Just A Mama

Driving to school this morning...

Caleb: What's a prince?
Me: It's a king's son.
Caleb: Is Daddy a king?
Me: Sure. So what does that make me?
Caleb: Nothing. You're just a Mama.

I was thinking more along the lines of queen, princess, diva or beautiful. Nope - "just a mama." I can't think of anything better to be. (However..."an awesome mama" would've been a little more palatable.)

On another note (for my memory) - Caleb came in the bedroom this morning when he woke up and climbed up on my bed. I had just finished feeding Nola and put her down on the bed beside me. As soon as she saw Caleb, she lit up like a Christmas tree! She smiled at him for the longest time and he giggled like it was the greatest thing that had ever happened to him. The more he giggled, the more she smiled. It was such a fun moment to share with them.

Totally Random

The Weekend Update
This weekend was a fun one. Friday night, we went to dinner at LasFajitas and then took a birthday dessert to Aunt Kathy. On Saturday, my friends Leslie and Cindy came over. Cindy wanted to meet Nola, so we made a day of it. We had 5 kids in my house and it was wonderful chaos. They played and nobody fought and very few tears were shed. We went to Chili's for dinner (5 adults, 4 kids and an infant!) and then came back to my house, put on our PJ's and talked until after midnight. Cindy and Haven spent the night and went back to Tulsa on Sunday. Shortly after they left, Chad & Ronni and their kids came by to meet Nola and say hi. They were in town from Little Rock, so they stopped in for just a few minutes before heading for home. When they left, we started our furniture shopping expedition. That took all afternoon and then we went to dinner at Olive Garden (or, as Caleb calls it...The Spaghetti Store).


Weight Watchers
Rudy and I started back on Weight Watchers on Monday morning. (Hence the complete pigout over the weekend.) We're now 2 days into it and I'm hungry. Going from eating whatever I wanted to eating sensibly has been tough. It'll get easier. I haven't started working out yet, but that's the next thing on my agenda. I'm trying to figure out how to make it work with my current situation. It seems like every time I get motivated, Nola wakes up hungry or it's time to go somewhere. It will happen. Soon.

Stylish Nola
I haven't posted a recent picture of Nola in a while, so I'm sharing this one. "Sister Britches" is all decked out in one of my favorite outfits in her closet. It's too cute - all the way from the green cardigan to the fake jeans to the pink hightops.

Monkey See, Monkey Do
I have tried so hard to get a picture of her smiling, but she's so intrigued by the camera and the phone that she always stops smiling when I get either of them close enough to take a picture. She has the sweetest smile. Her whole face lights up when she smiles. Last night, she was laying on our bed and I put my head down next to hers. She imitated me sticking my tongue out and then surprised me by imitating my vocalizations. I would say "ah" and she would wiggle her whole body around and then say it back to me. Rudy and I were laughing and cheering her on and she smiled so big it nearly made me cry. For a girl who is so serious all the time, she sure does light up the room when she does decide to smile.


Calebism
Caleb got out of bed to go to the bathroom. When he got in there, he stood at the toilet for a few seconds, then looked down at his "boy parts" and said, "Were you just kidding?" Apparently, he didn't have to go anymore.


Postpartum Visit
Last week, I went to see Dr. Ford for my 6 week postpartum visit. She said that I'm doing great. I took bagels to her and her staff for being so kind (and patient) during my pregnancy. I also took Nola (of course) and birth announcement for one of the many office bulletin boards. I have to go back in a couple of weeks, because I opted for implantation of an intrauterine device (IUD) called Mirena. It is a 5 year birth control option and so far I haven't had any problems with it. My visit in 2 weeks is to make sure that it's where it's supposed to be and that I'm doing okay with it. So far, so good.

Puppet Show
This picture is terrible, but I have to share it because it makes me happy. You can barely see it, but I assure you, it's Caleb and Rudy putting on a puppet show for me over the back of the couch. The stuffed animals were telling me that they loved me and they loved each other...until they started wrestling. That was the end of the puppet show...

Mermaids

And one final note of randomness... This morning on the way to school, Caleb asked me, "What's a mermaid?" I said, "It's a pretend creature that lives in the ocean." He got quiet for a little while, then I heard him say, "God, can you make a real mermaid?" I love the faith of a child.

Caleb's X-Ray Results

I got a call last week that Caleb's x-ray results were perfectly clear. I got tears in my eyes as I thanked the nurse for the good news.


Now we just have to get him in to see the orthopedist for some shoe inserts. Hopefully, this will help his pain.


Thank you, Lord, for answering these prayers!

