Pictures

Drew had today off so we went out to run some errands and we had to go get Taylor her HIB vaccine since they were out at her last appointment. I was dreading it terribly, but glad Drew was going to be there to comfort ME this time! We went up to immunizations and checked Taylor in, they Drew up the vaccine while we took her out of her bucket and put her on the table. She was smiling and talking so I tickled her and told her not to pay attention. The tech poked her with the vaccine, and Taylor looked at me, gave out a little whine, then that was it!! No crying, nothing. By the time we walked the 30 feet to the elevator she was flirting with the guy next to us! Go figure. I told Drew he got off lucky since he didn't have to listen to her cry in pain. Maybe HE should take her to get the rest of her shots, ha!

We came home and I took a couple pictures, so here ya go! Taylor definitely had her Daddy's eyes!



I'm off to cook dinner , just wanted to share the pics!

Finished!

Taylors room finally got finished this morning with Drew's help to hang the wall paper border. I think it turned out pretty cute! What do you think??


I also got quite a bit of cleaning done yesterday and re-arranged the kitchen to accommodate the puppy's kennel in a fully open position to give him more room when he gets here. We'll have to pull the table out when we want to use it, but it will work for now!



I've got to go feed Taylor but I wanted to get these pics up. I'll post more later!

My Hawaii Duo...

Taylor and I went to the scrapbook crop tonight, but I didn't get much done. She was really tired and cranky but couldn't stay asleep so we came home. It was still quite enjoyable though and nice to get out and socialize! I also finished painting her room last night.. the verdict?? Undecided. I can't hang the wall border for another two days so I wont post pics until it's complete. The pink is the right color, but the green doesn't have me 100%. Right now it looks like some fruity candy exploded in there..I'm hoping the border does it's job of breaking it up otherwise I might have to find a darker green. Drew thinks it's fine, of course I'm not sure how reliable his sense of color is after seeing the clothes he puts on some days.. teehee! Kidding!

Dad and Leslie just got back from their trip to Hawaii and they sent us a package. My dress doesn't quite fit just yet, it might have to wait until I'm done breastfeeding unless weight loss alone shrinks the girls down enough for it to fit right. Drew's shirt and Taylors dress fit great though! They both wore theirs yesterday so I snapped a shot because they just looked too darn cute! Here's my Hawaii clad duo...and the loves of my life!


I'm off to bed, g'night!

It's almost time to turn on the AC.

Well we've been trying to make it all the way through April without having the AC on but I don't know if we're going to make it. It's currently 81 degrees in the house but its 9:45 so I've got all the windows open trying to cool it down. We had such a wonderful electricity bill last month (boy is that an oxymoron or what??) that we thought we'd do our best to replicate it this month. We've got 7 days left before May. Can we make it?? So far, not impressed with the weather of "the south". What can you do, right?? Lets just hope my face doesn't have flashbacks of high school with all this humidity!

We did get to see a cool lightning storm last night. I grabbed my camera in an attempt to catch a few lightning bolts but due to cloud cover, only managed to snag these two shots. The sky wasn't really this blue, I just think it looks cool.


So besides trying to stay cool, we've been busy as usual the last couple of days. Tuesday we (that would be Taylor and I) went to Weight Watchers where I surprisingly lost 2.4 lbs! I was totally shocked as the scale hadn't looked like it budged all week. That brings my total to 14 lbs. on the nose. Another 1.6 to my first mini-goal! Can I do it this week?? I hope so! Drew has been doing well too, he's lost somewhere between 10 and 15 pounds, so yay for him! He's not that impressed with some of the changes I've made around the house (only skim milk, whole wheat pasta and light wheat bread, lots of veggies, new interesting recipes). He's handling it quite well though, very few complaints and he even likes some of the new stuff! He's had a thing for oranges lately....

We did some housework and ran a few errands yesterday, otherwise not very eventful. She was pretty cranky, I even took a picture. Some friends don't believe that she is ever cranky since she's always smiling in her pictures. So, here you go... proof she gets cranky!


