Thanks

Thank you for every one's prayers. They have helped and yesterday was a better day (only one tantrum at Target) which was encouraging!

I have a post coming later tonight or tomorrow on our backyard landscaping project...John finished phase 2 of 3 last night and I am so excited!

S-P-O-I-L-E-D

My daughter has become spoiled. Every book I read up to her arrival said you can't spoil a baby in their early months and to meet their needs to build trust and a bunch of other positive things...well somehow I have spoiled my child and have gone against every theory that I read.

Peyton doesn't like the bottle anymore and refuses (screaming and shaking) until I appear. She knows that mommy will feed her and if mommy isn't there that someone will call her and get her there soon. This has resulted in me missing the Rodeo and pretty much being tied down to being around her at all times. How am I ever going to wean her from breastfeeding...which was the goal in about two months from now? RIDICULOUS!

For awhile now Peyton will cry when she doesn't get her way. You are carrying in her into a store and as soon as you go to put her back in her car seat...she cries. You take something away from her that she wants to play with...she gets fussy. You change her diaper and she wanted to keep playing and she gets cranky. Again RIDICULOUS!

Peyton wants to be picked up or moved from somewhere and you aren't moving fast enough she screams at you. You are not paying attention to her when she wanted attention at that moment she screams. She is getting a little sleepy although it isn't close to her nap she will scream at you. What the heck?

Finally, after months of sleeping consistently throughout the night Peyton has realized that we exist when she doesn't see us and the quickest way to get some company or a snack is to cry uncontrollably at precisely 11:00 PM about 2.5 hours after she is asleep.

At first she did wake up one night several times and it came after a couple of days of congestion and coughing so I quickly used my motherhood medical degree and decided it was an ear infection. A trip to the pediatrician confirmed my diagnosis and we started the troublesome antibiotics (troublesome because she no longer takes a bottle which was the best way to get in her, the doctor suggestion of mixing it with baby food was nixed because wait...Peyton still thinks she is going to gag and die if she swallows any food and the juice in a sippy cup wouldn't work because we are still working on getting in our mouth and swallowing instead of soaking ourselves short of a wet t-shirt contest).

Well, she is on the antibiotics and still the past two nights have woken up promptly at 11:00 PM...maybe she is hungry...feed her and she still cries...it must be teething...right...well, until tonight where for the third night in a row she cried at 11:00 PM and it dawned on me that it might be teething but really...the same time every night she gets pain? Or is this an extension of our spoiled little baby and she just wants some attention? Because I don't know what it really is and I don't want to ignore her if she is in pain...we are still going in, patting her, giving her a kiss and then leaving. Tonight I had John only go into comfort her (helps if she doesn't see the milk lady to convince her she isn't hungry) and after only crying for 15 minutes...I am leaning towards she just wants to play theory.

Forget terrible two's I feel like we are having the terrible six month stage. She is really, really wearing me out. I feel like I never know what she needs anymore, she is always mad at me, that I don't know what to do or when to do things and that overall I am pretty much doing everything wrong. I know this is a common feeling of motherhood and that I will feel this way many times in the future and I know that this too shall pass but until it does...I need some prayer for some strength and patience.

The Houston Zoo

Part of me handling the money/budget was me implementing family outings that appear as a reoccurring bill every five weeks. This week was our first scheduled family outing! We were going to go the rodeo but heard that since it was the last weekend, that the majority of the animals had already left. Boo! Well, one place that you are pretty much guaranteed animals is the Zoo! So, it was a beautiful day out and we headed down there as a family for our first ever family outing (trips to Target don't count).


After navigating crazy traffic (what you get for going during Spring Break) around the zoo/medical center area we finally found some parking and had a great time. If anything this trip was great practice on us practicing communication and being sweet to each other in stressful family outings. We did very well and made it to a parking spot without any arguments. When we finally got into the zoo, made sure everyone had a second layer of sunscreen on and hats/shades...we went straight to big animals because Peyton was awake and I was hoping that she could at least see something and I figured the bigger the easier. We visited the giraffes and elephants and Peyton found that the fence and flowers were so much more interesting I don't think she even looked up! Funny girl!