My Sleeping Babies

Is there anything better than a sleeping baby?
I went into my room a couple of mornings ago and found Caleb like this. Maybe it's not better than a sleeping baby, but it's just as cute for sure...

He had slept with Rudy the night before and I slept in his bed to be closer to Nola when she woke up. According to Rudy, he slept like this most of the night, except that Rudy was in the bed where Caleb's feet are. Needless to say, Rudy was a little tired the next day.

On the subject of sleep...

Nola has now slept through the night for the past 2 nights in a row. Both nights, I put her in her bed when I was ready to go to bed and she didn't wake up until 6:30. Hallelujah!!! I'm not counting on this pattern continuing, but I'll take what I can get. I sure wouldn't complain if it did.

Furniture Shopping

We learned a lesson last week. When Caleb wakes up, he needs to be sent immediately to the bathroom to remove his pull-up. He only wears them at night, but for some reason, it doesn't bother him one bit for it to be soaking wet. He will continue to wear them (and use them) until we tell him to take them off. He was sitting in the recliner with Rudy last week when Rudy suddenly noticed that the chair was wet. Caleb had soaked his pull-up to the point that it leaked all over the recliner. We used every trick in the book to clean it. No dice. It now smells like a public bathroom in an old building that has been cleaned repeatedly with very strong cleaner. It stinks. We finally decided to throw in the towel and buy a new chair. While we were at it, we decided to give in and replace our couch too. We spent all day Sunday shopping for furniture. After several stores, we ended up deciding on these pieces at Ashley:

We got the couch, the chair and the ottoman. They should be here in about 3 weeks.

Of course, no family adventure would be complete without a Caleb story. Bless his heart, he was a trooper. We shopped for furniture for hours. He trucked along with us and didn't get fussy until we had pushed him to his absolute max. When he got really whiny, I realized that I still had an ace up my sleeve. I pulled up some Phineas & Ferb on YouTube on my phone and he was entertained for another good 30-45 minutes. That's not the good part, though. Sometime during the day, Caleb had to go "big boy bathroom" and in his ultimate quest for independence, he didn't get completely clean. As a result, he started complaining about his bottom hurting. I told him that the next store we went in, I would take him in the bathroom and clean him up. When we walked into the store, I asked the salesperson where the restroom was. He pointed me in the right direction and Caleb told him (pretty loudly), "I didn't wipe my bottom very good." I thought Rudy was going to either implode or melt into the floor from embarrassment.

ENT Appointment

Today started out a little rough. Caleb woke up with a leaky pull-up that had soaked his PJ pants and my bed since he slept with Rudy last night. After I changed that, fixed my hair and make-up and got dressed, I fed Nola. She rewarded me with a dirty diaper and then rewarded me for changing the dirty diaper by spitting up all over my arm as I was putting clean clothes on her. I was just shy of crawling back under the covers when the humor of it all hit me. I stepped back and looked at the situation and just laughed with gratitude for the experience.

When I took Caleb to school, I got a little choked up. We pulled up just as his class was headed down to the playground. I got Caleb out of the car - his new booster seat is WONDERFUL because he can work the seatbelt on his own - and walked him over to join his class. He gave me a kiss and a hug and grabbed Ms. Elizabeth's hand. Off he went without a second glance. I love it when he's in big kid mode, but in a little way it breaks my heart. (I don't love it when he's in whiny "I can't do it!" mode.)

I took Nola to see Dr. Black today for a 6 week follow-up on her laryngomalacia. She managed to throw a holy fit right when we got there. Somehow our arrival at places always coincides with the time when she needs to be fed. I got her fed, filled out a health history on a 6 week old (um...she doesn't have a health history), and was sent to an exam room. When Dr. Black came in, he took a look at her and said she was doing great. He said that as long as she keeps gaining weight, she's fine. That's because she's not using all of her calories to struggle to breathe. He also said that as long as she has a strong cry, she's fine. That's because her vocal folds are able to touch - meaning no mass between them. Trust me - her cry is quite strong. We're supposed to go back in 6 weeks if needed. I made the appointment, but I'll cancel it if she's doing fine. She doesn't seem too worried about it...

The Best Part of Your Day

Caleb: "Daddy, what the best part of your day was?"
Rudy: "Going to the band concert with you."
Caleb: "My favorite part was coming home."

And that's when I smiled.

Cheering, Sleeping & Smiling

Mom and Mr. L. came up this past Thursday afternoon. They kept Nola for me on Friday so that I could go to a conference for work. They reportedly had a great day and I survived being in the grown-up world for a whole day.