I've been working on trying to get Taylor to roll over. She can almost roll from back to front but she doesn't quite swing her leg the rest of the way over. Front to back isn't going as well, she gets frustrated easily, but tummy time in general is going much better. Today she spent a good 20-25 minutes on her tummy with no complaints, I think that's a new record! She also has learned how to scoot herself around by rolling from back to side, repeatedly.

We also started playing "Airplane", another attempt to increase her tummy time. I lay on my back and put her tummy down on my shins with her looking over my knees and lean her front to back and side to side. Here's a mom's eye view picture! She vaguely reminds me of E.T. in this photo.. must be the long wrinkly neck. Speaking of necks, I did get a compliment this weekend about how well she held her head and upper body up for her age. I don't know what is average for her age but it was nice to hear. Makes me feel like I'm doing something right!


Shortly after airplaning she went down for a nap, she doesn't sleep for long unless she's wrapped up or on her boppy so if I'm hanging out next to her I'll let her crash on her boppy for a naptime occasionally. Since I had some laundry to fold, it was a boppy nap yesterday. Here she is sleeping so soundly!

Today I got most of her room taped off to start painting. I just need to finish the line where the colors change. I'm hoping maybe tomorrow I can get to it. Drew has the day off tomorrow so he can hopefully keep an eye on her while I get to it. Sometimes I question the projects that I start. I mean really, one color isn't enough? Why don't I paint polka dots while I'm at it! I'm sure it will all be worth it in the end. She'll have the coolest nursery in town!

I'm off to bed.. a busy day ahead tomorrow and I need my rest!

Is Tomorrow Monday Already?

Well, this weekend just flew by. I woke up Saturday morning to a phone call from the breeder. She was calling to tell me that the puppies had their first free for all run and they had collapsed into a puppy pile! Also that she started crate training them individually so hopefully by the time that Holden comes to us he'll be used to sleeping by himself so it wont be such a difficult transition. She also started leash walking them to give us a head start on leash training. Yay!

There was also a dog show in Bossier City Saturday and I told Melissa that I was thinking of going to watch the Danes show. She got excited and told me she would call Jennifer, another owner/breeder/handler and the president of the Great Dane Club of Louisiana (GDCLA)that was going to be showing, so she would keep an eye out for me. Taylor and I got ready and headed over. It was my first dog show and it was a lot of fun! I got a kick out of all the dogs and Jennifer was there showing me the ropes. I must admit that it got me thinking that showing could be fun! I stayed afterwards for the GDCLA meeting, submitted our application for the club and got some good recommendations for trainers in the area. I met some beautiful Danes though I'm out of the loop as far as who's who. To be honest, I don't care too much about the lineage as I don't breed, and don't plan on ever breeding, it just looked like a lot of fun to do with your dog. Though I might be more interested in obedience competition or rally. I did pick up a pamphlet for certified therapy dogs, they have testing twice a year, with a few kinks worked out, Cossie might be pretty good at that! We came home and I made dinner while Drew studied for his test.

Today Drew worked in the morning and I did some housework. When Drew got home he studied for a while, then helped me with some more housework. He watched Taylor so I could take a much needed nap, of course after half an hour she fell asleep and napped for two hours.. how does he do that???? Now it's evening, Taylor is sleeping, I'm blogging, Drew is studying. Not much planned for the week. My neighbor invited me to a scrapbook crop on Friday evening so I'll go to that with Taylor. Not sure how much actual scrapbooking I'll get done, but at least I'll meet more people!

I'm still working on Taylor's room, it's been hard with Drew on swings, working this weekend and I want to make sure he has plenty of time to study, so I might not actually finish it for a while. I have a few pictures from this weekend, but I've got to get them off my camera and I'm pretty tired tonight still so I'll make that something I work in in the next day or two.

I also got this to my inbox the other day and it made me giggle, so I thought I'd share!

JUST A
MOM?

A woman, renewing her driver's license at the County Clerk's
office,was asked by the woman recorder to state her occupation.

She hesitated, uncertain how to classify herself.

What mean is, ' explained the recorder, 'do you have a job or are
you just a ..?

'Of course I have a job,' snapped the woman.

'I'm a Mom.

'We don't list 'Mom' as an occupation,'housewife'

covers it,'Said the recorder emphatically.