She really didn't find or notice much of the animals but was very interested in looking at all of the people, flowers, trees and the different sounds. It was good to see her so interested in her surroundings and it was such a beautiful day you almost had to be outside. We went around to some more animals and then stopped to feed Peyton. After she ate she played on the grass and that was probably the highlight of her visit. If we had known that we could have just gone over to Granny's house! She thought it was fascinating how she could feel it and then pull it out of the ground.

We finished up our mini picnic and made it to the tigers and she actually looked at him. We were leaving the zoo when I saw the carousel so Peyton and I went on that and she was squealing with excitement! It was her first ride ever! So much fun to see her excitement and amazement! Don't worry she only sat on the camel for a second...the majority of the ride was safely on the stationary bench!

It was a great day at the Zoo followed by a wonderful evening catching up with some college friends (Elyse and Collin) over BBQ and watching some basketball (booo....the Horns lost). They graciously drove down to see us so we could let Peyton sleep and not have to be taken out again after her busy day.

A wonderful day filled with many memories and I am looking forward to many, many more family outings!

And this post could not be complete with a trip down memory lane...here is a picture from one of our early dates (I think it was our second or third date) when we went to the zoo. This was about five and a half years ago (7.26.03)...oh, how times have changed!

Spring is Here

Time to get serious

I have been fortunate to have been able to lose all of my pregnancy weight by watching what I have been eating (cutting out dairy really helped...thanks Peyton), breast feeding, walking, carrying around a 17 lb baby and all of her stuff and honestly....luck. But as any woman who has had a baby will tell you...even though the scale says I am the same weight pre-baby...things do not look the same at all. I am not sure where this weight has come off from because there are some areas that still have some significant weight in my opinion.

Anyways...my hope was to start running again and that would help tone things up. I got a jogging stroller for my birthday in October and so far it has become a nice walking stroller and another object to clutter up our garage. I don't know why it has been so hard to run but it has. Every time I start I feel like my chest is about to explode and my legs are going to fall off. So...it is a little discouraging and I tend to stop pretty early on.

Then I looked into Yoga classes. I figured this would be a great way to get a low impact work out in and also help me relax. I took one class at a studio I found and it was good but it was $15 a class. Well, take a class a week and you are paying around $60...there has to be a cheaper option (besides the free running).

So, I went to LA Fitness (a gym by us) and looked into memberships. It was only $29.99 a month with no contract! Great thing about this is that they have Yoga, other classes, weights and typical gym equipment and even better....A POOL! I love swimming and used to swim at least once a week or so for exercises/fun when I was at the University of Texas! So on Tuesday night for the first time in my life...I joined a gym. When you sign up they offer a free health assessment/training program set up with a trainer so I have that tonight. I am a little nervous because I know I am out of shape and also because I really hate gyms. Yes, I joined a gym and I hate gyms...makes no sense. Well, I don't hate all of the gym...I like classes, swimming, some of the cardio equipment...what I hate is the weights. I don't know how to use them, I feel self conscious and I hate all of the macho muscle guys that are all around them. I know it is bad to stereotype but you know what I am talking about. Anyways, I am meeting with the personal trainer tonight and am going to emphatically state that I do some weights but if he makes a plan that is weight heavy I will quit!

Overall I am excited and nervous. I want to get back to exercising and have more energy, feel stronger and just feel healthy. I have always told John, I would be happy with they way by body is right now if I knew that I was working out and in shape. I don't care how I look if I know that I am strong and healthy. My goal is to make it to the gym at a minimum 3 times a week and start running or walking twice a week. Ultimately I would like to do another half marathon either in October (Koala/Lukes Locker) or November (San Antonio...never done that one before) or December (White Rock...would like to beat my time) or finally January (Houston).

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Time to get crafty

The other day I went out and bought Peyton some bows. I have been wanting to make her more girly but just didn't make the effort to go out and buy any bows. Well, when I saw that they were around $5.50-6.00 and up a bow, I realized why I didn't do this before. Either way...I wanted one for Easter/Spring and then one for her St. Patty's Day play date today. This is what I bought....the green one is just a green bow that I added a button on.

