18 months...

18 months ago this screaming, red, shivering little human was pulled from me and held over a drape for me to see.

My life changed in the instant she drew her first breath and made that scream.

Yesterday was the 18 month check up and there was a little more screaming because mommy had to hold her down for two shots. I tried singing the badonkadonk song but it was not as helpful for shots as it is for getting her into her car seat! And it probably made the nurse think I'm a total redneck...but anything to calm her down is good for me!

I can't believe it's been 18 months...it's gone fast and it's gone slow...good days go fast, bad days go slow! She learns something new everyday and amazes me every day and frustrates me every day and makes me laugh every day.

And hearing her laugh is the best medicine for whatever else the day may hold.

Frisbee...

E has discovered the great joy of watching Smokey flail through the air to catch frisbees! Beak has been taking them all to the backyard and letting the frisbee fly!

E claps every time Smokey makes a catch and if she doesn't return the frisbee fast enough for the little boss, E yells "DOOOOGGG!" at her. Really quite funny!

Registered for fall classes - Intermediate Stats and Problem Analysis I and that leaves only Problem Analysis II for spring. Whoo-hoo! I'm meeting with my advisor in June to start planning for comps next spring....hopefully if all goes smoothly I can get the Big D done for spring 08 graduation....but....a few bumps in the road are expected so I'm trying not to get too caught up in that plan!

If it were just me, I wouldn't have gone back last fall. But, I took a good look at the work I'd done and the baby I loved and said that I never wanted her to feel like the reason I didn't finish...and I went back.

I'm looking forward to sharing graduation day with her! That's a good motivation for a worn out PhD student!

It's a small world

Hello friends!

It's a small world...Beak and I left E with Gran & Papa Friday night and raced off to make the 7:55 movie and decided to grab a bite to eat. I was just about to sit down when Deena appeared out of nowhere! So, we got to catch up over dinner as they had just ordered and could move tables!

She's very preggers and has gestational diabetes but is controlling it fairly well with diet.

E had a fun Easter. I suppose she liked her dress b/c she kept patting on it - I think the sound of the taffeta must have been interesting to her. Apparently she got aggravated with a little boy in the nursery because he couldn't leave her dress alone! We hunted eggs at two different gatherings and she ate mashed potatoes until she popped.

Enjoy the sunshine!

Easter and various other items...

I'm posting today but then I'll be on Easter Break until Monday...Gran and I are hitting the outlets tomorrow.

Ashely's grandmother is in the hospital with some kind of strange seizures that they can't quite diagnose. Might be drug interaction. We were at Baptist East quite a while last night, they admitted her and she had another one this a.m.

Hope the big fluffy bunny is good to all!

WHOOOO - HOOOO!!!

Well friends, I am pleased to report that E has been sleeping through the night since Thursday!!!

I supose taking the bottle away has caused her to eat more and therefore sleep better.

She hasn't had any milk in a week thought and so I called the doctor to ask about it and he wants me to give her the bottle back!!!! Heck no!!! I worked for the last week and a 1/2 to get off the thing and I'm not about to do it. I'll figure out some other way to get her the milk but I'm not going to give her the bottle back because I'm not going to go through taking it away again!

On another note, I went to Dr. Chi's retirement dinner on Saturday night. It was very nice and he of course still looks EXACTLY the same! It was good to catch up with faculty friends and it's always good to see the "ol' stomping ground".

As I was driving on to campus, I was thinking of all of you...how that I'm a better person for you having influenced my life.

You stretched my ways of thinking (I learned I really wasn't right all the time), you challenged me to learn what friendship really is (because we weren't always good to each other but we all stuck around anyway), you taught me that I'm enough just the way I am (and that if he didn't think so, he wasn't worth having around).

Thank you.

Post Mimi Happiness...

Well, this cold turkey thing has turned out pretty well!

Last night she drank only out of her cup and had no mimi at all yesterday! You have no idea the great amount of excitement this generated in our house!!!

She is eating much better so we'll see if sleep improves.

Cold Turkey...

Well, I decided to go cold turkey and take away mimi for good. For reasons unknown to me, E decided that mimi was what she wanted to call her bottle and we've been struggling for some time now to take away mimi.

The pediatrician told me at the year check up not to worry about really pushing her until the 15 month check up so we just kept offering it to her. I've invested heavily in the sippy cup aisle at WalMart because we've tried every version imaginable. At the 15 month check up the pediatrician told me I might have to get more forceful about it. Well, the 18 month check up is 4/28 and I'm not going back without success!

Furthermore, I think mimi contributes to less solid food intake which contributes to aforementioned sleeplessness.

So, last week, we took away all daytime mimi. Car rides were not pleasant, but other than that, she only asked for it a couple of times and I explained that we didn't have mimi with us.

Well, last night I decided that I would no longer give her mimi in the night. She woke up several times and was fairly mad a couple of times, but I just kept telling her it was night - night. Beak was saving lives last night so it was a long night for me.

Hopefully, when I pick her up from Ms. Lisa today she will report that E drank wholeheartedly and repeatedly from her pretty purple cup with handles! Really, who wouldn't want to drink from a pretty purple cup with handles!?!