There's a baby in my bucket.

Yesterday afternoon Leah and I spent some time at my Mom and Dad's house. (That's Weezer and Granddad to Leah, though.) Mom had Ashley Marie outside in a little pool she bought, sitting in a Bumbo seat in the water. She didn't have another Bumbo seat, but she did have a big ol' bucket. Mom put some water in there, let the sun warm it up really well, and in went Leah! (The towel was to keep her from sliding.) She loved it. She took to it as she does the bathtub. She thought it was relaxing. I just thought it was cute.

Scrumptious

Argh.....cough, cough

Don't you love it when.....

you feel like death warmed over and decide to go to the doctor......

and get really excited about getting something to make you feel better.......

and you arrange for a babysitter........

and drive all the way across town......

literally all the way across town......

and pay your $40 copay.......

and see a doctor.......

and cough and demonstrate the extent of your sickness........

and are told that it's viral bronchitis and that they can't do anything at all about it since it's a virus......

and that you should keep doing exactly the same thing you have been doing that hasn't gotten you any better........

and to come back in another week if you're not any better?

Don't you just love that?

Da plague! Da plague!

I've probably written a post with this title before, but given that I am currently stricken with da plague, I don't much feel like going back and looking.

Yes, I'm definitely stricken.

So much so, in fact, that my dear husband has taken Leah away to a night at Grandma's house. This is my first night away from her and I have to say......right this second, I don't think I like it much. I miss her, and they just left. Scott isn't even back yet. He arranged for her little slumber party so that I could get some rest tonight and tomorrow while he's at church. (We're already kinda figuring church is probably out of the question.)

I have a fever, off and on (currently on), cough (the old man cough......ooh, it's scary), sneezing, sniffling, throbbing head..... No fun. No fun at all. I've called in the Mucinex troops, so hopefully they'll get to work soon.

In the meantime, pray for the general health of our household. We think Leah gave this to me, because she has a matching cough and sniffly nose (no fever, though, thankfully), and we really hope Scott doesn't contract it.

How cute is this?

She was playing and just fell asleep. Isn't that adorable?

Tongue and Cheek

Leah has taken to exploring the world with her tongue. Several times every night Scott and I crack up as we realize she's licking something nearby. I think that's her way of getting around the fact that her hand-eye coordination is still developing and that some things are just too big to actually fit into her mouth. She licks everything. It's too funny for words, even when her little tongue finds its way onto my face or neck.

On another note, we've been having an adventure over the past couple of days as I've gotten sick for the first time since she was born. It's a whole new level of devotion when you have to - absolutely have to - care for someone else when all you want is for someone to care for you.

Talking Soup

I was checking on Leah in the family room while my lunch was cooking in the microwave. I heard an ominous thump, and when I went to the kitchen, this is what I found:

Many things crossed my mind when I saw this.

"How does that even happen?"

"Should have gone with the chowder....."

"Didn't realize there was that much rice in that can......"

"I don't suppose chicken broth is good for a cold if it never makes it past the microwave...."

"The ants are going to love this."

"Now what am I going to eat?"

"How am I going to clean that up?"

"Seriously......how does this happen?"

"Guess 3 minutes might be too long...."

"And I was worried about whether or not to cover it with a paper towel!"

"I mean really! How does this happen?!"

Very strange. I thought that if Birdie could share her picture of her dessert, I could show you this. Enjoy. And watch out for the soup.

Is this how it works, Mommy?

She did this herself. Scott says it looked like she was wearing scuba equipment.

A Letter

Dear Georgia Department of Transportation,

I am interested that you have decided to pave the main road off of which I live. The road is only one house away from me, and it never struck me that it needed to be paved. There are lots of roads in worse condition in our area, so I would not have thought that this one would be of particular concern to you. However, I understand that the decision to pave has already been made. We country folks shall adapt.

What I may not be able to adapt to, though, is your schedule for paving. Why must you pave - and scrape and bang and rumble - overnight? Why must you begin at 10 PM? As I have mentioned, we are country folk. We go to bed early and generally enjoy sleeping all night...especially those of us with young babies. Also, the road out here is not overly traveled, so paving during the day would likely not cause much disarray.

