Growing so fast

Well, it was just over a week ago that the first tooth popped through. Today the second popped through. I guess I have to say goodbye to her gummy little smile and hello to a toothy smile.

She's getting up on her hands and knees, still not at the same time, but doing it. She's been standing with me holding her or with her leaning on me. She actually tried to take a step toward my SIL last week, but it was a fail. I'm not looking forward to that day! So we now need to venture into the world of baby proofing the house. The outlets have had their covers on before Madison came along because Bailey liked to lick the outlets when he was a baby dog.

So not only do we need to baby proof but we need to move the mattress for the crib down because she can sit up and she isn't too far off from pulling herself up to stand. We are also retiring her bouncy seat because its not safe for her to be in now that she can sit up unassisted. I'm sure her exersaucer isn't too far behind since she is such a tall baby girl!

Can we just slow down time for a little while???

Long time no talk

Well, we've had quite the adventure and Christmas isn't over for us yet.

Friday Dec 17th we headed out to Wisconsin to stay with my friend for the weekend. We got there Friday afternoon and hung out.

Saturday morning we were getting ready to go to her mom's house to do our annual Cookie Day. Well, I was finishing up getting ready and Roberta tells me to peek out the bedroom door. I took a little look and there they were. Her 7 year old son sitting on the floor with Madison in front of him and her toys in front of her watching cartoons. She would get a little crabby and he would lean down and whisper a little something to her and she would be fine. It was the sweetest thing ever. We had a great time baking and playing and all. Madison seemed to enjoy her time too. She got to have Al try to teach her to crawl and had so many people to snuggle and play with her. Oh, Madison's first tooth broke through the gums on this day too! So excited!

Sunday we went to stay with my mom who loved every minute of Madison being there. We had some drama but that is neither here nor there. We didn't let it stop us from having a good time and visit.

Monday we met Dan and the dogs at the hotel. It was nice to be with my husband during the week.

Tuesday, I drove out to Gurnee Mills to meet up with some friends from high school and have lunch and do some shopping. I went early and got Madison's pictures taken with Santa. She didn't know what to make of Santa. There was no crying and no smiling, but she pulled on his beard. As I was walking out I ran into an old boyfriend's brother, who I spoke to for a little while. Well then as I walked out of the store into the mall I ran into the old boyfriend's mother, I talked to her and she told me he was there. I wasn't really expecting it, but ok. I went in and found him with her. We talked for a while. He made a big mistake a long time ago, but he's not a bad guy. He's actually one of the nicest, sweetest guys I know. Then I walked down and met the girls for lunch and shopping. We had so much fun. I wish we could have hung out longer.

Wednesday, Dan & I ordered some food and stayed in. It was really nice. I have the best husband ever!

Thursday, I took Madison over to my mom's in the morning because 1. we were moving back there for the holiday weekend and 2. Mom was going to watch Madison while I went to get my hair cut and colored. My brother and SIL with their kids had come in on Wednesday and were staying there too. It was a full house because Dan and the dogs showed up that afternoon! We celebrated Christmas with my brother, SIL and the kids that night. It was a blast watching the kids open their gifts. Afterward we watched Christmas movies and hung out. Did I mention that Madison slept in my mom's closet? Yes, she did. Mom wanted access to her room when Madison napped and there wasn't any other space to put her since we were so full that Mom put up the pack & play in her walk-in closet! Madison loved it because she had the best naps ever in there & she slept through the entire night! I'm not talking 8 hours, I'm talking 11 hours straight at night and instead of a 90 min nap we are talking 2 - 2 1/2 hours!

Friday - Christmas Eve! My brother and his family left, which was a little sad that they didn't get to stay and be with all of us for Christmas, but we got some really cute pictures of the 3 kids (his 2 and Madison) by the tree. That evening we went to Roberta's for dinner and to celebrate Christmas with them. Dinner was delicious, but then again I never expect any less from Roberta. She's a great cook!