So, later that day as we were doing errands I realized...it can't be that hard to make your own bows. I came to that realization conveniently enough while I was at Hobby Lobby. I got some ribbon and barrettes there and then more supplies at Michaels later and found random ribbon around our house from wedding crafts and now have an abundance of ribbon, alligator clips, barrettes, glue and fray check and several websites with instructions.



Stay tuned to see how crafty I can hopefully be...otherwise we will be stuck paying $6 for a bow or Peyton will continue to be bow-less.

Finally Finished....Master Bedroom

The master bedroom has been 90% done for a while but I didn't want to post any pictures because the 10% that was still needing to be done was the headboard. We finally finished that up last night and here is our newly decorated master bedroom...

Before....

After...

Rollin' with the Baby

So, yesterday Peyton had her 6 month check up and received three vaccinations. In the past she has been a little cranky but nothing too bad. Well, yesterday it took a toll on her and she was not happy!

When we were at the doctor's office she started crying during the exam which is not like her but I think it was because she was cold...it was cold outside, pediatrician keeps the office like a freezer, Peyton had to have her clothes off, the blanket was not providing enough warmth and the examination table was next to a window...I would be ticked off as well. After the examination she had her vaccinations which hurt and made her cry but unlike before she never really calmed down and was fussy until we got home. 

When we got home I put her in her bed since she was sleepy and it was supposed to be nap time and as soon as I put her down she started screaming. Not cute I want to play screams...more like turning red, clinching her fist and real tear screaming. I couldn't get her to calm down so I just went ahead and fed her. She was happy again and then we all played for a little bit. No big deal. After watching some Baby Einstein she was getting sleepy again (typically sleepy signals - yawning..rubbing her ears) so we headed towards her room and again as soon as we put her down...she started screaming. We picked her up, sang songs, walked the house, tried the swing...nothing. So we resorted to something that in the six months she has been here we haven't done....we decided to pack her up in the car and do some driving. We drove to the bank, to Starbucks, around Tuscan Lakes, around South Shore Harbour and finally we made it home with a well rested baby. 

So, the rest of the afternoon and evening went well but it then came time for the dreaded nap. This time Granny was over to see her and she thought that maybe she would have better luck crossing the threshold of doom into Peyton's room. Well, she didn't...and quickly retreated back to mommy and said, "Good Luck." We decided that maybe the best thing would be for a second drive so we packed it up and drove for 90 minutes around the League City area checking out subdivisions that we had never been to and making a trip to Whataburger for some milkshakes. 

When we got home, Peyton was finally her cute and happy self. She ate and then went to sleep. I sent a text message to my mom telling her that all was well finally and as soon as we were heading towards bed around 9:30 PM the monitor lights turned red. Not one light of red...all six or so were solid red! She was awake and angry! I couldn't calm her down so I thought maybe we could bring her to our bed and that would help. Well, kind of...she grabbed at daddy's lip when he was humming at her and then pulled mommy's hair for no reason. After about two hours of moving and being fussy she was asleep...for 40 minutes. She would then wake up screaming, I would get her to sleep and then she would wake up 40 minutes later. This went on until about 3:30 AM. At that time I picked her up and tried to enter her room. We made it past the door and towards the crib and I rocked her until she was out and then I put her in bed around 4:30 AM. Finally she was asleep and slept until 10:00 AM!

So far today she is a whole lot better, a little fussy at nap time but nothing like last night! I am starting to think that her teeth might be coming because one thing that calmed her down last night was if I rubbed her pacifier on her gums. 

All I can say is thank the Lord that she is normally not like this and to those moms who do have fussy babies...God bless you. I can handle nights like this because they only come every once in awhile and are very few and far between.

6 Month Check Up

Peyton had her six month check up today and is a growing girl! 

Here are her stats and percentiles:

Height: 27 inches (92%)

Weight: 16 lbs 14.5 ounces (60%)

Head Circumference: 17 inches (64%)

She is going to be tall and skinny little girl! I can't believe how tall she is and how much she has gained since she was born...a little over 10 lbs in six months! Everything else checked out well and she is healthy and growing!