You should be glad that I stopped my husband last night. Jokingly, I dared him to go to your workers and ask them to keep it down. Not jokingly, he began putting his shoes on and heading toward the door. Be glad I stopped him. He's not scary, but the scene would not have been pleasant for your nice road paver men. (I would like to mention here that I told my husband that if he went out to talk to the guys about their ruckus, I would sell everything I own and give him the money for golf clubs. I like my stuff, so I stopped him. It wasn't because I wanted the noise to continue.)

In the future, please consider a more appropriate road paving schedule. If you decide to do noisy work in the middle of the night, be prepared to send some of your road paver men inside to rock babies to sleep.

Seriously,

Crazy Sleepy Mama

Can I just ask......

......why it takes about a thousand things to build me up, but only one stupid, trivial little nothing to bring me crashing down?

Inspiration

"Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished."
(Luke 1:45)

I'm usually really, really bad at memorizing scripture and even worse about remembering where the verse is from, but this one spoke to me so deeply the other day that I have had no problem with either part. I hope it speaks to you today.

Jumbled Thoughts on Monday Morning

~ I need a haircut - badly. I'm wondering if I want to get something new done, or if I just want to refresh what I already have. In any case, something must be done. It's starting to get a mind of its own, and this sort of behavior should not be encouraged. (Actually, when hair can be said to have "behavior," that's your first sign that there's a problem, no?)

~ Leah has developed a little cough. It sounds kinda congested and wet, so I'm wondering if there's something I should do. She doesn't seem to feel bad at all, but it kills me to hear the hacking. Opinions? Should I wait to do anything and see if it goes away, or do I go ahead and call the doctor? Gracious........this is where it gets hard. Motherly intuition, where art thou?

~ Why do the grocery stores in my area all mark down the same things, to nearly the same price, at the same time? I mean, I understand the idea of competition and all, but seriously? Come on. Throw me a bone or something. Can't one of you mark down meat this week, while the other marks down diapers? I promise to visit you both! I'm trying really hard here.

~ I'm going to be sad when my Bible study is over. It's been so wonderful. It's bringing me back where I need to be, I think.....though from the dry spot where I was, anything would have been an improvement. I've missed being in the Word so much.

~ A couple of weeks ago in church, we had 7 people spontaneously come forward to be baptized after a message on how God wants to use our pasts for our good and His glory. So powerful! I've been thinking about it since then. It was amazing.

~ I'm still not watching TV during the day! Hurray for me! This has helped my mindset so much. Seems to breathe life into my day.

~ On a seemingly contradictory note....... The season finale of "24" is tonight, and American Idol finishes up this week. Bittersweet. =) I'm pulling for Kris Allen, for anyone who's following, though Adam is mad talented, too. I just think I'd be more likely to sit and listen to Kris's music for an extended period of time. I like the acoustic vibe. Oh, and of course I'm pulling for Jack Bauer. He's really gotten himself into a pickle this year, hasn't he? Man.....when that guy has a bad day, he has a bad day!

~ This is my new favorite song - so, so powerful. (When I looked on YouTube for this video, I found one of - get this - Kris Allen leading worship and singing this song. Man, I hope he wins.)

A Picture and A Lesson

The Picture:



The Lesson:

Do not check LOL Cats while a 4 month-old sleeps on your chest.

Played Out

Whoa!

"Mommy, what just happened?!"

"It's okay, honey....you just rolled over for the first time! Good girl! Such a big girl!"

"Yay, me!"

Big Girl

She's a growing girl! She had her four-month visit to the doctor yesterday (in the POURING down rain.......that was fun). She's perfect - in the words of her doctor, "I tried to find something wrong with her, but there just isn't anything!" She's now 14 pounds, 6 ounces, and 25 1/2 inches long. This puts her in the 75th percentile for both height and weight. She also had her second round of shots yesterday. She did really well - Mommy remembered to give her Tylenol before we left the house, too, which might have helped some.