On Saturday, we went to the Razorback basketball game. The Hogs lost to Ole Miss in the final minutes of the game, but we had a good time anyway.

Though Nola slept through pretty much the whole game, Caleb has always been sensitive to loud sounds. He spent a lot of the game with his hands over his ears:
The fake foam finger is from his Fredbird build-a-bear that we got at the Cardinals game when he was 6 weeks old. He thought he just had to take it to be able to cheer for the Hogs. After he and Rudy had "prayer meeting" about his whininess and crying over the noise, he was in a much better mood. He finally perked up after halftime and had a good time. He even called the Hogs and cheered on his own.

The highlight of the game for me was getting this picture:

I know...probably not the best idea to hand my 5 1/2 week old child off to a mascot, but I could not miss this photo op and it didn't even cross my mind that it wasn't a good idea until well after the fact. I tried to get Caleb to stand closer and smile, but he was too distracted by the crowd and all the hoopla going on around us. A lady beside me asked how old Nola was and when I told her, I said something about giving my infant child to a Hog. Big Red rubbed his stomach like she would be a good snack for him. I thought that was pretty funny. :) Mom said that everyone around us oohed and aahed over Nola when Big Red was holding her. Only in Razorback Nation...

After the game, we went to dinner at Abuelo's. When the food runner brought our meals out, he apologized for something and Caleb looked at him and said very matter-of-fact, "You're fine." Apparently whatever the guy apologized for was just no big deal to Caleb and didn't bother his dining experience at all.

When Mom and Mr. L. left for Hot Springs on Sunday, Rudy took Caleb to Lake Ft. Smith to spend some time outside. They fished, had a picnic, went on a hike and pretty much did "boy stuff" all afternoon.

Caleb loves being outside with his daddy and I think the feeling is mutual. I would've liked to have been with them and I'm looking forward to the time when Nola is old enough that we can join them. It just would've been too much hassle to get her out there and worry about feeding her and changing her and keeping her covered up from the wind. We'll do that soon enough. Instead, we stayed home and took a nap.

Before I forget - I have two milestones to report... Nola slept all night long last night! I put her in her bed at 11:00. She slept most of the day and was awake and alert most of the evening. She napped in my arms for a while before her last bottle at 10:30. I went to bed at 12:00 and didn't wake up until I got a text at 5:45. I looked at the clock and realized that she had been asleep for a really long time, so I went to check on her. She was sleeping soundly, so I climbed back into bed and slept until 7:00. Caleb was still sleeping too, but woke up just after I did. Nola started to stir at about 7:30. Amazing!

Almost as good as sleeping all night is that she has also started to smile. She has done it a few times here and there and Mom said that she smiled at her on Friday, but yesterday was the first time she really looked right at me and grinned ear-to-ear. She did it several times yesterday and again this morning. She's also imitating more and more. She'll stare at my face intently and imitate me by sticking out her tongue and opening her mouth. Last night, she seemed to be trying to get me to play with her by sticking out her tongue and then smiling. This is when things start to get fun!

Answered Prayers for Caleb

I took Caleb to the doctor this morning. He has been having pain in his legs for over a year. We took him last February (2009) and the doctor ordered bloodwork, which came back perfectly normal. We've been watching him since then and recently noticed that he's been getting upset about it more often, even waking up in the middle of the night crying and sometimes stopping his play because he hurts. I got him an appointment for this morning and went in with a pit in my stomach. Best case scenario: growing pains. Worst case scenario: leukemia or something along that line. (We have some college acquaintances who recently lost their 5 year old daughter to leukemia which was diagnosed after she complained of leg pain and had recurrent fevers. Caleb hasn't had any fever.) Also notable is that Rudy had a lot of problems with joint pain as a young child.

So - I took Caleb in this morning and tried to shove all of the horrible thoughts from my mind, but couldn't just let it slide without checking into it again. Dr. Schaefer looked Caleb over and asked me a lot of questions. Caleb was a SUPER TROOPER about the whole thing. He even told the doctor, "We came to find out why my legs hurt sometimes. I'm not really sick." Dr. S did a great job with Caleb and even used a matchbox car to check for pain. (Caleb was impressed.)

When he was finished, he told me that he really thinks the problem is that Caleb is so flat-footed that it makes his feet turn in. That, in turn, causes strain on the muscles and bones in his legs. I told him that we buy really good shoes at Stride Rite b/c Caleb's feet are so wide. He said that's good, but he also needs an arch support and recommended that we ask at Stride Rite if they have anything like that. If not, we'll go see a podiatrist and get him fitted for them. I hope and pray that this solves the problem.