Saturday - Christmas Day! I love Christmas. I was so excited to see Madison open her presents and have her first Christmas. It was so different having a baby to wake up with on Christmas morning and seeing her excitement to rip paper and play bows. It was the best Christmas present ever!

Sunday - We did our long drive back. Madison slept most of the way. Dan was happy to see us (He left Saturday night). My wonderful husband did the grocery shopping before we got there. I started to feel a little sick (my throat was hurting and still is) so he did the laundry and made dinner too. 

Survived the 6 month shots!

Friday, I took Madison in for her 6 month well baby. She cried when the nurse looked at her. I guess she knew what was coming. She gained 2 lbs and is now 15 1/2 lbs! She is also 1 3/4 inches taller and is now 26 3/4 inches. I have quite a tall baby. She is in the 95 percentile for height but only 50 percentile for weight. She got her normal 6 month vaccines plus her flu shot. She did not like them at all, but settled down pretty quick after getting them. Doctor said she was a pretty healthy baby.

We went home right after and baby girl went down for a nap. She woke up 2 hours later totally happy! What a change from after her 4 month shots! She only cried when I accidently touched her thigh (where shot got her shots) when we were playing and I was tickling her. Later that night a fever showed its ugly head. It was never over 101, but we gave her some tylenol and put her to bed. She woke up in the morning with no fever, but it showed up again Saturday afternoon and we gave her another dose of tylenol. She has been fine ever since.

We have to go back for a flu booster in the beginning of January. After that we don't go back until she's almost 9 months, but no shots at that one!

Sleep

Sleep has been a hard thing to get around here. Little Miss Madison has been waking up crying multiple times a night. The only thing that had been stopping it was me picking her up, but as soon as you put her back down she starts screaming again. So after doing that 3 or 4 times, I'd just pick her up and bring her to bed with me. Most nights I would lay there with her and let her sleep there until she fell hard asleep, then move her back to her crib where she would sleep for at least 3 hours at a time. This started almost 2 months ago. Before that she was sleeping through the night, though some nights she might wake up once, but all you had to do was turn on her music. So I decided yesterday that we were going to start her napping in her crib and using the CIO method because I can't keep this up.

Nap #1 in her crib she cried for 15 mins before falling asleep. Now I would walk in and rub her back after 5 mins of crying. I want her to know that I'm still there and will be there when she needs me. She slept for an hour and a half.

Nap #2 in her crib. No crying right off the bat. After 40 mins of sleeping she woke up crying and I walked in patted her back for a few seconds and then walked out. She napped for another 50 mins!

Nap #3 in her crib. No crying at all. She slept for about 30 mins and then it was time to get up to eat.

Overnight - I put her down in her crib at 8:45, no problems. She slept until 10 when we started the crying game. I walked in patted her back for a few seconds walked out. This went on every 5 mins for 45 mins. After that she slept until 6 am! At this time she cried for a second and then fell back asleep, waking at 7:30 this morning! I call this success! Yes, because it would have gone on all night until I pulled her into bed with me and I didn't have to do that this time!

Today so far she is on Nap #2 in her crib. This morning, there was no crying until she woke up after a hour and a half. Nap #2 is going very well. Seems like it will mimic this mornings nap! Now, I'm hoping tonight is better than last night.

I'm so proud of myself for sticking with it and proud of my baby girl for doing better!

This past week.

Boy, this past week has been a whirlwind of craziness. I was unable to blog due to computer issues. I felt so out of touch that it wasn't even funny.

Monday - We arrived in the North Suburbs of IL in the early afternoon. It was in the 60's and stormy. A few tornados touched down in IL & WI. One of which, touched down basically across the street from a friend's house. We had to cancel our plans for the next day due to this because of the damage and she had no electricity. It was scary.