I forgot all about her story until one day I found
myself in the same situation, this time at our own Town Hall.
The Clerk was obviously a career woman, poised,
efficient, and possessed of a high sounding title like,
'Official Interrogator' or 'Town Registrar.'

'What is your occupation?' she probed.

What made me say it I do not know.
The words simply popped out.
'I'm a Research Associate in the field of
Child Development and Human Relations.'

The clerk p aused, ball-point pen froze n in m midair and
looked up as though she had not heard right.

I repeated the title slowly emphasizing the most significant
words.Then I stared with wonder as my pronouncement was
written,in bold, black ink on the official questionnaire.

'Might I ask,' said the clerk with new interest,
'just what you do in your field?'

Coolly, without any trace of fluster in my voice,

I heard myself reply,
'I have a continuing program of research,
(what mother doesn't)
In the laboratory and in the field,
(normally I would have said indoors and out).
I'm working for my Masters, (first the Lord and then the whole family)
and already have four credits (all daughters).
Of course, the job is one of the most demanding
in the humanities,(any mother care to disagree?) and I often
work 14 hours a day, (24 is more like it). But the job is more
challenging than most run-of-the-mill careers and
the rewards are more of a satisfaction rather than just money.

There was an increasing note of respect in the clerk's voice as
she completed the form, stood up, and personally ushered me to
the door.

As I drove into our driveway, buoyed up by my glamorous new career,
I was greeted by my lab assistants -- ages 13, 7, and 3.
Upstairs I could hear our new experimental model,
(a 6 month old baby) in the child development
program,testing out a new vocal pattern.

I felt I had scored a beat on bureaucracy! And I had gone on the
official records as someone more distinguished
and indispensable to mankind than 'just another Mom.'

Motherhood!

What a glorious career! Especially when the re's a title on the door.

Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend!

To the Doc again

This morning I was feeding Taylor and noticed that she had a lump on the back of her head. It differed from the lymph node one on the other side so I called and scheduled an appointment for today. Speaking of which, they had like 20 appointments open when I called and the waiting room was empty when I got there, makes me wonder why I had to wait a month to get her appointment for a well baby exam!

Anyway, I got there and he checked her out and said it was also a lymph node. She has been a little snotty lately so she might be fighting off a cold, or could be a reaction to her vaccines on Monday. Anyway, he said nothing to worry about just keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn't get a lot bigger in a short period of time or look red and inflamed.

Also, her Noggin Nest came today. I can't remember if I posted about it, but it's a pillow type thing made by Boppy that has 3 levels of head support with a hole cut in the back so the back of her head isn't resting against a flat surface when I lay her down on her back. So she's happy and back under her gym and Mommy isn't so freaked out now! She's kicking and talking away in it now while I update the blog, she sure loves that thing! The Noggin' Nest can't be used in her crib for obvious reasons so we'll continue to rotate her at night.

We're off for now, it's time for our bath and story, then dinner and bedtime for baby Taylor!

Love ya all!

I took a pic.. and got some in e-mail!

Taylor took her first big girl bath today! I took out the sling insert to the bathtub and she sat in the leaning back part instead! I probably should have done it a while ago, but I wanted to make sure she could keep herself propped up enough, she did! I took a picture for the scrapbook!



And of course a closeup, because I love those blue eyes and grins.


And then our breeder Melissa sent us puppy pics again! I don't know if I mentioned it before, but we've got our puppy chosen based on pictures and Melissa's description of their behaviors and what we are looking for. We had to choose before we go to pick him up because all the rest of the puppies are getting their ears cropped. Since we wanted a natural eared Dane we had to choose in advance but that's okay! I'm confident that we've made the right decision!

Anyway, this is"Danerun's I Hope You Dance" and we'll be calling him "Holden"! We're going on the 3rd of May to pick him up! This is his 6 week picture.

We've also found a wonderful vet who is very familiar with Dane's. Another breeder in the area goes to them and they do preventative gastropexies (the surgery Cossie had to have done in an emergency) on all of her dogs so the fact that they do several is comforting. When we get this boy neutered we'll be having the gastropexy done so we don't have a repeat of Cossie's problem. It's WAAAAY cheaper to do when it's not an emergency!

