Well, I gave notice yesterday and it went great. They said that they really appreciated the time that I gave them and anytime I wanted to come back I would be welcome. It actually turned out to be good timing because Drew is going to be on Day shift starting Monday for an unknown amount of time. It will be nice to have him home for dinner at least!
Here's a video I took of Taylor last night, sorry for the quality, it was on my cell phone as the battery was dead in the camcorder. I have another one but I still need to send it to myself.
Wednesday, 25 June 2008
Monday, 23 June 2008
Leave Approved!
Well, it looks like Drew's leave has been approved for September 13th through October 12th! Barring any last minute emergencies like last time we'll be on our way to CA in 3 short months! I'll start working out details and hopefully we'll get everything arranged!
Taylor seems to be feeling better, she was in a great mood yesterday except she didn't want to sleep. At least she was happy about it! Today back to being on the fussy side and still not wanting to sleep. The past few nights we've been up until 10 or 12 trying to get her to sleep. As soon as we put her down her little eyes pop open and she gives us a huge smile. Little stinker. You'd think going to sleep later she might sleep later in the morning... nope! Not yet! We keep waiting for it to catch up to her, but she still gets up early.
Also, after a couple of weeks of contemplating, and lots of thought and consideration, we feel it is in the best interest of our family for me to give notice at work, so I will be doing so this week. I have very mixed feelings about this as I love working and it gives me a little break to be with other adults and out of the house, but I do suffer with fatigue on those days and often find myself frustrated and cranky. With more sleep I think that I can be a better and more patient Mom, and Wife. Drew is also having a difficult time getting home often after midnight from work, it's 2AM by the time he winds down enough to get to sleep, then he's up between 6 and 8 with Taylor, then as soon as I get home he's back off to work. He is also finding himself tired, frustrated and cranky, which is completely abnormal for him!
We gave it 7 weeks to see if it would work out okay, and for a while it was great, but it's beginning to catch up with us. I have no doubt that I will be leaving on a good note and should the situation change (more solid sleep schedule, less dependence on me for food, etc.) and they had an opening, I would not have a difficult time getting hired there again. Either way, I'm not looking forward to giving notice. I kind of feel like I'm giving up, but having a happy and well-rested hubby, energy to introduce Taylor to new things and patience when she's cranky is more important. I'll keep you posted and let you know how it goes!
Tomorrow, Alan, Taylor and I are getting up and going to my weight watchers meeting, then for a walk at the Boardwalk. We'll stop by the grocery store on the way home and get some hamburger because Alan told us he is going to cook us dinner tomorrow! Meatloaf is on the Menu, which sounds good to me and hey, I don't even have to go in the kitchen. Sounds like a great deal! When we get back we have a corner of the garage to work on so we can work on getting both cars parked in there again.
I'm off to bed, stayed up later than I intended but with Taylor going to sleep so late and not hardly napping I had a bunch of stuff I wanted to get done. You should see our sparkling clean linen closet! G'night loved ones!
Taylor seems to be feeling better, she was in a great mood yesterday except she didn't want to sleep. At least she was happy about it! Today back to being on the fussy side and still not wanting to sleep. The past few nights we've been up until 10 or 12 trying to get her to sleep. As soon as we put her down her little eyes pop open and she gives us a huge smile. Little stinker. You'd think going to sleep later she might sleep later in the morning... nope! Not yet! We keep waiting for it to catch up to her, but she still gets up early.
Also, after a couple of weeks of contemplating, and lots of thought and consideration, we feel it is in the best interest of our family for me to give notice at work, so I will be doing so this week. I have very mixed feelings about this as I love working and it gives me a little break to be with other adults and out of the house, but I do suffer with fatigue on those days and often find myself frustrated and cranky. With more sleep I think that I can be a better and more patient Mom, and Wife. Drew is also having a difficult time getting home often after midnight from work, it's 2AM by the time he winds down enough to get to sleep, then he's up between 6 and 8 with Taylor, then as soon as I get home he's back off to work. He is also finding himself tired, frustrated and cranky, which is completely abnormal for him!