Tuesday - Madison and I had lunch with my mom. It was nice to spend some time with her. That night after Dan and my parents got off work. My parents picked up Madison, so she could spend the night with them. Yes, thats right it was my first baby free night since I got pregnant! It was truely hard to let her go. I took her out to the car and buckled her in. Then walked back into our room, where I was promptly greeted by both the dogs, who were fighting to lay on top of me. Maggie ended up winning. ShIt e cuddled with me for quite a while. Then Dan and I went to go see Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part 1 on the IMAX. When the movie was over I called my mom to check on Madison. It was the only call I made that night. She was already asleep and doing fine.

Wednesday - Mom brought Madison back to me and we loaded up the truck and took our stuff and the dogs over to my parents. We basically hung out there until it was time to go pick up Dan from work. After that we went up to see my friend, Roberta and her family. It was nice being able to have time with them. They love my baby girl so much and us of course and we love them!

Thursday - Thanksgiving Day! Madison watched her first Thanksgiving Day parade. We headed over to my Aunt & Uncle's for dinner. It was a great time. As we gathered around the table to eat, I realized how truely rich and blessed I am. We are not rich in the sense that we have money, but in the sense that we have such wonderful people in our lives.  Our families, our friends and lets not forget about our pets. I am thankful for everyone in my life. I would not be who I was if it were not for all of them. It is these wonderful people that makes my life a happy one. After dinner, we all had gathered in the living room and Madison was laughing at my Uncle's dog barking! It was so funny. She had everyone amused.

Friday - We got up and drove home. Oh, what a long drive it was. We got home, unloaded, and pretty much headed over to Dan's sister's house for Thanksgiving with his family. We had a blast with them. Its always fun. At the end of the night, I basically shoved the baby at his oldest nephew and he had no choice put to hold her. Yep, I'm evil, but now, he realizes its not a horrible or scary thing to hold a baby. Tons of pictures where taken! Too bad Dan had taken my camera to the car already!

Amazing

Last night my friend, Jill, her daughter Jade and their dog, Paityn came to visit us. This was definitely not the first time they came over. Jade is a week older than Madison and its just amazing at how much these two girls have developed. The first time somewhere around 3 months old (ish) they both cried. If we got one calm, the other would have a fit. It became a little game to them I think. The next time they did better, then the last time they layed together under Madison's activity gym together and Jade grabbed Madison's shirt and they held hands. It was nice. Then last night they played independently for a while and then held them face to face. Oh, my! I was ready for all hell to break lose, but they played together. They held hands and reached for each other. They talked to each other.

I just find it amazing that 2- 5 month old girls can interact with each other as they did last night. It makes me so happy and so proud to be a Mom. Its so great to see the milestones and growth that my baby has made.

Its that time of year

When I become a hunting widow. So if I'm a hunting widow, does that make Madison a hunting orphan?

Anyway, hubby had last week off for hunting and plans to hunt on weekends. He has been informed that he cannot hunt like he has in the past because we have a child now that deserves his attention. Since we had the talk about it, things have been better. He took a day off to spend with us and a couple other times took 1/2 a day off to spend with us too. I try as hard as I can to deal with his hunting because he works so hard for us and it allows me to stay home with our baby girl, however, he needs to do his share of understanding and take some time to spend with us, so that I can have a tiny break too.

We've been making plans for Thanksgiving and Christmas. It will be fun to see Madison during the holidays. I can't wait to see her stare at the lights on the tree in awe or her reaction to Santa. Look for the fun posts to follow on her first holidays!


Oh and in case I don't make it back here this week - Happy 30th Birthday, Christine! I wish we could come celebrate with you!

Mom Vacation?!

So as my wonderful husband's vacation is coming up, I'm wondering, when do I get a vacation? He's not going anywhere but out into the fields to hunt. That leaves me at home with a baby and 2 dogs all day long every day. Out of the house by 5 am and home after 7pm. He deserves it because he works hard for us, but I'm beginning to think he doesn't feel the same about what I do. Now, yes, I get to stay home with my baby girl and take care of her, so I don't work in the sense that I go to a job everyday, but I work! Its hard work raising a baby and taking care of 2 dogs and a house. Not to mention that I have to remember everything and do little errands for him too.  I am work around the clock 24/7. Even when he is home I do the majority of things Yes, he helps, but I feel like I have to ask him to take the baby so I can get a minute to myself. So tell me when does Mom get a vacation? Its beginning to feel like Mom won't get one until the child(ren) are 18 and out of the house. Don't get me wrong, I love my little girl and being able to take care of her, but I need a break every now and then too and without having to ask for it.