The baby is sleeping, so I'm off to scrap a page then I'm going to BED!

Checking in!

No pictures today yet, but just wanted to check in! I lost 1.8 lbs. at my weigh in yesterday so that's good. That brings my total to 11.8 for the month. It doesn't seem like a lot when I look at it, but I know it's pretty darn good considering the average is .5 to 2 lbs. per week.

I got the paint for Taylors room yesterday, I can't wait to get started but since Drew is back on swing shift as of today it might not get done until the weekend. I'll start taping it up anyway when I get chances.

Otherwise things are going well. Taylor and I went to my weight watchers meeting yesterday then met our friend Michelle for a salad lunch and a walk at the Boardwalk. I came home and Drew watched Taylor while I went to Home Depot for the paint.

Today we're just hangin' out at home doing lots of tummy time and she's playing in her jumperoo right now. Tomorrow I'm meeting my friend Sara from weight watchers (she has an 8 week old baby) at the mall so we can walk it like we did on Monday. Another girl with a 6 month old might come too so we'll be the stroller brigade!

Uh oh, Taylor is done in her jumperoo and I need to make some lunch. I'll post more soon!

Pictures!

Took a couple pictures today thought I would share!

This pic cracked me up. I realized I don't have a lot of pics with Taylor and I so I tried to take one holding the camera and her at the same time. I was a bit (okay SUPER) cheezy as usual, and Taylor has a look on her face like. You've got to be kidding me, I'm RELATED TO THIS CHICK!? She's CRAAAZY!
And anther.. this time she's saying... This is my Mom.. we're tight like that!

Miss Happy pants!
She was talking up a storm and I caught her mid-Goo
Posing in another outfit worn for the first time!

Back from the doc!

We're back from our traumatizing morning at the pediatrician! Things started off well, we got her undressed to get her measurements which made her giggle. For some reason she thinks getting naked is the funniest thing ever, almost every time she gets her diaper changed she starts cracking up. The nurse got a kick out of this. Her stats:

Weight 12 lbs 3.5 oz - 50th percentile
Height: 25" - 97th percentile
Head: 40cm - 50th percentile

I'm assuming this is based on her actual age, not 2 months since this was her 2 month well baby checkup a month late. I didn't think to ask, but she wrote 3 months 1 week on the paper she wrote the stats down on. So, we've got a tall girl on our hands so far!

She checked out fine, she has a little bit of baby eczema on her cheeks. He said to apply 1% hydrocortisone lotion on them and it will help with the redness. I asked him about the flat spot on her head and he said that with the "Back to Sleep" campaign there is an increase in flat spots on babies, but that most of them are minor and would round itself out as she gets more mobile, just to keep doing what we are doing with rotating her each nap and bedtime, tummy time and activities that she holds her head up. He said that she still has a nice head shape, that it's "mostly round" and he's not concerned. That makes me feel better, but of course I'll still worry because that's what I do!

After that we went to the treatment room where she was to get 2 shots ( DTap-Hep B - IPV, and Pneumococcal Conjugate) and an oral vaccine (Rotavirus). She got the oral one first, and it tasted nasty. She was gagging and whining and it took FOREVER to give her the whole thing. She gave it one drop at a time to make sure she swallowed it all and it took her about 10 drops. That was the easy part! Then we put her on the her blankie on the table, and she got one shot in one thigh. She started screaming and tears were running down her face, my heart was breaking! I didn't think she could scream any louder and then she got the second shot in her other thigh and she REALLY started wailing! As soon as her band-aid was on I scooped her up and snuggled her and tried not to cry. She only cried for a couple minutes but she was still sniffling and whimpering. They already had somebody else waiting their turn for vaccines so I had to quickly get her dressed and get out of the room. I gave her her pacifier to help keep her occupied and she was asleep by the time we got to the car, poor babe! She was also due for her HIB shot but they were out of it so I have to call twice a week until it comes in then take her back for more torture.

We got home and I gave her some tylenol. I changed her diaper and when she giggled she cried because she jerked her legs up and it hurt. She's currently wrapped up in her swaddleme blanket and taking her morning nap.