We gave it 7 weeks to see if it would work out okay, and for a while it was great, but it's beginning to catch up with us. I have no doubt that I will be leaving on a good note and should the situation change (more solid sleep schedule, less dependence on me for food, etc.) and they had an opening, I would not have a difficult time getting hired there again. Either way, I'm not looking forward to giving notice. I kind of feel like I'm giving up, but having a happy and well-rested hubby, energy to introduce Taylor to new things and patience when she's cranky is more important. I'll keep you posted and let you know how it goes!
Tomorrow, Alan, Taylor and I are getting up and going to my weight watchers meeting, then for a walk at the Boardwalk. We'll stop by the grocery store on the way home and get some hamburger because Alan told us he is going to cook us dinner tomorrow! Meatloaf is on the Menu, which sounds good to me and hey, I don't even have to go in the kitchen. Sounds like a great deal! When we get back we have a corner of the garage to work on so we can work on getting both cars parked in there again.
I'm off to bed, stayed up later than I intended but with Taylor going to sleep so late and not hardly napping I had a bunch of stuff I wanted to get done. You should see our sparkling clean linen closet! G'night loved ones!
Saturday, 21 June 2008
Pictures!
Sorry, didn't think it would take me so long to get the pictures up. It's been busy around here and Taylor is still cranky. I ended up taking her to the doctor yesterday because things have been so bad at night with her wailing. The doc. checked her out and there were no physical symptoms of a problem (ears, eyes, nose, belly, checked out okay) and no temperature. She offered to take a little blood sample to make sure everything was okay there and I agreed. They took a finger poke and got some blood.
When she came back it was showing that it looked like she was fighting a bit of a viral infection. Her white cell count was high end of normal, but the percentage of viral fighting cells out of those was up. The doc. said "She might have picked up something at the doctors on Monday." and I was thinking, YEAH! 3 syringes worth of something! I'm really not a fan of loading up on vaccines all at once so from here on out they are getting separated, I'm not going to let the base people bully me into giving them all at once again. So, she seems to be improving ever so slightly, she's very needy still, but the crying was a little less last night and today.
Anyway.. on with the pics!
Drew using his new BBQ:
Taking a break to hang out with his baby girl:
Close up of Taylor:
The first time at the pool
Taylor and her dorky mom :
Alan, fresh out of the pool.
That's all I've got for now! Not sure what the plans are for this week, I guess we'll play it by ear!
When she came back it was showing that it looked like she was fighting a bit of a viral infection. Her white cell count was high end of normal, but the percentage of viral fighting cells out of those was up. The doc. said "She might have picked up something at the doctors on Monday." and I was thinking, YEAH! 3 syringes worth of something! I'm really not a fan of loading up on vaccines all at once so from here on out they are getting separated, I'm not going to let the base people bully me into giving them all at once again. So, she seems to be improving ever so slightly, she's very needy still, but the crying was a little less last night and today.
Anyway.. on with the pics!
Drew using his new BBQ:
Taking a break to hang out with his baby girl:
Close up of Taylor:
The first time at the pool
Taylor and her dorky mom :
Alan, fresh out of the pool.
That's all I've got for now! Not sure what the plans are for this week, I guess we'll play it by ear!
Thursday, 19 June 2008
Mama doesn't like vaccines.
Two words: CRANKY PANTS!
Ever since getting her vaccine boosters on Monday Taylor has been a fussy monster. She gets pretty cranky for her morning nap, but for her afternoon nap or bedtime (usually in the evening) it has been almost unbearable. I'm not really sure what to do. She absolutely screams and wails, she writhes around like she's in pain, but her little belly isn't hard, I don't feel any teeth coming through. She wont nurse, she wont take a pacifier, walking around doesn't help, bouncing her, laying her on her belly, she doesn't want to be her in jumperoo, swing or jungle gym, she just screams. I've tried giving her tylenol, orajel, gas x to rule out pain from any of those things, but it doesn't seem to help. We've resorted to taking her on car rides to get her to sleep and even that takes 20 minutes of screaming. Sometimes even after she's asleep she'll pop up and start screaming without even opening her eyes. I'm going to call the doctor in the morning to see if I can get her checked out to make sure there isn't anything else going on. I certainly hope this doesn't last very much longer because we're all very frustrated.