Dr. S did order a set of x-rays on Caleb's left leg, primarily to rule out the slim chance of bone cancer or a structural anomaly. When we went to check in for the x-rays, the receptionist asked me his name and I said, "Caleb with a C." Caleb quickly responded, "No, Mama, I'm Caleb with a W." He was excited about getting "special pictures" taken and the x-ray tech was awesome. She gave him stickers when we were finished and I gave him bubble gum. (He didn't like the kind of gum I had and promptly spit it in the trash.) I took him to get a Happy Meal to celebrate and reward his amazing behavior and bravery.

Now we wait to hear from the doctor about the x-ray results. Honestly, I have a peace about it. I feel so much better than I did when I walked in the office. I'm going to call and check on shoe inserts and schedule an appointment if I have to. Let's pray that it works and helps the sweet little guy not hurt anymore!

Nola @ One Month

Nola turned one month old on Saturday! It's incredibly hard to believe that she's been with us for a whole month. So, what is Nola like at 1 month? Well...

• As of 2/22, her weight is 9 lbs, 6.5 ozs.
• She takes a 4 oz bottle every 2 1/2 - 3 hours.
• She is still wearing newborn diapers, but only until we run out of them. We have about half of a package and then we'll switch to size ones.
• She's still wearing newborn clothes too, but some of them are getting a little snug. Her 0-3 mos clothes are really still too big - especially the pants. The shirts are big, but at least they don't fall off when I pick her up. I put long-sleeved onesies under some of her short sleeved tops to make them more seasonally appropriate.
• She sleeps a lot. She's only awake for a total of about an hour or two a day.
• She is sleeping a little better at night. We've had a couple of nights when I put her in her bed at 10:30 PM and she only woke up to eat once before 6:00 AM. Other nights, I usually do 2 feedings between 10:00 and 6:00. I am tired - very very tired, but I know this too shall pass.
• The pesky laryngomalacia continues to stick around. Nola is just plain old loud most of the time. She breathes loud and she cries loud. She audibly sucks in a lot of air, which leads to lots of gas and more spitting up than I'd like. I can always bet on the fact that she's going to spit up if I can't get her to burp after she eats. I've started leaving bibs on her most of the time, just to make clean up a little easier. We are going to the ENT for a follow-up next week.
• I've taken to calling Nola my "grumpopotamus." She is a pretty fussy kiddo. I hate to even say that because I have so many friends who have battled colic with their kids and they would trade Nola's fussiness for that any day. But...my sweet girl goes from calm one minute to royally mad the very next and she lets me know all about it. She cried so hard yesterday in the car that she actually bursted a blood vessel in her eye. I'm not even kidding!
• In addition to being "grumpopotamus," one of Nola's other nicknames is "Sis." I've never liked to hear families call their kids "sissy" or "bubba" because they sound so country, but "Sis" just seems to fit for Nola. I also call her "Chicky Babe" and "Little Miss" a lot. Occasionally, she gets to be "Noisy Nelly" or "Weezy." I don't even know why I use these nicknames, I just do.

So, that's Nola Mae at one month of age. I sure am enjoying being home with her. I cherish my snuggle time and the ability to calm her when she cries. I'll never regret a single minute of it.

Learning Letters

Caleb has really shown an interest in letters and spelling lately. He wants to know what letters/sounds different words start with and what words start with whatever sound pops into his head. He likes to point out the letter C and tell us, "There's a C! That starts with me!" In his new class at daycare, there is more of an emphasis on pre-academics and they study a letter of the week. Today, they introduced the letter F. We spent a long time at dinner tonight coming up with words that start with F. Rudy and I said, "f-f-fish" and "f-f-funny." Caleb responded, "f-f-ketchup!" (Maybe he doesn't quite get it yet...)

Tonight in the bathtub, Caleb was playing with his foam letters. He picked up a letter and said, "I found an F!" I was excited that he was right and told him, "Wow, great job!" His response was, "I'm so smart." After we learn all of those letters, I guess we need to start working on learning to be humble. :)

Just a Slingin'

I bought a Balboa Baby sling yesterday. So far, I like it. It does make my neck a little sore, but I think that's because I haven't learned to relax and trust it yet. That'll take a while. We had another (much cheaper) sling when Caleb was an infant, but I hated it and only used it a couple of times. I decided to try some nicer ones this time around and I feel like it's more secure and definitely better made. It looks like this (no, that's not me or Nola):

We also have the BabyBjorn carrier, which we like. It looks like this (nope, that's not us either):

Rudy used the carrier a lot when Caleb was little. They would use it to go for a walk every morning in the summer. I've used it some with Nola. I wore it to take her to Caleb's Valentine's Day party and it was perfect. I tried using it around the house too and it does the trick, but it's really hard to do anything with her up so high on my chest. It does feel more secure than the sling, so we'll continue to use it when we're out and about, but the sling gives me more flexibility to get things done around the house. It's also easier to hold her when I'm seated using the sling than the carrier - and the sling isn't as hot for me to wear.

