ear infection and gave us an antibiotic - the normal pink stuff. Herein begins Trial #2 - getting Anna Kate to take antibiotics - we probably should have videoed it. The faces she made, the swatting at the syringe, and finally the puking it all back up - YEP! We had to do it twice. By the third dose of the day, she was getting better at taking it though. AND she slept!

This next part is where I learned a valuable lesson in being a mother of three kids who constantly need something. By Thursday, I was feeling rough. I finally gave in to my stubbornness and went to the doctor - I had so much sinus pressure that my teeth were hurting. As I was driving to the doctor's office I thought about how much easier the past few days would have been if I weren't feeling badly too - and I made the decision not to let it go next time. The doctor prescribed Bactrim (SP?) and as she said the name of the medicine I had a moment when I remembered there was something bad about that medicine - but what was it???? My brain was too tired to remember.....until this morning - two doses later. I was sitting in the rocking chair with Anna Kate (who is much better by the way) and I remembered breaking out in hives from head to toe just a few short months ago. My skin immediately started itching as I tried to remember the name of that medicine that made me have the reaction.... I couldn't remember, so I tried calling the doctor (still itching) who conveniently closes at 11:30 on Fridays (It was 12:00). Finally, I remember that I had the prescription filled at a Walgreens and call them. They confirmed that I did have an allergic reaction to none other than BACTRIM! UGH! I spent a good part of the afternoon trying to get that prescription changed and finally did get something different called in to the pharmacy. I do not have hives this time, but just the thought of how bad they were that time made my skin crawl (i'm itching right now as I type about it).

Accountability is Stupid, Stupid, Stupid

Does everyone remember that blog post I did recently about accountability? Well, let me just say that accountability STINKS!!!!!

I am sick. It started a couple of days ago with a sniffle and now I have a full blown cold - can't breathe, can't sleep, and as of around 8 o'clock this morning I was thinking

Having a Baby Sister by Gracie Hall

Gracie had a school assignment over the summer where she had to write a report about an adventure she had during the break. I came across it this week and thought it would be a good thing to have on the blog - just in case I misplace it again...Most kids probably wrote about vacation, but since we had a newborn, there was very little travel involved in those short 8 weeks that the kids get for summer break.

When we talked about the assignment before we had the baby.

Avocado LOVE

In the past few years I have discovered that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE avocados! Trust me, I'm surprised too! I was the girl who NEVER wanted to even see guacamole on my plate at the mexican restaurant.

Sleep Deprived

Anna Kate and I had a pretty rough day today. It started at 4 o'clock this morning when she woke up. This is fairly normal for her - she usually just drinks a bottle and goes right back to sleep. This morning she drank her bottle, I laid her down in her crib, and she started babbling and fussing a bit. Then the fussing turned into crying that didn't stop until I went to get her. The good part [or bad] is that she went back to sleep at 5 AM. The rest of the day was a repeat of the above...it was kinda bad y'all! The culprit was discovered this evening after my workout (see below for gruesome details of that) - She cut her first tooth!!!

Now, being a mom of 3 has its good points, right? Things like when I am old and can't take care of myself, I have three shots at having a compassionate daughter for a nurse (Caroline is the front runner right now). But this is not what I want to talk about...

Anna Kate - 7 months 2 weeks

Anna Kate is getting so big! She has been such a momma's baby since she was tiny, but she is starting to enjoy other people now. Gracie and Caroline are most likely her favorites for now and probably a long time...I am going to try to start blogging her accomplishments about once a month.

Why I Blog

I wanted to clarify for you the reason(s) I blog. There are some really cool things about it that you may not know about.

Remodeling and other things to complain about

We are in the process of adding a bathroom to our home. First we added a baby, and now this! Honestly, it seemed like the baby was cheaper than this bathroom. I am leaving out the part where we took our once disastrous dining room-office and turned it into this:

This could be part of the reason it seems like so much upheaval.

School Spirit Week - Nerds and Bobby Soxers

Here are my nerds!

Pork Tenderloin

One of my new favorite dishes is a pork tenderloin recipe that I just threw together on my own in a crunch. I thought I would share it with you. I rarely ever buy pork chops anymore because I like the tenderloin so much better! Here's the deal:

Brush your teeth!!!

If I'e said this once I've said it 10,000 times! Why, oh why can't kids understand that they need to brush their teeth and they need to do a good job?!?!

I just finished flossing and brushing my 10 year old's teeth. She has already gotten a LOT of her adult teeth and I am trying to make sure she keeps them at least until I don't have to pay for the replacements - I mean I should be old and wrinkled and gray headed [if I'm even living] by the time she needs replacement teeth, right?

Making plans and Taking Names

My participation in the recent 5k spawned a 4 month plan to train for the Music City Marathon coming up in April. I officially have a 5k on my calendar for January thru March followed by the 1/2 marathon in April. If you're interested you can sign up here. This is my second attempt at participating in this race. The first time I trained with my BFF, Jen, for several weeks but ended up with a slight knee injury that kept me from finishing.

Commitment

I'm talking about it! I am in desperate need of making a commitment to exercise.

Last week, I took several of the girls' friends roller skating with some other parents. For the record, I do not roller skate. I roller blade. There is a HUGE difference between the two. When I put on roller skates, it just isn't pretty. My feet try to go in about eight different directions at the same time. There was never a point in my life when I could actually pull it off without two people holding my hands and helping me along. That was ok when I was 8 or younger, but it looks pretty ridiculous as an adult. These facts kept me away from roller skating rinks for several years, but then some wise soul invented roller blades! I love that person because I can roller blade like nobody's business! Okay, well, I can make it around the rink without falling... The point is that my body was sore after this event.

Better Days

I think I have landed here at Better Days now. I apologize for my inability to settle down for the past couple of years! If you are one of my previous 12 readers, you will already know the following about me, but I feel the need for an introduction since I have a new blog and all... If you aren't one of my previous readers, you will definitely need some background so read on.

My "starter" blog is still available for reading pleasure. If you are interested just click here.

I am a child of the 70s but just barely. I grew up in the 80s loving Smurfs and Care Bears with a daily dose of Masters of the Universe as a result of having an older brother. I think this probably helped shape me into the person I am today - having an older brother, not watching TV.