On a fun note, we went to the base pool today to go take Taylor for her first "swim" today. She was too cute in her little swim suit and her big floppy white hat. She seemed to enjoy it! She was kicking her legs around and she liked splashing a bit. Drew and I enjoyed the water too, it's been over 3 years since either one of us went swimming! I do have pictures but I'll have to upload them after Taylor goes to sleep. Speaking of which, I'm off to feed her and hopefully get her down, I'm not looking forward to what has become the routine this week...
Not much else to report! Alan has been being a great help around the house, and especially with the dogs. I'm sure glad to have him around!
Ok, off for now.
Ever since getting her vaccine boosters on Monday Taylor has been a fussy monster. She gets pretty cranky for her morning nap, but for her afternoon nap or bedtime (usually in the evening) it has been almost unbearable. I'm not really sure what to do. She absolutely screams and wails, she writhes around like she's in pain, but her little belly isn't hard, I don't feel any teeth coming through. She wont nurse, she wont take a pacifier, walking around doesn't help, bouncing her, laying her on her belly, she doesn't want to be her in jumperoo, swing or jungle gym, she just screams. I've tried giving her tylenol, orajel, gas x to rule out pain from any of those things, but it doesn't seem to help. We've resorted to taking her on car rides to get her to sleep and even that takes 20 minutes of screaming. Sometimes even after she's asleep she'll pop up and start screaming without even opening her eyes. I'm going to call the doctor in the morning to see if I can get her checked out to make sure there isn't anything else going on. I certainly hope this doesn't last very much longer because we're all very frustrated.
On a fun note, we went to the base pool today to go take Taylor for her first "swim" today. She was too cute in her little swim suit and her big floppy white hat. She seemed to enjoy it! She was kicking her legs around and she liked splashing a bit. Drew and I enjoyed the water too, it's been over 3 years since either one of us went swimming! I do have pictures but I'll have to upload them after Taylor goes to sleep. Speaking of which, I'm off to feed her and hopefully get her down, I'm not looking forward to what has become the routine this week...
Not much else to report! Alan has been being a great help around the house, and especially with the dogs. I'm sure glad to have him around!
Ok, off for now.
Monday, 16 June 2008
Dada, Mama, Baba, WAAHH!!!
I think my title pretty much sums it up! Taylor is babbling up a storm lately! Aside from Dada, she has added Baba and Mama to her vocabulary. Again, she doesn't seem to know what they mean, but who are we to underestimate her! I put her down for a nap earlier and she was fussing a bit then she yelled MAMA, AHHH!! Alan and I looked at each other and laughed because it sure sounded like she was calling me!
Yesterday she was fussing a bit and I was exhausted so I was lying down with her and she started babbling. Drew came in and she was saying babababaMamababa....dada..baba. It was too cute. Don't know if I can get it on video, but I'll try!
Today Alan and I took her to get her next set of vaccines and she was NOT happy about it. I always feel so guilty when she cries! She was smiling and happy, and I put her down on the table and started tickling her to try and keep her attention focused elsewhere. The nurse gave her the jabs and she was screaming away. She stopped wailing when I was able to pick her up, but she was fussy most of the way home and she didn't want to nap in the afternoon.
I'm off to bed for now. I've been so tired lately that I'm making myself crazy. I'm constantly forgetting and misplacing things. I searched for the mail for an hour the other day only to have Drew find it on top of the car just as I was about to leave. Good thing he's tall. Oh, and apparently aluminum foil does not belong in the fridge. Who knew?? I keep waiting for it to improve but no luck yet. Maybe there is something I can do to stimulate my memory, I don't know. Sleep probably helps, so I'll start there. Goodnight!!!
Yesterday she was fussing a bit and I was exhausted so I was lying down with her and she started babbling. Drew came in and she was saying babababaMamababa....dada..baba. It was too cute. Don't know if I can get it on video, but I'll try!