I did make a joke about the sling today, saying (on Facebook) that I'm a hemp necklace, a pair of birkenstocks and a bottle of patchouli away from hanging out on Dickson Street with a dog and some hackysack players. Slings seem like such a "hippy mama" thing to use, but whatever it takes!

Growing Up

Caleb gets frustrated very easily. Because of this, he is hesitant to try new things if he doesn't think he will be successful. (He gets that characteristic from me.) Yesterday, I tried to get him to get dressed on his own and he threw a fit. This morning, I got his clothes and put them where he could get to them. I left him sitting on my bed and went to change Nola's diaper. When I came back, he was wearing his underwear (the right way), his shirt (backwards) and his socks (a little twisted). I made a big hoopla about what a great job he did and stood back while he put on his pants. I offered to help him turn his shirt around - or he could leave it like it was. He asked me to help him and got really tickled by the fact that I could turn it around without taking it all the way off. Next thing I knew - he was running to the get his shoes and put them on by himself. I made a big deal about his independent activity and we even called LaLa to brag about it. Rudy bought him a 97 cent airplane at WalMart this afternoon. Caleb is so proud of himself and we're pretty proud of him too.

To top off that accomplishment, he also learned how to chew gum today and helped me make lemonade this afternoon. He's such a big kid...or as he would say, "I'm a super big kid!"

Birth Announcement

I worked all last week on these birth announcements for Nola and I was so pleased with the way they turned out! These are scanned from one of the originals, which was made with cardstock, a photo and scrapbook paper. I made almost 90 of them. I think I was on about number 40 when I started to ask myself why I didn't just have them printed. When I finished, I was so happy with them that I was glad I put in the effort.

iPhone Pics

I love my iPhone. Really, I'm not a big "possession" person and I usually don't care about brand names, but I'm pretty attached to my iPhone. Besides being my phone (we don't even have a home phone anymore), I can use it to text, check Facebook, look up things online, listen to music, play games (rarely!) and now - (**giggle**) - there's even a Kenny Chesney app where I can listen to Kenny's music, watch videos, see photos and more. (This could be a problem for my productivity.) AND - I can snap pictures when I can't get to my camera easily. This comes in handy, since my children are just so stinkin' cute...

Here are Caleb and Nola watching Phineas & Ferb before Caleb went to school last Friday. He is such a good big brother. When he wants to hold Nola, he comes up and says, "It's been a LONG time since I got to hold Nola." I'm not sure why he won't just ask, but he won't.

Since I've been home, I've been reminded of the absolute peacefulness of a sleeping baby. It's hard to capture that in a picture, but I think this one comes close...
As much as I love sitting and holding my sleeping child, there are some days when I just have to get things done around here. When Nola isn't having any part of being put down in her bed, on her blanket or in her swing, I resort to using the Baby Bjorn to strap her to me and go about my business. There's nothing better than looking down and seeing this as I do household chores:
And this one is by far my favorite. I took it while watching the Super Bowl. Nola was about a week old. I looked down and saw her laying like this and couldn't get to the camera function on my phone fast enough. How funny is this?

Wonderful Weekend

We have had an absolutely wonderful weekend! It started on Friday, when I had the chance to go out for a girls' night with my friends Jamie and Kelli. We went to a late afternoon showing of Valentine's Day. We were the loudest laughers in the theater, which didn't bother us one bit! After the movie, we went to Chili's for dinner. We sat there and laughed even more. It was so much fun to be out and about with the girls. I texted Rudy a couple of times to make sure everything was okay here and he assured me that everything was just fine. I knew he'd handle both kids beautifully, but I just had to check in.

On Saturday, we went to Eureka Springs, where we met Jerry and Sherry for lunch. They were visiting her dad in Harrison, so we met them halfway. Our lunch was delicious and we enjoyed catching up with them. They were excited to meet Nola and see Caleb.

In their usual generous way, they not only brought a gift for Nola and paid for our lunch, but also brought a bag of fun toys for Caleb. Here he is showing off his "weasel ball" that has rolled all over our house today...he loves the crazy thing!