I love being a Mom!

I do, really, really do love being a mom! I just can't help it. Its the best job to have. Now I know it doesn't pay you actual money, but it pays in love and affection. Today I put Madison in her crib so I could go take a shower. I took the monitor into the bathroom with me so I can hear her. The whole time I was taking my shower she was yelling & screeching. Just having a good old time in her crib. It was so cute to be able to hear her. She made me laugh.

I get to stay home and watch this little girl grow up. I get to be here for all of her firsts. I get to teach her things as she grows. I get to be here everyday to hear her laugh and chatter, to see her smile and to comfort her when she cries.

Home Sweet Home

Well, We made it home on Sunday. Got to spend a very short amount of time with my husband since he left Monday to go to work. Its really hard to go from having so much help and companionship to none again. At least it seems that Madison has kicked her cold. Now if the weather would cooperate, so I could get a decent nights sleep, that would be great.

I'm having some issues with my back the last few days. Its been super sore like I worked out. I guess it could be all the stuff I've done in the last few days getting settled at home again. I'm going to take it easy for the next few days and see what happens.

Trip!

Wow! Its been a while since I posted. Time is flying by so fast. Well, Dan went fishing for the week, so I loaded up the baby and both dogs to head to my mom's for the week. Everyone behaved on the way in at least. It has definitely not been a smooth ride since we arrived though.

Come to find out pretty quickly that my Bailey (15 month old Yellow Lab) is skiddish! He's perfectly fine at home, but here he's afraid of everything. He's afraid for the grill (at home he sniffs and licks up all the grease around the grill!) He's afraid of the umbrella (a table umbrella). He's afraid of the ceiling fan (he's fine with that one at home), He's afraid of the basement (both dogs are crated in the basement at home at night). He's afraid of my mom walking/running on the treadmill (I do the samething at home and he's fine with it). I just don't get it. Where did this come from?

Madison has not been sleeping well. We started her on cereal the day we got here, so I don't know if its the cereal or if she just isn't use to her Memaw's house. It could even be her cold. Yes, my baby has her first baby cold. Every night seems to get better, but she's been waking up like 5 or 6 times a night. All I have to do is get up and rub her belly and talk to her, to let her know I'm there and she quiets down and falls back asleep.

If I knew for sure it was just her surroundings, I might have already packed us all up and gone home because I need some sleep! On the plus side, I have help every night, so even if I deal with a crabby baby and obnixious dogs I get a break when everyone gets home from work. 

Ventures into baby food making!

Oh, so much fun! I don't know why more women don't make their baby's food. There are so many great things about it.

1. Its cheaper than buying premade baby food.
2. You know what is in the food your baby is eating.
3. Isn't it just so much better to know that your child will be eating something that you made?
4. You can make it ahead of time and freeze it, so you don't have to scramble to make it later.

I'm sure there is so much more, but I can't think of them right now.

I decided that since I get to stay home with my daughter I should make her food. Since its going to save us some money in the long run, my husband was behind me on this. We already had a food processor, so we didn't need much. I had him go out to pick up some baby food containers. I know that ice cube trays would work, but with the stuff we have in our freezer (Deer meat, some times a deer head, thanks to hubby's hunting and wanting to mount stuff) I didn't feel safe putting my daughter's food in an ice cube tray even with plastic wrap over it, since hubby likes to put stuff on top of the ice cube trays. So I wanted the covered trays that you use for baby food. Well, he comes home with 2 other options, not bad ones, just others.