Today Alan and I took her to get her next set of vaccines and she was NOT happy about it. I always feel so guilty when she cries! She was smiling and happy, and I put her down on the table and started tickling her to try and keep her attention focused elsewhere. The nurse gave her the jabs and she was screaming away. She stopped wailing when I was able to pick her up, but she was fussy most of the way home and she didn't want to nap in the afternoon.
I'm off to bed for now. I've been so tired lately that I'm making myself crazy. I'm constantly forgetting and misplacing things. I searched for the mail for an hour the other day only to have Drew find it on top of the car just as I was about to leave. Good thing he's tall. Oh, and apparently aluminum foil does not belong in the fridge. Who knew?? I keep waiting for it to improve but no luck yet. Maybe there is something I can do to stimulate my memory, I don't know. Sleep probably helps, so I'll start there. Goodnight!!!
Saturday, 14 June 2008
Happy DADA day!!
Happy Father's Day to all of our wonderful Husbands, Fathers, Grandfathers and Great-Grandfathers!!! We send our love and appreciation to you all!
This week also marks a milestone for Taylor, a few days ago she said her first word! DADA! We're pretty sure she doesn't know what it means yet, but she seems to know that it means SOMETHING. She will be quietly babbling, then say Dada (or Dadadada) and then she beams a huge smile! If you say Dada back, she will repeat it (most of the time) and then smile. Usually you can only get one repeat back because then she thinks it's just too funny and starts giggling. At first we thought it was a fluke, but after a few days of repeating it, we think it's definitely more than that.
We also picked up Alan, my brother at the airport in Dallas on Thursday. We are really enjoying having him here. He's been a big help already to Drew and I, and he is so awesome with his little niece! She loves her Uncle! Not sure what the plans are this week, besides work of course. Taylor is due for some vaccines and I need to see if I can get in to the doc to have them check out my pinkie which still hurts and is kind of red, along with my horrible skin.
Drew passed his PT test on Thursday evening, so that's fantastic! He's lost 30 lbs. in the last 3 months and 6 inches off his waist. I'm so proud of him and the work he's done to get back in shape! I'm still struggling, I've hit a plateau and have been struggling with the same 5 lbs. for the past month or so. The trend is downward, albeit slowly. I've lost 21.4 lbs. since we got back from visiting CA. I still have about 15 lbs. to go to reach upper goal weight as far as weight watchers is concerned, though I would like to lose another 5-10 lbs. on top of that to give myself some wiggle room. Of course I'll re-asses when I (eventually) get there to make sure that is a realistic goal.
Off for now, love to you all!
This week also marks a milestone for Taylor, a few days ago she said her first word! DADA! We're pretty sure she doesn't know what it means yet, but she seems to know that it means SOMETHING. She will be quietly babbling, then say Dada (or Dadadada) and then she beams a huge smile! If you say Dada back, she will repeat it (most of the time) and then smile. Usually you can only get one repeat back because then she thinks it's just too funny and starts giggling. At first we thought it was a fluke, but after a few days of repeating it, we think it's definitely more than that.
We also picked up Alan, my brother at the airport in Dallas on Thursday. We are really enjoying having him here. He's been a big help already to Drew and I, and he is so awesome with his little niece! She loves her Uncle! Not sure what the plans are this week, besides work of course. Taylor is due for some vaccines and I need to see if I can get in to the doc to have them check out my pinkie which still hurts and is kind of red, along with my horrible skin.
Drew passed his PT test on Thursday evening, so that's fantastic! He's lost 30 lbs. in the last 3 months and 6 inches off his waist. I'm so proud of him and the work he's done to get back in shape! I'm still struggling, I've hit a plateau and have been struggling with the same 5 lbs. for the past month or so. The trend is downward, albeit slowly. I've lost 21.4 lbs. since we got back from visiting CA. I still have about 15 lbs. to go to reach upper goal weight as far as weight watchers is concerned, though I would like to lose another 5-10 lbs. on top of that to give myself some wiggle room. Of course I'll re-asses when I (eventually) get there to make sure that is a realistic goal.
Off for now, love to you all!