After lunch, we all walked down the main street to soak up a little of the sunshine and relatively warm day. After Jerry & Sherry had to leave, we stayed for a little while longer. We went into the Basin Park hotel to use the restroom and change Nola's diaper. While I was changing her, Rudy and Caleb found the atrium room in the hotel. Caleb was fascinated by it. It had a glass ceiling, but what he really liked was that it was very quiet. He kept saying, "let's go in that quiet place." Who would have ever dreamed that a 3 year old would be intrigued by such a thing?!?

When we got back to town after our trip to Eureka, we came home for just a few minutes, then went over to Nana's house for dinner. Jan and Bill were there and Kathy joined us as well. We had a delicious steak dinner to celebrate Bill's birthday. After dinner, we came home and everyone fell asleep quickly. We were worn out from our big day!

Today was a whole different story. Rudy gave me the opportunity to sleep in this morning after I got up with Nola during the night last night. I was sleeping so hard that he decided not to even wake me up for church. I slept until 11:00 and probably would've slept longer if Rudy and Caleb hadn't woken me up then. They decided to go have a late breakfast at Cracker Barrel. I stayed home with Nola and we had a lazy day. The boys brought me breakfast and then they went to the boat show. It was a rainy day, so Caleb needed something to do to burn off some energy. When they got home, Rudy baked some bread and I did some laundry - our usual Sunday afternoon activities. Now, both kids (and Rudy) are in bed and I'm winding down the weekend with a little quiet time on my own. It has been such a great weekend. I'm not quite ready for it to end...

Welcome to My Crib

Nola slept in her crib last night! I swaddled her, put her in her crib, turned on her music and turned off the lamp. She snoozed away until 2:00, when I heard her fussing and went in to feed her. She ate, went right back to sleep and slept until 6:00. (I meant to take a picture of her sleeping in her big girl bed, but in my sleepiness, I forgot. I'll do that tomorrow.) I had been sleeping on the couch so that I could be close by when she cried, but not so close that I could hear every breath she took (and, yes, you can hear every single breath). After she ate at 6:00, Rudy was up getting ready for work, so we went in the bedroom to say good morning. Turns out, Caleb was in there too. He had gotten up at 4:30 and climbed in bed with Rudy. I woke him up and got him dressed for school, then we watched Phineas & Ferb on my bed while Rudy finished getting ready. After the guys left, Nola and I dozed on the couch for a little while. I spent most of the day holding her and watching TV because every time I got her to sleep and put her down, she slept for about 10 minutes and then woke up crying. I finally managed to get dressed late this afternoon.

Nola and I went to run an errand and then picked Caleb up from school. He was excited because he got to play outside today! Thank goodness for warmer temperatures! We came home and ate dinner and then played for a while. Caleb helped me with some laundry - he's really good at matching socks and sorting colors, which makes him feel like he's doing a "very important job." Caleb and Rudy played "their game" - wrestling and pushing each other on my bed - until Caleb's bedtime. I spent the rest of the evening finishing Nola's birth announcements and I love the way they turned out. I only have to address and stamp the envelopes and they'll be ready to go in the mail!

Ch-Ch-Changes (Nola is 3 Weeks old)

We've made some changes around here lately and I'm not just talking about diapers.

Change 1: Formula
We finally ran out of most of the sample formula that we got at the hospital and in the mail, so it was time to buy some on our own. When we went to Sam's on Sunday, we compared the prices on the kinds they carry and we were pleased to find that they have a generic version of the Enfamil that's made for babies with gas and fussiness. We bought that one and so far, it's been fine. Nola didn't have any trouble making the switch, so we're going to keep our fingers crossed that it helps with her gassiness and frequent spitting up. She doesn't spit up enough for us to really think that she has reflux, but she does spit up more than I expect her to. Our pediatrician is watching her closely and doing weight checks to make sure she's gaining appropriately, so I feel okay about it.

