Smiling Through the Rain

Today, Paisley didn't nurse at all .  She's been nursing once or twice a day for several weeks now, mostly first thing in the morning and right before bed.  This morning, she showed no interest in nursing and ate a good "big people" breakfast instead.  All day, she ate normal foods and had lots of mommy milk in her sippy cup.  Then tonight, she took my milk from a sippy cup instead of from me... I feel like she cut the cord .  This is both happy and sad for me.  Of course, it's a bit nice to have my body to myself again.  It's been a very long time.  But breastfeeding has been a good connection between the two of us.  It was easy and free and convenient.  My production must be way down because I don't hurt even though it's been over 24 hours now.  Luckily, I have enough frozen breastmilk stored up that she may be taking it with her in her school lunch box.  :)...

Greeting daddy at the door- what you can't tell is that she's squealing with excitement. Modeling her summer wear... Looking stunning in her polka dotted two piece with the matching hat.  You can really see the hard work she's put into her abs!  :) Swimming in the FRONT yard with her mom and grandma.  Some people laughed and smiled at us, but amazingly most didn't seem to notice...  :)

Paisley has figured out that she LOVES daddy's stethoscope.  She thinks it accessorizes her outfit well!  The little toot decided that LOUD thunder and torrential rains were the key to a great night's sleep last night.  She's still asleep 10 hours later.  NO waking up.  In her own crib.  Who would have thought?  I woke up many times due to the storm, but she's sleeping like a rock.  And I can count on one hand (even if I amputated a couple of fingers) the number of times she's slept 10 hours straight.  So, yay!!! My job is going well at the pain management clinic.  I really like my new doc I work for and it's great working with a classmate.  She's been training me this week and it feels good to be around patients again, and regain that part of my life.  I'm actually enjoying my time there and Paisley has done great with everyone at the clinic while I'm gone.  So, I think I made the right decision!  :) Nursing is...

Paisley seems to be weaning herself from the breast.  I had it in my mind that we might be getting to the time where I was ready to be done, but she may be deciding for me.  She's loving solid foods of ALL types, and eats really well.  She'll eat mexican food, pasta, hamburgers, veggies, fruits, yogurt, pancakes, etc.  And she isn't a fan of plain milk, but loves coconut milk, almond milk, and chocolate milk.  And since the little lovebug is on the petite end, her pediatrician encourages us to give her those fatty food for the calories.  (Yes, our pediatrician also lets her have cow's milk after 6 months of age.  Everyone has a different opinion on this, but a lot say 9 months now.) This makes me both happy and sad.  It will be nice to finally have my body back after SO many years of letting someone else control it.  First it was my RE, with the infertility treatments, ovarian drilling, miscarriage, D&C, charts,...

I finally succeeded in posting videos on here of Paisley!  We got a flip video last month which has been incredibly easy to use and small in size.  What I look for in my electronics is simplicity .  And I feel like it came along at the perfect time because she's learning so much right now. Last week she started crawling with her belly off the ground.  If she wants to get somewhere incredibly fast, she'll still army crawl.  But she's got a pretty solid crawl going now.  And she plays peek-a-boo all the time with anything cloth-like.  It's super sweet! I started my PA job today and it went fine.  Paisley stayed with Aaron at his vet clinic and my mom worked up there today too.  She didn't mind at all, in fact I doubt she noticed that I was missing!  As for me, I did okay with it.  Once I left her sweet little snuggly self this morning, I focused on working and did fine.  It was awesome when I got to see her this afternoon....

Last night, I decided I would sleep in the recliner in Paisley's room so that I could tend to her needs more quickly and see if it would help her at all.  Turns out, she didn't need me at all.  She slept 9 hours straight.  Unfortunately, she makes a lot of noise during the night so I woke up a ton, but at least I had a happy baby!!! I love your comments and really appreciate knowing that I'm not alone.  And I know they all go through stages and just when something is going well, it's sure to go downhill again.  I just want this princess to be happy and well-rested!  And maybe play independantly every now and then...