Here's a picture of her battle wounds with her first cool Spongebob Squarepants band-aids.

That's all for now! I'll update more this week.

Woohoo I fixed it!

I don't really know what I did, but the computer is back running in tip top shape, lol. Here's some pics for ya!

Taylor in her jumperoo:

See her toes don't QUITE touch the floor yet. Almost!!
And Drew gave her a bath tonight while I cooked dinner. I love her little robe. I always want to sing the theme to Rocky when she wears it! Check out those long legs!


Ready to box!

Another room done

Well it took me a few days, but I finished the craft/computer room! I painted it a color called Hosta Flower, which is basically lavender. Here's the pics:

It feels so much brighter and happy in here! The vinyl words above the window says Art of Life, which comes from a quote by Okakura Kakuzo which says " The art of life is in a constant readjustment to our surroundings". As a military family I found this only fitting and a reminder of the change that so frequently occurs not only in location, but in life itself (i.e. having babies, making new friends, leaving old friends, losses of loved ones) and how we react and adjust to it is important but something we may never perfect. In this room, I can reflect our ever changing life into the art of scrapbooks, cards, and of course baby blogs!

Taylor has been doing great all week, sleeping through the night, and taking a nap about 10am and 2pm. She's been sleeping around 5/6 as well before going to bed between 7:30 and 8:30. A growth spurt perhaps? She's been a little crabby still, but not crying much, just whining! I get the feeling there is something that she wants/needs and I'm not giving it to her, I just can't figure out what it is. I can envision her later in life saying "Mom, remember when I was 3 months old and I wouldn't stop whining? Well I wanted this (or felt that) and you did nothing! You cut me deep Mom, you cut me real deep." Okay, I know she wont REALLY say that, and she probably wont even remember, but she sure LOOKS at me live I've done something really offensive. Ahh, the things the books don't tell you!

She also has a new contraption to add to her ever growing collection. It's called a jumperoo which is a cross between a jumper, and an exersaucer. It has posts that the center attaches too so it doesn't require a doorway, it adjusts to 3 different heights so it can grow with her. She's about 1/4" too short for it at the moment. Her toes only touch the ground if she really reaches and she usually has her feet flexed! Besides her tummy time mat (which is still working it's wonders!), and when she's being held by us, most of her things require her to lean back or be on her back so now that she can hold her head up regularly for long periods of time we thought a vertical activity center would be just the thing she needed. Of course it helps me as well so I can actually do some housework while she's awake!

I've got some pictures of her in it, but our computer was misbehaving yesterday and I'm still trying to work out the kinks so I can get the pictures off my card. Go figure the warranty ran out on it 7 days ago! At least I'm somewhat good with computers, hopefully I can figure out whats going on and fix it.

She has a doctors appointment Monday, FINALLY, at 8:30 in the morning. I have some questions to ask, mostly about her her head and if it's round enough! She has one spot that I'm worried about, but everyone assures me that some minor flat spots on a young baby are normal and as she spends more time up it will right itself. I will be more comforted of course, when I hear it from the doctor. Drew thinks I'm over-reacting as well.. must be a mom thing? I did notice that her little swollen lymph node behind her left ear finally went away, so that's good!

Well, I'm off to figure out what I've done to this computer. If I can get it straightened out tonight I'll post the pictures up, if not I'll keep working on it and post them as soon as possible! No big plans for us this weekend, after last weekend I think we need one to veg!

Ta-Ta for now!

Finished!

Well, I finished painting the bedroom today! I still need to do the inside of the inset part for the fan, but I'll do that another day. I might have Drew do it since he's taller and wont have to be so high up on the ladder. Here's the finished product! You like?? It's so fresh and springy to me! Hope I still like it come December!



I started taping off the back room tonight as well, so I'll probably get started painting it tomorrow after I go grocery shopping and to Weight Watchers.

Taylor is still being cranky this week, I think she might be teething. She has a spot on her lower gums that looks a little thinner like maybe a tooth might be working it's way up. Perhaps I'll pick up some baby orajel and see if that helps out her crankiness at all. She'll go from smiling to whining in 3 seconds flat, and she's really started this wailing thing if we don't get to her quick enough. She stops pretty quick, but boy does she get mad!!