Change 2: Bottles
When we started needing to buy baby supplies for Nola, I decided not to reuse the bottles that we had left over from when Caleb was a baby. Since then, research has come out about the presence of BPA (a carcinogen) in plastic. The bottles that we used for Caleb were not BPA-free. While we could've saved a lot of money by just reusing the old bottles, we just couldn't do that in good conscience. If we'd known about it before we used them with Caleb, we would've gotten something different then too. Anyway...I decided to try to get some less expensive bottles and go with something BPA-free, so I chose basic glass Evenflo bottles. If Nola hadn't had gas and spit-up issues, they would've been perfect: dishwasher safe, inexpensive, recyclable, etc. BUT...when we had to start putting rice cereal in her formula, we had to cut the nipples to make the flow faster and that meant lots of spilling from her mouth. In addition, the bottles weren't made to vent air out like we needed them to. Fortunately, we had lots of gift cards to Target, so I did a little research and decided to replace the Avent bottles that we used with Caleb with new ones for Nola. I spent a small fortune on bottles, but I feel better about using something that I know is better for her tummy troubles. I bought a bunch of them, so hopefully, we won't have to buy any more. Plus, the nipples that they came with are a faster flow without us having to slit them.

Change 3: Sleeping
Last night was probably the worst night we've had with Nola since she came home. She's really starting to like her pacifier, but gets so mad when it falls out of her mouth. I spent the majority of last night semi-sleeping right on the edge of my bed with my arm in the pack & play to hold the pacifier in Nola's mouth. It was beyond frustrating. She also has a little nasal congestion, so her laryngomalacia sounds worse than usual. On top of that, she was really gassy last night and kept crying and grunting as a result. At 1:30, Rudy moved to the couch to get some sleep since he had to go to work. I eventually gave up and put Nola in bed with me just so I could replace the pacifier easier. (I was so exhausted when Rudy got up that I actually asked him to take Caleb to daycare, even though it meant that he would have to go way earlier than usual. I just couldn't get dressed and get him there, nor could I get him dressed and both kids out the door. I worried about it all day and finally had to remind myself that he loves school and he can't tell time and really didn't know that he was there a lot earlier than usual.) So...as a result of the night we had last night, I have decided that tonight will be Nola's first night in her crib in her room. I hooked up the baby monitor and put the sleep wedge in the crib. I'm probably going to sleep on the couch to make sure I can get to her quick enough...and to allow Rudy to get some much-needed rest, but she will be sleeping in her bed tonight. I'm praying that it works!

Change 4: Letting Go
This one's not so much a change for Nola as it is for me. It took me 3 weeks, but I finally came to the realization today that I'm on maternity leave for a reason. I'm not home with Nola so that I can get things done around the house. I'm not here so that the house stays spotless. I'm not here so that the laundry hampers stay empty. I'm here to be with Nola, to bond with Nola and to take care of Nola. When she is fussy, I'm here to hold her and calm her. When she's awake and alert, I'm here to talk to her and interact with her. When she is hungry, I'm here to feed her and let her know that her needs will be met. I can do odd jobs when she is sleeping...or not. Sometimes when she is sleeping, I can sleep too. It only took me 3 weeks to come down off of my go-go-go mode that I was in, but I did it. I'm letting go of my get-done mentality and I'm taking firm hold of my time to be with my newborn daughter. Once I came to terms with that, I found that I'm a much better mother not only to Nola, but also to Caleb. I had the energy and the patience to be in the moment with both of them tonight - giving Caleb his bath, playing Memory and putting him to bed. I managed to get some things done today and tonight, but the rest will wait. I have a baby to hold and a preschooler to enjoy.

**Addendum: Nola's umbilical stump came off on Wednesday morning. Yay - no more alcohol swabs and ickiness!!!

Valentine's Week & Other Stuff

Nola turned 3 weeks old today. In some ways, it's hard to believe that she's ALREADY been here for 3 weeks and in some ways, it's hard to believe that she's ONLY been here for 3 weeks. So, what have we been doing with our time?

We spent last Wednesday (2/10) doing absolutely nothing. I had been wanting a day to do that for the entire 2 weeks since she was born, but something always seemed to come up. Last Wednesday, we finally achieved nothingness...and it was wonderful. Wednesday afternoon, Jan came to visit and spend the night. She brought a bird feeder to paint with Caleb. He loved it!

On Thursday, Jan and I took Nola over to Nana's house for lunch. We enjoyed a long visit there and then came home. Jan left for Ft. Smith just after we got home and it wasn't long before Rudy and Caleb came home from school.

After Nola and I took Caleb to school on Friday, we went to Bella Vista to get the Baby Bjorn carrier that I loaned to my friend Leslie. After that trip, we came home and got some things done around the house, then we went to Caleb's Valentine's Day party at school. He was so excited to have us there and I loved getting to be there without having to rush from school to get there in time. Nola had a major diaper blowout on the way there, so she got to make her first visit to what will soon be her classroom at the daycare. (We used the changing table.) After the party, we all came home and went through Caleb's Valentines. The only one he insisted on keeping was the one from Isabelle, who Rudy and I swear is his preschool girlfriend. When Rudy got home from work, we went to dinner. We were planning to go to Olive Garden because we had a gift card, but Caleb specifically requested "Crabs" (Red Lobster) and the gift card was good there too, so that's where we went. With it being Valentine's Day weekend, there was a 45 minute wait, but Caleb was perfectly content to watch the lobster tank (aka: monsters or hamsters) for most of that time. Nola slept like a champ the whole time we were out.