So we went to the apple orchard/pumpkin farm yesterday. We got a couple of acorn squash, a pumpkin and some apples. My MIL had brought us some butternut squash after she heard I was going to make Madison baby food. So we had lots to make.

Its all fairly easy to do. We put both squash & the pumpkin in the oven to cook. Then you just puree it, put it in containers and freeze! The apples we didn't have to cook. We just peeled, cored & pureed with a tiny bit of water, put in containers and froze. The apples actually got done yesterday. We don't have enough containers to puree and freeze all at the same time, so I'm doing this in shifts. So I put all the apple cubes into a plastic bag and labeled them. Then cleaned everything and pureed the pumpkin today. The pumpkin is currently in the freezer. I think I can do both squashes tomorrow and we will be done! Woohoo! I don't think I will need to make more food for a few weeks.

I'm very proud of myself. My baby will be eating such good, yummy, fruits and veggies that I made for her.

Its just not fair!

I don't understand the world sometimes. I have a friend who has been TTC for almost a year now. She and her husband are one of the most loving, caring & devouted couples that I know. I don't know anyone that deserves to have a child more than them. Yet, here they are having a hard time. Then there are other people in the world who are having kids that don't take care of them because they are too busy being drug addicts, alcoholics, or just plain selfish people. These are the people who if they just get looked at a certain way end up with a new baby on the way. Its just not right or fair! It really kills me to know how unfair life truly is. I cross my fingers and toes and everything else I possibly can each month in hopes that it helps my friend. I think good thoughts and yes I pray for her. Now, if she were reading this she would know how much I wanted her to get what she has always wanted because she knows I do not pray often. 

I know that she is happy for me and she was there for me when I was pregnant. I always felt bad about leaning on her because she was having a rough go of it, but I know that if I didn't lean on her, she would have killed me for that! Ok, maybe not killed. Its her ability to help others when she is having a rough time, that seals it for me in my mind that she will be a great mother, plus the long journey they are having to get there, will make her enjoy it all the more. The day she finds out she is pregnant will be a day full of such joy and a bottle of champagne will be popped in my house to toast to the end of her journey to getting pregnant and her journey into motherhood beginning. I am positive this day will come for her.

Doctor's appt

Yesterday we took Madison for her 4 month check-up. We got to see how well our little one is growing. She is up to 13 lbs 8 1/2 oz and 25 inches tall! Woohoo! She got her 4 month shots too. 4 total shots - 1 oral and 3 needle sticks. She did good with the oral vaccine. I wanted to give Madison a "snack" bottle during her needle sticks, however, the nurse did not give me a chance to even though I told her thats what I wanted to do. She just went quick and when I said something to her I got a "well, it won't matter until you pick her up," from her. I just really wanted to smack her. It took me about 15 mins to calm Madison down enough to even accept the bottle. She ate about an ounce and then seemed pretty happy. Dan took her to put her pants back on her while I cleaned up our stuff.

She ended up with a fever last night. It was a 100.6 degrees for axillary. My poor baby. I gave her a second dose of tylenol (she received the first around 2pm when she started being fussy because her legs were hurting). I can't even tell you how many times I checked on her last night because of the fever. She was also up and down so many times. I just wanted to take her pain for her. She woke up this morning a happy little baby with no fever.

I'm a weeping mess!

Why is it that since becoming a mom I've become a weeping mess?! I just don't understand it. The first couple of weeks I would have blamed it on the hormones, but they should have leveled out by now. I watched a video of a little boy running to his dad, that had been gone for a while (military) and it made me cry. Even some commercials have me crying. My little girl's first laugh yesterday made me cry! I'm sitting here typing and I'm crying. I'm not sad. I'm not depressed! So what is the deal?! Have I been bitten by the crying bug? Has some monster invaded my body and its evil goal is to rid me of every tear I could possibly make?

It's hard to do the right things for your baby

Nowadays there are so many "rules" on what to do and not to do with an infant.