Tuesday, 10 June 2008
the rest
Here's the rest of the pics and the videos!
She has the cutest mobile, but it's wind up and only lasts for about 3 minutes. She puts herself to sleep as long as it's running, so we were having to go in there every few minutes to wind it back up again and disrupt her. I saw this Fisher Price Aquarium that runs for 18 minutes and has a little remote that we can hit from the door if we need it to go for longer. It lights up and plays gentle music and all sorts of stuff moves and bubbles in it. It also has a button on the front so she can press it if she wants. To our surprise she figured it out really quick! When she wakes up from her nap or in the morning she squirms out of her swaddle and hits the button to turn it and squeals away! She loves it!
Our happy baby in her jumperoo
Videos of her jumperooing:
Drew took this picture of me cuddling Holden....he's getting so big!
She has the cutest mobile, but it's wind up and only lasts for about 3 minutes. She puts herself to sleep as long as it's running, so we were having to go in there every few minutes to wind it back up again and disrupt her. I saw this Fisher Price Aquarium that runs for 18 minutes and has a little remote that we can hit from the door if we need it to go for longer. It lights up and plays gentle music and all sorts of stuff moves and bubbles in it. It also has a button on the front so she can press it if she wants. To our surprise she figured it out really quick! When she wakes up from her nap or in the morning she squirms out of her swaddle and hits the button to turn it and squeals away! She loves it!
Videos of her jumperooing:
Drew took this picture of me cuddling Holden....he's getting so big!
Pictures!
I've been slacking in the posts again I know! I'm really determined to get organized (a life-long battle) so I've been spending most of my spare time re-arranging cabinets and checking things off my to-do list. Lots of little things sure add up!
I stopped today to take some pictures since Taylor is 5 months now! I can't believe how fast time is flying.
Here's some from my efforts today.
Taylor:
Taylor and Mommy:
Me:
Holden:
Holden and Cossie (both eyeballing the cat who decided this was a good time to hack up a hairball):)
Sadly, I didn't get any of Drew since he is at work, but I'm hoping I can snag him this weekend to pose for me. I have a video of Taylor in her jumperoo too, so I'll go get that off the other camera and get it uploaded for ya.
Love to you all!!
-Jen
I stopped today to take some pictures since Taylor is 5 months now! I can't believe how fast time is flying.
Here's some from my efforts today.
Taylor:
Taylor and Mommy:
Me:
Holden:
Holden and Cossie (both eyeballing the cat who decided this was a good time to hack up a hairball):)
Sadly, I didn't get any of Drew since he is at work, but I'm hoping I can snag him this weekend to pose for me. I have a video of Taylor in her jumperoo too, so I'll go get that off the other camera and get it uploaded for ya.
Love to you all!!
-Jen
Thursday, 5 June 2008
Work, babies and reunions
Well, this week we have our first major test of my job. On Monday my supervisor told me that next Tuesday we have a mandatory staff meeting, that I would need to find a babysitter, and she could give me a number to a lady. Uhhhh, Thanks, but no thanks! I have no intention of leaving my 5 month old child with a stranger! There's only two people I know well enough here to trust with her and that's Drew (of course), and my neighbor Betty. Betty is going to be out of state next Tuesday and Drew has to work. When I was there yesterday, my supervisor wasn't so I went to the next supervisor and told her the situation. She didn't like the fact that I wouldn't be able to go to the meeting, but I can't bring Taylor and she said she wouldn't leave her baby with a stranger either so she went ahead and excused me.
If that wasn't bad enough, when I got home, Drew called and said he was going to have to work day shift on Friday. I called Betty to see if she would mind watching Taylor for me in the morning, but I felt really guilty about it because I know she is trying to get ready to leave. I called work to see if I could come a half an hour later so I could at least leave Taylor next door not quite so early and she said that was okay. I know that we are very short handed at work, so I feel terrible, but they also knew that my schedule was limited and dependent upon Drew's schedule, and they really wanted me to come work there anyway, for whatever I could give them. It gets me all stressed out though, and I don't like being stressed.