We still can't fully decide who she looks more like. There are some features that are undeniably Scott or undeniably me, but sometimes she looks so much like him that there isn't anything I see that looks like me. It's fun to see her features develop and change. I can't wait to see what she'll look like as she gets older. When I envision her in the future, I see scenes, but no face.

It's amazing watching her change. Yesterday morning when she woke up, I was astounded to see that she had grown and her face had changed literally overnight. She slept for 12 hours, so I guess her body was hard at work all night.

She's been sleeping through the night consistently for a couple of weeks now. Let me tell you......it's a wonderful thing. I told my sister that it couldn't have been any more wonderful if angels themselves had drifted down from heaven and said, "You sleep tonight, Jessica. We've got this." You know you're tired during those first couple of months, but you kind of get into a routine of getting up. Once you can sleep through the night again, it's a very strange sensation. I still find myself waking up just to check on her. She's fine, of course, but that doesn't stop me from checking.

She's really taking to her right thumb. We've known this was going to be a battle for us since she was born. She has always loved having her fingers in her mouth - more than other babies, it seems - and now she's definitely preferring her thumb to even her pacifiers. She will literally pull her paci out of her mouth with her left hand and immediately stick her right thumb back in her mouth, over and over again. We tried really hard to keep her away from thumb-sucking as a habit, but we might have lost. Leah - 1. Mommy and Daddy - 0.

She's trying to roll over, too, and gone are the days of being able to leave her on the floor and know she'll be right there when I get back. She scoots all over the place on her back. That's probably part of why she has a big bald spot worn on the back of her head. I'm looking forward to that filling back in.

She's smiling all the time. She's a very, very happy baby. We know something is very wrong when she lets out an outright cry.

It's getting more and more fun to play with her, too. She actually takes an interest in her toys now, and reaches for things when we hand them to her. Everything drifts right to her mouth, where it promptly is doused in drool.

We'll be starting her on cereal tonight. She had mashed potatoes on Saturday night, and really seemed to like the idea of more of that coming her way. It's exciting, because she's growing and developing all on her own, but it's so sad, too. We have a bunch of baby spoons and dishes occupying space in our cabinets now. It just seems too soon for all of this!

So true......oh, so true......

Mommy's Day

I had a wonderful first Mother's Day! All day Leah said (through Scott.....she's only four months old, you know) things like, "It's Mommy's day.....what's Mommy want to do?" It was really cute. She (again.....Scott) bought me a gift certificate for some mommy-style pampering, and they were generally even sweeter than normal, if that's possible.

I had a couple of gifts from Kitter, too...... Interestingly, she only seems to do the instinctive "bring presents to your master" thing on special occasions. The last time was on my birthday, and yesterday I had both a Monarch butterfly and a mole on the floor of the garage by my car. I think she felt the need to make the day special. She might have been afraid of being upstaged.

We had dinner with my family last night -several sweet cards and a photo collage of Leah's first 4 months from Mom. Very sweet!

It was a wonderful day. Made me feel very special.

Made over!

Many, many thanks to my super bloggy friend Birdie for filling me in on how to make my blog infinitely prettier than it has been. I feel so.......so.........fancy!

If I Had Her Address

You may have seen in the news lately that photographers claim to have caught Jon Gosselin, of Jon & Kate Plus 8, in infidelity. It's been on magazine covers and on entertainment news shows, and Kate was on the Today show yesterday (I heard.....I did not see it) talking about the allegations. I love this show, and ever since I saw the "news" on a magazine in the checkout line the other day I've been thinking about it. I even looked online to see if I could find an email address to write to Jon and/or Kate, because I felt so achingly sad about it all. I couldn't find an address, but if I had, this is what I probably would have written.

Dear Kate,

I am so sad for your family. I am sad for you, of course, that these claims have been made, but my heart breaks for your family as a whole. I do not know the motivation behind you and Jon deciding to make your show, but I am certain that it was with good intentions that you put your family's lives in the public eye. I know that the show has allowed opportunities for your children that you would have otherwise been unable to afford, and I am thrilled for you at that. As a mother, I can fully appreciate the desire to give your children things that you did not have as a child. I am so glad that this show has made this possible for your special family. While circumstances could have made life extremely difficult for you and your children, I think the difficult decision you made to be on television has opened many doors for you all.