Paisley has entered a new phase I'm affectionately calling, "Mommy-Can't-So-Much-As-Turn-Her-Back-On-Me-Or-I'll-Scream-Bloody-Murder".  It's a blast around here.   She has been great about playing with others until last week.  When all of a sudden, she decided that anyone other than mommy is a threat to her well-being and she must attach herself to me to avoid certain danger. I realized what was going on when I put her in the gym nursery.  She didn't last 10 minutes and the ladies came to get me because she was screaming.  When I took her from them, she instantly stopped crying.  When I tried to hand her back, she plastered her little body to me and wouldn't let go.  We tried several times before I finally put up the white flag and did everyone a favor by leaving with my dignity somewhat intact.  She wants me to hold her a lot right now, which I adore.  But I can't get a single thing done with her attached to me like a...

Ignorance. Something I just can't tolerate at all.  I think it's fine if someone is uneducated about something, but is willing to learn more about it.  Or if someone believes one way, but is still willing to hear the other side of the story.  But I absolutely cannot stand people who judge others or make idiotic statements about things they know nothing about. Let me tell you the background on this little tirade.  We caught an episode of Quints by Surprise tonight (it came on after Sister Wives which we really like.  And I kinda think it looks like fun to grow up as a polygamist kid even though I never would have thought that before this show came on.  I still can't imagine sharing my husband, even if it would be nice to have more help around the house.)  Back to the story: my husband wondered what IF treatments they went through to have the quints. Went to the TLC website and looked it up (it was through donor sperm IUI) and saw a ...

Today has been a very good day.  I snuggled with my sweet cuddly baby in bed this morning.  We went to the zoo with my mom and Aaron's mom.  My princess has been loving and adorable.   My family feels whole . Mother's Day two years ago was a very different experience.  I was in the middle of infertility treatments, having failed to respond to any of the ovulatory drugs we tried.  Next step was my ovarian drilling surgery, which I almost considered the last resort.  We decided to go to church that morning.  I'm sure I felt like I needed to wash away all the jealousy and hatred I was feeling about my infertility.  Turns out church is not the place to do that on Mother's Day. We walked in and immediately things went wrong when they handed out carnations to all the moms as they entered the church.  Guess who didn't get one?  That's right...  ME .   And I took it personally.  Like the guy hand...

I got a phone call from one of my classmates from PA school last week, who works for a pain management specialist in the area.  He is wanting to add a part-time PA to their practice, and she already works full-time.  She loves working with him and felt like it would be a great opportunity for me. They're going to pay me well, and the doc let me pick how many hours I wanted and what my schedule would be.  I can change it with just a little advance notice if needed, and he is super nice.  We all three laughed a lot during my interview and seem to have a good group dynamic.  We've decided for now that I'll work Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 8-12, but I'll still be at the clinic too.  I realize that doesn't seem like much but I'm still sad about leaving my princess. Even if it is just 12 hours a week! I feel like I've gotten so used to being together 24/7 that it will feel like I forgot to wear my pants to work if she isn't with me.  B...

Let's blame it on hormones (thanks PCOS!) that I was being whiny about my sweet girl never sleeping.  Truly, it is mostly a blessing.  I love it that she's awake with us most of the time and gets to be part of everything we do.  And it's great for our busy lifestyle that she doesn't have a set schedule.  Like last night.  We went out for my best friend's 30th birthday and ate at a nice sushi restaurant where she napped through part of our meal and then woke up the second food hit the table to eat a bunch. (Just noodles and chicken- I didn't give her sashimi). Afterwards, we played at a park with my best friend's two kiddos and then went to a really nice fondue place for chocolate.  She was still really good and stayed happy even though we didn't get home until almost 11.  Then she slept great and woke up happy this morning.  So, it is really nice to not have a schedule to allow us flexibility in our social lives!  Aaron an...

Paisley is asleep right now for a nap.  I better make this quick because she won't be this way for long.  In fact, I'm surprised she's asleep at all.  Did I hear you ask, " why ?"  Oh, because she apparently doesn't really require sleep.  I've never heard of a baby that can function on a couple of hours of sleep here and there, but now I've met the Queen of Insomnia . And I'm lucky enough to call her my daughter.  :) Since Day 1, Paisley hasn't been a major sleeper.  She didn't fit into that whole newborn phase of "all they do is sleep all the time ."  I spent many sleepless nights on the couch.  Then she wormed her way into our bed where she finally slept better, allowing me to become human again.  And eventually she started sleeping in her own crib which I was super excited about.  But the child still only sleeps 8 hours at night, going to bed about 10 or 11 and waking at 7.  I've had the rare occasion that she'll...