Smiling Through the Rain

Ms. Paisley slept through the night the past 2 nights!  Hoooooray!!!!!   One night she slept in her cradle next to the bed and then last night she slept with us, but whatever. I miss her if she's SO far away! She fell asleep at about 10:30 and woke up at 7:00 to eat.  SUPER EXCITING!!!  I didn't do anything different, she just slept.  And I realize that people consider it through the night if they sleep 6 hours straight, but I didn't count that.  I wanted a full 8.  My breasts would've preferred a middle of the night feeding, but they don't get a say in this.  :) Seeing her Great-Grandpa on Thanksgiving Looking adorable in her turkey outfit! Enjoying IHOP on the morning after Thanksgiving which is my annual tradition with my mom My life with her just gets sweeter all the time as she's growing up and getting more interactive.  She's found her feet and loves to try to reach them.  A good friend gave me some...

Thanksgiving 2009 could have been erased from the calendar for all I cared.  Same for Christmas.  We didn't even put up a tree last year because of my pitiful mood.  Why celebrate?  We had just spent our 2nd year trying to get pregnant with miserable results.  I'd had my ovarian drilling followed by unexpected hospitalization for a uterine infection.  Aaron had his varicocelectomy.  Our RE was beginning to recommend using donor "goods" since ours seemed so flawed.  Our awesome BFP turned into a nightmare when our baby failed to develop.  That was followed by a D&C. I dreaded the holidays last year.  I had to put on that stupid fake smile and wipe away my tears so the family would think things were fine.  When the video camera came out and my mother-in-law asked what everyone was thankful for, I wanted to throw it through a window.  When I found out about several unplanned preg...

During pregnancy, people feel compelled to give you their opinions about everything from the place you deliver to the food you eat to how much weight you've gained.  I felt like delivery couldn't come soon enough so that I could stop listening to the constant tips and advice I was receiving, not to mention those who want to relive their terrible birth experiences in full detail to someone who is about to have a baby...  Paisley was born and the unwanted advice didn't stop.  It didn't even slow down... in fact, it increased!  Moms of newborns as well as those who now have grandkids all had passionate opinions about EVERYTHING. I have felt overwhelmed by the amount of information, both factual and craptual, that I have been bombarded with. And let's just take a moment to realize that I'm not the kind of person who does extensive research on anything or follows the rules to a T. I think people get to wrapped up in that stuff. Aaron and I both a...

Paisley at her Christmas shoot!  I had no idea she could lift her body up so much...  :) We're still doing good around here.  I left with her with my mom for 4 hours on Saturday morning to go work at Aaron's clinic and it wasn't too bad!  My mom loved it, Paisley never noticed, and I survived without a mental breakdown.  In fact, I didn't even cry!  :) Sleep has been going pretty well here.  We fall asleep about 10-11 pm (I know it's late, but she won't fall asleep earlier) and she wakes up around 4:30 to eat, then sleeps until about 8-9 am.  Some nights she wrestles more than usual, but the past 2 nights she's slept soundly.  Of course she's still in our bed and I'm not quite sure when that's going to change.  The child is still not okay with being put down for naps in her crib or cradle, so I know overnight is out of the question. She's a happy baby for the most part, but I'd never call her "easy".  She has a way she ...

Aaron casually mentioned last night that maybe I should start looking for a part-time job soon.  Those seemingly harmless words opened up a floodgate of emotion and I handled it in the best way I knew how...  I cried a little uncontrollably for the next hour while holding Paisley as close as possible so as to prevent anyone from seperating us. The "plan" (which I now refer to as "worst plan ever") from the beginning was that I would take off until somewhere around the 1st of the year and then find a part-time job.  And by part-time, he's just saying 2 days a week.  My problem with this plan now is that the 1st of the year came WAY too quickly and 2 days at work = 2 days away from this amazing baby.  So, I panicked!  And I know how ridiculous it is.  I've been so fortunate that I'll have about 5 months at home with her and that I can just go back part-time after that.  This is an amazing situation that I've been given, and I r...

No need to worry- Paisley didn't have surgery.  She just "helped" her daddy out with one at the clinic.  He spayed a racoon this morning and we decided that sounded like something we might want to see, so we headed up there to watch. Aaron and Emma (the racoon) before surgery Me and Emma...  she's drowsy from her anesthetic Racoons are not into S&M, she's prepped for surgery The end of her baby-makin' days---Her uterus and ovaries are about to be gone Paisley's excitement was overwhelming- she slept the whole time! Everything went great with the surgery and Emma went home this afternoon feeling fine.  Well, you can't ask her how she's feeling obviously, but she was acting like herself.  :) We love getting to spend time with Aaron during the week and I always enjoy a good surgery, so I'd say it was a great day!

Sure wish I had figured out 2 months ago that sleep gowns will pull on from the feet up and that it's not necessary to force those stupid things over the baby's head, causing her to get angry.  That elastic band at the bottom seemed so difficult to maneuver over her head! Paisley's reaction to figuring out a simpler way to put on our favorite sleep attire Why did I not notice that the head hole is huge?  Makes a girl wonder if there are other things I'm missing that would make life easier...  We went to see Saw 3D tonight which was awesome!  I can't believe how much I miss her when I'm away for 2 hours.  Halfway through the movie I felt the urgency to rush home to her, which I resisted because Aaron would make fun of me plus the movie was great.  (If you're into ridiculously bloody movies with terrible acting-  I happen to love it).  Things are great around here.  Paisley is getting more and more fun every day and I fall deeper...

 My mom luckily took lots of pictures from Halloween too so she had a non-blurry picture of the 3 of us!!!  Yay!  I'm super excited that we don't all have to get re-dressed up to get this shot.  The Beekeeper with his Bees Nothing says "Let's Party" like breastfeeding in a bee costume!!!  Does anyone else think fishnet hose are really comfortable?  Wish they were appropriate for work/church/etc.... Having a little chit-chat with her Grandma She's obviously the highlight of this picture, but let me point out that I'm wearing pre-pregnancy jeans here...  They weren't fun to get on and definitely not as comfortable as wearing elastic waistbands, but I'm in them!!! Question : for those who have breastfed or are currently breastfeeding, did you start having cycles again?  I haven't had a period which I know can be normal while breastfeeding, but when does it come back?  I know people have gotten pregnant while breastfeeding so some ...