I am so sad, though, that your family is being subjected to the horrors of entertainment media. I am so sorry that the mere fact that you are on television has made you all subject to the cruel, probing eyes of photographers. I am heartbroken that this claim - substantiated or not.....true or not - has come out, anad that now your sweet family must deal with this in the public eye. Yes, your lives are lived out on camera, but you are a family. There are children involved. There is a real marriage involved. You are real people, living real lives, and I am so sorry that there are those out there who are willing to forget the humanity of it all in the interest of getting a picture or a story. I am so sad that you and Jon have to deal publicly with troubles that the rest of the world copes with in secrecy. I am also sad that your children must face their friends at school and church with this story flowing through the newswires.

I want you to know that I support you and Jon and what you are doing. While I may not support every decision that you make, I do support you and your family. You are wonderful parents in spite of outrageous circumstances. I cannot imagine the difficulties and stress that life with 8 children provides, but you and Jon have handled it all admirably.

Thank you for sharing your stories with us, and I hope that the benefits of doing so far outweigh the negative impact it likely has on your life. I truly believe that you are doing what you feel is best for your family, and I pray God blesses you for that.

Blessings,
Jessica

Bullheaded

The other day I was wandering through WalMart when I heard a small child screaming from several aisles over. He was obviously very unhappy about something, as his wails escalated to a fever pitch.

Through the screams and tears, I could decipher only a few words.

"Mama......

......please........

.........Red Bull.........."

Good call, mom. Yikes.

Bloop Loader

This might be another benefit (?) of my silencing the TV. I'm going to be posting more, methinks.

Anyhow, I was just searching for pointers on how to change my blog header (I want to do something interesting, but don't know how). I went to Wikipedia (forgot temporarily about WikiHow) and typed in "blog header," and it asked me if I meant to say, "Bloop loader."

Now I'm wanting to check out what on earth a bloop loader is. Makes me wonder.

Oh, and if any of you have ideas on how to change my header into something interesting, let me know. I'm open to ideas.

A Cool Drink of Water

Ladies and gentlemen, I have an announcement to make.

I have decided......

......to turn off the TV.




No, I'm not going to stop watching American Idol at this pivotal point in the season, nor am I going to miss my Jack Bauer fix during 24 every week. However, I must turn off the TV during the day. A couple of months ago we got a few more channels added to our cable setup, and whoa, buddy. I had no idea what I was missing when I didn't have ABC Family, A&E, E!, Lifetime, and Animal Planet. Gracious. There's a whole world out there that I never knew existed, and now that I know, it has sucked me in. I have the stupid TV on nearly all day, every day, even if I'm not watching it. It provides background noise as I play with Leah or do laundry or wash dishes. This, in and of itself, is not such a bad thing.....but when I begin scheduling things around Ellen's talk show or Gilmore Girls.....that, my friends, is a Bad Sign (tm). I could make projections about how this has happened, but that doesn't matter.

I'm confessing this as an accountability thing, I think, because now that it's out in the open, it sounds pretty bad and I don't like this about me. I'm vowing now to turn off the TV.

I started today. I did not turn on the Today show as I fed Leah her first bottle of the day, and I'm discovering that my day CAN get off to a good start without getting Matt Lauer's take on the news or Al Roker's predictions of the day's weather. I skipped Ellen. I am currently skipping Gilmore Girls. My heart continues to beat, my lungs continue to take in air.....and I am discovering a side effect I hadn't imagined.

I feel good.

I cannot stand a silent house. (I use the term "silent" rather loosely, since a house with an infant is rarely silent. As I type this, I hear the rhythmic creaking of her swing across the room, along with her little old man-esque snores.) In an attempt to fill the deafening silence in the house this morning, I unearthed some of my neglected praise CDs. The sounds of Passion band, Jeremy Camp, Casting Crowns, and Caedmon's Call are currently resounding through my home, and somehow......wait for it......this is more fulfilling than TV.