For Valentine's Day, Rudy got me a ring with Nola's name and birthdate engraved on it, just like the one I have with Caleb's name and birthdate. He offered me the sweetest gift anyone can give the mother of a newborn: an ambien. That ambien would've assured that I would get a complete, uninterrupted 8 hours of sleep. I passed on it, though - knowing how groggy I would be the next day. Instead, I opted to sleep on the couch and Rudy slept in our room with Nola. He did the night duty and I got up with both kids for the morning routine.

On Saturday, we had a visit from Jeremy, Lauren and Bella Pratchard. They were so sweet to bring lunch over and we all enjoyed getting a chance to catch up. Of course, the conversation pretty much centered around our kids, but that's the usual case with parents of young children. Caleb liked having Bella here, even though he's not really sure about having someone play with his toys. After the Pratchards left, Rudy took Caleb to his students' basketball game and Nola and I stayed home.

Sunday morning (Valentine's Day!) was our first attempt at going to church since Nola was born and it was a complete success! We managed to get everyone dressed and ready and out the door on time. We were even a few minutes early! Caleb loved going to children's church and we kept Nola in her carrier in the sanctuary with us. After church, we went to Sam's Club for a cheap lunch and to get some diapers and other essentials. We came home and I worked hard to get Caleb to take a nap while Rudy washed our cars to get the snow grime off of them. Sunday night, Rudy grilled steaks and we had a fabulous Valentine's dinner! I do love my Valentine...

On Monday, Nola went to high school for the first time! Since we've had so many snow days this year, my school district rescheduled some professional development time. The 2 days that I was planning to work to make a little extra money and get my PD hours have turned into 8 afternoon meetings. The good part about that is that I can take Nola with me since the meetings are only an hour and a half long. I bundled her up and took her with me to the first one on Monday, which happened to be at the high school. We got lots of oohs and aahs from my co-workers and I was so glad that she slept through the whole outing! I thought she was going to crank up and get hungry about halfway through, but she calmed down and went back to sleep without incident.

Yesterday was a fun day for Nola and me. Two of my friends from work who are also on maternity leave brought their daughters over and we sat in the floor in my living room, looking at our baby girls and talking about the things that mothers of newborns talk about. It was fun to see the other 2 babies and how interactive they are! They are 11 and 12 weeks old and I know that Nola will be there before I know it! It was sweet of Jenny and Jenna to come over and they both brought wonderful gifts for Nola. Here are the 3 girls: Campbell, Nola & Vivian. It was impossible to get a picture of all 3 of them looking in the general direction of the camera. This was the only one I got with 2 of the 3 even remotely facing the right way. (Yes, I realize that Nola is the only one not wearing a bow. As cute as the other girls are in theirs, I'm perfectly okay with Nola not having one.)

Brand Spankin' New Calebisms

Fire Passy?
This one took me a while to figure out...
Caleb was talking about a kid in the "frogs" class at his school (the class he was in until January) and said, "He has a fire passy."
Me: "You mean his passy has a firetruck on it?"
Caleb: "No, silly Mama!"
(2 days later)
Caleb: "Here, Nola...here's your fire passy." (He was holding her pacifier. Duh...paci fire.)

Funny Guy
Caleb and Rudy were playing before bed a couple of nights ago. Rudy was making Caleb laugh hysterically, which is one of my favorite sounds ever. Suddenly, Caleb stopped laughing and said, "Okay, Daddy. Now you be the regular person and I'll be the funny guy."

Basketball
Caleb has decided that he is a basketball player. As a matter of fact, he's adamant about it. It is his job. He runs around the living room, pretending to shoot layups. We're using it to our advantage. During dinner last night, the little wiggle worm literally fell out of his chair. He just slid right off the end of the chair, hit his chin on the table and landed square on his rear end on the tile floor. He understandably cried and had a pretty good sized fit until I suggested that he just bounced on the floor like a basketball. The tears dried up and the laughter started and all was right with the world. I even managed to get him to eat his meatloaf because "basketball players eat meatloaf to be strong and make baskets." Pretty much everything he does is because he's a basketball player (i.e., "I poop because I'm a basketball player.")