So anyway, we'll see what the feeling is when I go in tomorrow, as well as after the meeting Tuesday!
I also got an invitation to my 10 year reunion in the mail today. It's on October 4th of this year. I didn't think we were going to have one, but it looks like we are. I'd actually really like to go, but I would want Drew to go with me. Drew said he would like to be able to see some of his friends as well, and I'm sure everybody would be happy to see Taylor!! So, we were discussing possibly coming home from Mid-September to Mid-October. There's a lot of things to take into consideration of course. Whether or not I'm still working and if so, if I can take the time off. We'd have to bring both dogs with us, and either board the cat, or have somebody come take care of her every couple of days. Anyway.. just wanted to throw a feeler out there and see what everybody thought. Drew is going to talk to his boss and see if it is even a possibility on his end first.
Taylor is doing well. She seems to have slowed down on eating a little so that's given me a bit of a break. She's not been wanting to go to sleep at night though! She's been up until about 10pm for the past few nights. Yikes! She's not sleeping much more in the morning either! She's found a new "voice" that is really high pitched and definitely isn't a favorite of Mom and Dad! She squeals and screeches, especially when she's upset. Sometimes she just does it because she can. She also blows lots of bubbles all the time so she's constantly got dribble all over her. Good thing we have lots of bibs!
Alan (my brother) is coming next week to stay with us for a while. We're looking forward to having him with us. Taylor will enjoy hanging out with her uncle!
I'm off to give her some dinner and hopefully get her to bed. She's sounding tired, so maybe she'll go to bed before 10 tonight and I can get some things done around here!
If that wasn't bad enough, when I got home, Drew called and said he was going to have to work day shift on Friday. I called Betty to see if she would mind watching Taylor for me in the morning, but I felt really guilty about it because I know she is trying to get ready to leave. I called work to see if I could come a half an hour later so I could at least leave Taylor next door not quite so early and she said that was okay. I know that we are very short handed at work, so I feel terrible, but they also knew that my schedule was limited and dependent upon Drew's schedule, and they really wanted me to come work there anyway, for whatever I could give them. It gets me all stressed out though, and I don't like being stressed.
So anyway, we'll see what the feeling is when I go in tomorrow, as well as after the meeting Tuesday!
I also got an invitation to my 10 year reunion in the mail today. It's on October 4th of this year. I didn't think we were going to have one, but it looks like we are. I'd actually really like to go, but I would want Drew to go with me. Drew said he would like to be able to see some of his friends as well, and I'm sure everybody would be happy to see Taylor!! So, we were discussing possibly coming home from Mid-September to Mid-October. There's a lot of things to take into consideration of course. Whether or not I'm still working and if so, if I can take the time off. We'd have to bring both dogs with us, and either board the cat, or have somebody come take care of her every couple of days. Anyway.. just wanted to throw a feeler out there and see what everybody thought. Drew is going to talk to his boss and see if it is even a possibility on his end first.
Taylor is doing well. She seems to have slowed down on eating a little so that's given me a bit of a break. She's not been wanting to go to sleep at night though! She's been up until about 10pm for the past few nights. Yikes! She's not sleeping much more in the morning either! She's found a new "voice" that is really high pitched and definitely isn't a favorite of Mom and Dad! She squeals and screeches, especially when she's upset. Sometimes she just does it because she can. She also blows lots of bubbles all the time so she's constantly got dribble all over her. Good thing we have lots of bibs!
Alan (my brother) is coming next week to stay with us for a while. We're looking forward to having him with us. Taylor will enjoy hanging out with her uncle!
I'm off to give her some dinner and hopefully get her to bed. She's sounding tired, so maybe she'll go to bed before 10 tonight and I can get some things done around here!
Sunday, 1 June 2008
More Videos
Just wanted to share some more video. I do have more pictures too, but those take a little longer to get off the camera and process. Please disregard the disaster of a house, I really have been cleaning all day... promise! lol. Here is a video of Taylor cracking up with her Daddy.
Here she's "riding" Cossie Boy. He's such a good boy!
Here she's "riding" Cossie Boy. He's such a good boy!
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