I know, I know. Shocking.

I did my Bible study this morning without glancing up to see what was going on on the muted TV screen. Instead, I hummed along with Chris Tomlin as he proclaimed the Lord's name to be blessed regardless of any circumstances. This, it seems, is a better approach, as I am now filled with peace and hope, and there seems to be a light about the day that I had missed without realizing it was gone. It really feels like a cool drink of water after a long walk through a dry land.

Pray for me, friends. Pray that I'll stick with this. Pray that I'll be protected from the enemy's assaults, because I am certain that he is somewhat bothered by this.

I challenge any of you who need to do so to do the same. Give it a try. We can be in this together.

25 Gotta-Haves

I have several friends and acquaintances with whom I have recently discussed pregnancy and baby issues. Having these conversations has made me realize that I never wrote a post that I kept thinking I wanted to be sure to write. It's been on my mind for several months.

I've wanted to write a post on the topic of things related to pregnancy and new-motherhood that were lifesavers to me. I want to write this so that I remember those particularly essential items, and so that those who are now in those life stages will have me recommendations, whether or not they should choose to heed them.

Here they are. Some of them, at least. I'm sure I'll forget some, as some of them go back about a year. (Wow. Time flies.)

1. Anti-nausea wristbands. I had some fairly considerable nausea during my first trimester, and these bracelets were a lifesaver for me. Granted, I now know that my nausea was NOTHING compared to what some women endure, but for what I did have, the bracelets were wonderful. They are placed on pressure points on your wrists, and thereby alleviate nausea sans drugs or chemicals that could be dangerous for the little one.

2. Bella Bands. If you're not familiar with these, they're basically cummerbunds for pregnant ladies. They are elasticky bands that you can wear around pants that have become too small for a newly prego belly, or for maternity pants that are still too big. Later on, after the birth, they're also great for that strange adjustment period before you can fit into any normal clothes but when your maternity wardrobe is suddenly massive. They're cute, too, so they are a tasteful way to span the gap (ha) between the rubber band on your buttons and the pants that are actually made for this beautiful time.

3. Mylicon (or the WalMart variety). Gas drops are a MUST. When baby wakes up screaming for no apparent reason, gas drops. When baby suddenly seems to have forgotten how to use a bottle, gas drops. When baby is a virtual spit up fountain, gas drops. When all else fails, gas drops.

4. Lansinoh lanolin ointment. I never, ever would have made it three DAYS, much less three months, breastfeeding if it weren't for nipple ointment. It makes the owey less owey.

5. Bumbo seat. I'm jumping around a bit here, but this is the newest item on the "how'd we live without this?!" list. I had never seen or heard of these things, but little did I know......I needed one. It's hard to continually find places to prop Leah since she's awake more and more, wanting to be involved in everything, but still can't sit up on her own. This problem is compounded by our slippery leather couches which cause her to slide as soon as I take my hands off of her. The Bumbo seat, though, has fixed all of that. She has her own little chair and can sit as long as we let her, perfectly content to play and look around.

6. Lap pads. When my sister-in-law gave us some of these at my shower, I nodded and grinned and was thrilled.......but honestly, I had no idea what they were or what they were for until she explained it to me. They're washable WATERPROOF pads to put under baby's bottom for changing, and I've recently discovered they're great for letting her have some bare bottom time to relieve diaper rash without having to worry about, um, the consequences of having a diaperless baby.

7. A variety of shapes and sizes and materials of pacifiers. I wasn't aware of this, but not all pacifiers are the same. There are all different kinds, and each baby has a different preference. When Leah was first born we had a whole assortment on hand, and it was a good thing we did. It took some trial and error to find one she liked and could keep in her tiny little mouth, so we were grateful we got lots of different choices as gifts. And here's another piece of advice: the ones you think are cutest are NOT the ones your baby will like. Pick the weirdest and/or most obscure one you can find and that's the one your baby will crave.

8. Infant swing. This goes along with the comments on the Bumbo seat, but it also has the added benefit of allowing baby to sleep, and sleep SOUNDLY. This is good. Also, this is somewhere you can feel safe laying your tiny newborn without worrying if it's a safe place to leave her while you run to the bathroom.