I'm off to bed now, I've been trying to get to bed earlier so I can get up with Taylor. She's on her second day in a row of sleeping almost all the way through the night, then napping around 10am, and 2pm, then a short nap around 5 or 6. She's been going to bed around 8 or 9 and sleeping until 7 or 8 in the morning, getting up only once in the night. I'm pretty pleased with that!

G'night!

Busy Busy Busy!

Well, we had our garage sale yesterday, I'd say it was a success! Then we took the money we made and bought some paint and painting supplies. We also finished hanging some things in the garage (hooks for Drew's Bike and a system for our hoses, yard equipment etc.)

This morning we got up and we all went for a walk with our neighbor. Taylor rode in her stroller without the car seat part for the first time!! Here's a pic of her all bundled up and ready to go! She did great during the walk didn't complain at all! We sure love her :)



Then we came home and I started painting our bedroom. I only did one wall today because I didn't feel like moving ALL the furniture. I'm doing two more walls tomorrow and the last wall on Tuesday. Here's a pic of the first wall. I'm working on taping the rest of the room this evening.

Drew washed both cars this weekend inside and out. They are all sparkling clean! It was a lot of work for him and I was thankful he did them both so I didn't have to! Teehee!

Then, we got puppy pics to our inbox!! I love our breeder, she's so sweet! She took individual pics of the boys for us but I wont post them all. I'll just post the pic of a group of them. The green, ribbon, purple ribbon or blue ribbon (which you can only see his nose) are one of the ones we might have. The red ribbon is also a boy, but he doesn't quite fit personality wise what we are looking for so we probably wont end up with that one. She said he's the mischievous one of the group! Anyway, this is from their 4 week photo shoot.


So, that's what we've been up to this weekend. My body is killing me, Drew says his isn't too bad but I'll ask him again tomorrow. I'm getting a good work out with all this painting! It's so exciting though!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Giggle Monster!

Finally got video of Taylor giggling! She loves the raspberry noise, it makes her crack up. So here ya go! Oh, and of course I forgot that I can't rotate video again, so you have to look at it sideways! Whoops!

We had success!

Well, we went out and got a Tummy Time mat for Taylor to see if it would help her tolerate tummy time a little more. She would get so upset on her tummy she would just rub her face into the ground, cry and spit up all after about 30 seconds.

Anyway, the tummy time mat worked! I got a whole 10 minutes out of her, TWICE in one day. So hopefully it will only improve from here on out!

Here's some pics for you. Content on our tummy and Cossie LOVES his baby girl!

Rest of the Zoo pics

Whew!! I've literally been uploading these ALL DAY! Taylor was a little cranky today, and she did not want to sleep tonight even though she was really tired. She finally went to bed about 9:30 for good. Hopefully that means she'll sleep in.

Anyway, here's the rest of the zoo pics, and then I'll continue on our journey to CA!

This pic cracked me up.. remember in grade school saying.. Guess what? Elephant butt! Well here's the picture to go along with it!


And the elephants better side. :)

Two little monkey's sittin' in a tree. One was grooming the other one, cheeky monkeys!

These next two pictures, I can't for the life of me remember the names of these guys. Both species are pretty interesting looking though!


Sleeping Otters

A giant panda. Right when we got there, they took the other pandas in for the day, we had JUST missed them. This guy had his back to us the whole time so this was the best I could get!

This sunning panther was up in the top of his exhibit, and right when we got there he came down, walked right in front of me and layed down, he rolled over on his back and started sunning. Really a beautiful animal. Of course the big cats ARE my favorite.

Sleeping Hyena (are we sensing a trend here?)

And a couple of eagles.


A trip to meerkat manor! These little dudes are so cute , I just want to cuddle them! They'd probably bite me though.




And a camel eating some hay.

We watched these bears for a while, they were too cute, playing and wrestling.



The gorilla exhibit was probably one of my favorites. They really are gorgeous.




And of course I had to prove that baby Taylor went to the San Diego zoo for the first time. Here she is with Grams and Daddy!