You should not let your baby sleep with a blanket.
You shouldn't use bumpers in the baby's crib.
You shouldn't use baby powder.
Baby should sleep on its back.

There are a million other things that I cannot even think of at this moment. Its not like our children come with instruction manuals. I feel like everyday I'm reading or being told that I should do this with my child or I shouldn't do that with my child. How do you know what to believe anymore? How did our generation survive?  I slept with a blanket on my tummy, my crib had bumpers and my mom used baby powder! How do you decide what is right for your child or your family? Most of my decisions so far have been helped with talking to my daughter's pediatrician and discussing with my husband.

Another part to this is why do other woman feel like it is their business to tell you, you are wrong in what you decide for your family? Some women get grief for formula feeding while others get it for breastfeeding in public. Your baby needs to be fed some way or another and both of these are good ways to feed them.  I wish I had the "balls" to feed her in public, but I didn't. I know there will be somethings other women do that I won't agree with, but its not my business or place to tell anyone else how to raise their children. If its a matter of safety, such as a baby not being strapped into a carseat with a car in motion, damn straight I'm going to say something!

Funny how fast things change

So a year ago, the news of my being pregnant was just starting to sink in and today I was awoken by the sounds of my little girl cooing away in her crib. Our 2nd bedroom was a guest room a year ago, and now the 2nd bedroom is Madison's room and the guest bed is in the loft. A year ago, I had 2 dogs and a husband, now I have a husband, 2 dogs and an almost 4 month old baby!

I know this change took a year, but the truth is it feels like it happened over night. My mom keeps saying "just wait, you'll blink your eye and she'll be 16. Then you'll blink again and she'll be getting married. One more blink and she'll be having kids of her own." I hope this isn't true. I want to enjoy as much of this time as possible! Maybe it will be different because I'm staying home with her and my mom had to work. I can pray that it slows down, but the truth is it feels like I just brought her home yesterday and today she's sitting with support, sleeping at night and getting ready to start foods.

How does this happen? Why does the time have to go so fast?! I thought high school and college went by fast, but it seems like time is going even faster now that I have my little girl!

Thinking about the day that changed my life.

It was Oct 6, 2009 somewhere around 3pm that my life changed for the better. I had been sick with flu like symptoms for a week. The morning of Oct 6th I called the doctor's office to get in to see them. They had an appt for 2:55pm (I still have it written down). Since I am a woman of child bearing age, they had me do the peeing in a cup thing. Now, my husband and I had just started to not prevent anything from happening, so I thought nothing of it. Well, within minutes the doctor walked in and said "well, we know why you are so nauseous and tired." I said, "You haven't even given me an exam." My wonderful doctor replied, "I don't need to because you are PREGNANT!" I was so shocked and happy. I hadn't expected this to happen so soon. It was the best news I could have gotten that day or any day! It was the best day of my life at that point. Even better than my wedding day (which had only been just over 3 months earlier). I loved my daughter (though I wouldn't have any idea that she would be a girl for months) from that very moment. I never imagined that, that love would grow exponentially as she grew.

Introduction

Hi! I'm Sandi and am 31 years old. I married my best friend, Dan on March 21, 2009 after 6 years of dating. We have 2 dogs. Maggie, a 3 year old black Labrador who we got in 2007 and Bailey a 14 month old yellow Labrador who we got in 2009. Last, but definitely not least we have our beautiful baby girl, Madison Elizabeth, who was born June 16, 2010 at 10:23 pm weighing in at 7 lb 1/2 oz and 20 inches long. As the blog is titled Baby Makes 5!

I have been blessed to be able to stay home and watch our daughter grow. I get to see the interactions of her and our 2 dogs on a daily basis. Plus get to see all of her firsts!

This blog will cover all ends of my life. The happy times, the struggles and even the gross things that babies  and dogs do. Its mostly for me to get out everything that I've been thinking and feeling but don't feel able to do when face to face with someone. Hopefully, you all will be supportive and get entertainment from it!