9. Womb sounds bear. Mom gave me this and I am so glad she did. It's a teddy bear that imitates the sounds a baby grows accustomed to hearing in utero. (Presumably not all of them...) It's great for nighttime in those early weeks. Leah wouldn't sleep if it was too quiet, so this was a good solution that we could live with (and sleep through) while she slept in our room.

10. Crib aquarium. Same concept as the above, but for slightly older babies who are actually alert and looking around and aware of their surroundings. With this, I can lay Leah in her bed awake and she can lull herself to sleep with the music and lights and bubbles. I don't know what we'd use for this purpose if it weren't for this handy dandy thing. Also, this and the bear are good for white noise to drown out thigns that might otherwise disturb a sleeping baby.

11. SwaddleMe blanket. We didn't use this when she was teeny tiny, because at that point she could stay swaddled in a normal blanket when she slept. Later, though, when she went through a random phase of wanting to be swaddled again but wouldn't stay still enough to stay wrapped, the velcro on these blankets was perfect.

12. Two car seat bases. Our car seat says it will work without a base, but obviously it's best with one. We have a base in my car and in Scott's car so either of us can pick her up from our parents' houses, for example, when they've watched her while I'm in Bible study and he's still at work.

13. Bottle and nipple drying rack. For awhile, we used our normal dishrack for this, and gracious. What a mess.

14. Bouncer seat. Again, it's a place to sit her.....but this one provides entertainment, where the swing provides a sleeping environment. Beware, though - if baby is spit-uppy and the gas drops haven't worked, this could be a dangerous place to put her too soon after eating. (If your baby has reflux, though, this could be a dangerous place to put her at ANY time. We struggle some with this.)

15. Cloth diapers. I am using some cloth diapers for the purpose for which they were intended, but the ones I refer to here are used as burp cloths. We have the gerber tri-fold cloth diapers stashed everywhere. You can never, ever have too many.

16. Baby sling. Not to be confused with the baby sWing, this is awesome for quick jaunts into the store for which it seems ridiculous to use either the stroller or the carseat/buggy combo. I use it for church, too, and stores with no room for pushing anything around (like consignment shops). Leah loves to be all up close and cozy with me.

17. Flanders diaper rash ointment. Smells kinda nice, is thick enough so it doesn't wipe right off as soon as you close the diaper, and comes in mondo sized tubes.

18. Insulated bottle cooler. This isn't as important for those mothers who exclusively breastfeed, but it's great if you pump and/or formula-feed. We have one we take everywhere, just because you never know how long you're really going to be gone or how many times the baby will actually want to eat in that time period.

19. Safety pins and clothes pins. Safety pins are great for pinning tiny little socks together in the laundry, and both are good for keeping parts of outfits together in the closet.

20. Boppy pillow. Great for nursing, of course, since that's what it was made for, but it's also great for propping up baby......yeah, you get the picture......propping is a big deal. It's great for reflux-y babies, too, so they don't lay flat and get spituppy.

21. Anything made by Little Noses, Little Tummies, Little Allergies, etc. Those people KNOW what they're doing. I especially love their bulb syringe with the clear tip, so I can see just what I've unearthed from her little nose. (It's a mommy thing.) Saline drops are essential, too, whether they're Little Noses or not.

22. Lavendar baby wash and lotion. I don't know if the smell helps with the whole nighttime routine, or if it's the routine itself, but I love this stuff. Plus, it smells pretty amazing.

23. Baby tub with sling. Slippery babies who don't sit up on their own are pretty tricky. The sling makes them less tricky.

24. Johnson's nursing pads. These are so soft, AND they don't crinkle when you move.

25. Moses basket. This is great early on, when baby is still teeny. I loved mine for nights when she was noisy and I brought her out to the family room to sleep. Comfy and safe for her, which makes mommy happy. She outgrew it pretty quickly, but now it's great for her toys!

I think that's all I have. They're in absolutely no particular order, and Scott and I both are out of ideas.....and it's time for supper, so I'm going to scoot.