TressaBlog

My baby is getting all grown up! Today she is 1 year old, and time has really flown. Late last week we went to Mindy’s for her birthday photo shoot. I think Maylee spent most of the time with either her tongue sticking out or her hand in her mouth. Yes, she has a very long tongue and thinks it is a lot of fun to stick it out and do things with it.

We did a few outfit changes.

And then she got to have a lollipop. Wow, was she in heaven. That was until a little piece broke off. Then there was a sharp section that she kept sticking in her mouth. She would pull it out, glare at it, and then try again.

Maylee loves to swing. She has her own version of the sign for swing and when she sees Brinn near the back door she starts flapping her arms (especially her right hand) until Brinn takes her out for a little while. She is happy to either sit on her lap to swing, or sometimes Brinn puts her on the big kid swing all by herself (she keeps her hand over Maylee’s hand on one side) and swings her. You will find the biggest grins ever when Maylee is swinging.

Maylee can go up and down the stairs by herself already and given a 30 second stretch of unsupervised time she will disappear up or down the stairs in no time flat. She also loves her recently found power of communication. She will tell you quite emphatically that she wants food. If you ignore her she just signs it harder. It is funny, but trying to teach her that she has to wait for a little while is proving a little more challenging.

Her nickname is Princess, and she really is. Her big brothers and sisters love her to death. They are always willing to play with her, change her diapers (ok, maybe not willingly, but they do it!), give her baths, take her for rides in her stroller, and feed her.

She didn’t quite know what to do with her cake to begin with. Hahaha

It took some intervention from a big sister to get her hands into the actual cake rather than just daintily getting bits of frosting off of the top.

But, then she started to get into it.

Hahahaha! This one cracks me up!

She is a joy to have in our family. She has so much personality, even more than my other kids did (at least in my memory!). She loves to “sing” and has discovered that she can make some really weird sounds. The kids then crack up so she continues to perform. She loves her payment of laughs and attention. What a little doll!

In an attempt to fill everyone in on our life for the past many months, I am going to attempt to get you back up to speed.
In July and August the kids all went back to school. Brinn is now in 5th grade, Tayla in 3rd, and Kade is in 1st. Gavin is a freshman, but of course there are no pictures of him.



The little kids went back to school and then I still had another 3 or 4 weeks with Gavin at home. So I was weaned off of my kid helpers with Maylee a little more slowly which was good.

The 24th of July is a BIG deal in Oakley, Idaho. The size of the town about triples for the weekend. We added to the influx of people and spent the weekend visiting Grandpa Ray and Grandma Jane. Doug and Heather and kids were also there. Plus Susan, Jon Paul, and Rosaline are here from Holland for the month. Friday morning Grandma Jane got out a badminton set. The kids had a great time playing with it until it started to warm up a bit too much.


Meanwhile Grandpa Ray was working on putting the finishing touches on his airplane that he is restoring (it was in BAD shape when he got it). It is about ready for it’s test flight, and he couldn’t be happier.

Grandma Jane has wanted to participate in the parade ever since they moved to Oakley. This year she did it. Whoever wanted to dress up, could go walk the parade route, and she got them all dressed up however they wanted. Tayla was a princess, Kade was a knight (notice that his cape is his favorite color - orange!), and Rosaline was a princess. Some of the other kids dressed up as well, but decided to sit and watch the parade instead of walking in it.

It was a fun weekend. But, the two days we get at home aren’t going to feel long enough before Eric, Maylee, and I leave for Washington. If we thought a 3 1/2 hour drive was long I can only imagine what a 15 hour drive will do for us! LOL

It is hard to believe that 4 months have passed already. In some ways that seems really short, in other ways it feels like a lifetime. Maylee has grown so much. She is getting her own little personality, and it is really cute. For a week or so she always had her tongue stuck out. I don’t know if she had discovered it and was testing for what she could do with it or what. But it was hilarious. These pictures were taken 5 days before her 4 month birthday.

She is a little charmer when she decides to be happy.

She can roll from her stomach to her back and her back to her stomach whenever she wants to. She is getting better about being happy just laying on the floor. Her swing isn’t as much fun for her anymore for some reason, but her exersaucer and bumbo seat are still big hits. Oh, and she absolutely adores it when her big brothers and sisters take her for a walk in her stroller. Her own personal throne that is transported around her kingdom for her to view and rule. What could be better?
Here is a picture I snapped while in Oakley, Idaho for the 24th of July weekend on her actual 4 month birthday. She is a cutie patootie.

Don’t you just want to nibble those chubby cheeks?

Last Wednesday afternoon I picked the kids up from school and came home. I was feeling tired, so I laid down for a nap. By night time my tonsils and uvula were swollen huge. That night was pure torture. My uvula was so large that if I was laying on my back it completely blocked my air passages! All day Thursday was pretty darn miserable as well with a painful sore throat adding to the mix. Friday I went to the doctor. They did a rapid strep test that came back negative, but they were doing a full culture as well which would take a day or two for the results. The doctor just said it was something viral and sent me home.
Friday night I got worse. I spend 3 hours in the bathroom, we will leave it at that. On Saturday (the 4th of July) I was really in a bad way. I couldn’t swallow without feeling like I was trying to swallow razor wire. The doctors office opened at 10 am, and we were there right when they opened. We didn’t even bother waiting to call and make an appointment. I was a sight to behold I am sure, my hair not even combed, in my pj’s, shuffling along. Ugh! This doctor was amazed at how bright red my ENTIRE throat was (tonsils, uvula, soft palate, etc, etc, etc). But, since I hadn’t been having fevers he was pretty stumped. But, he prescribed me some narcotic pain reliever and something else to reduce the side effect of the pain reliever (upset stomach). After taking the pain medication twice and it did NOTHING we called the doctors office yet again. They were absolutely shocked that it hadn’t touched my pain. It was taking care of the extra pains, but not my throat. But, I was able to sleep which was a huge blessing. Anyhow, they called in a prescription for Magic Mouthwash. Ok, remember that stuff. It is seriously what kept me from going absolutely insane. It is probably a kids medicine, but I don’t even care. It numbed my throat up so that I could swallow a little bit of water. It was heaven sent.
Saturday night and early Sunday morning I began running a temperature 101.9-102.5. So, since that is what the 2nd doctor had told us to be watching for we headed back in right at 10 am again. This 3rd doctor is who we usually see, and I quite like him. He is a nurse practitioner, so when he is in the office we can usually see him the same day. Anyhow, his name is Kevin and he was really concerned that I wasn’t getting better or any relief. Especially since Maylee is still nursing exclusively. When I am hard pressed to get water down let alone any food you know that she isn’t getting very much either. Just like the other doctors he was scratching his head trying to figure out what was going on. I didn’t a temperature anymore (which would have been an indication of a bacterial infection) but he decided to treat me for one just in case. Because if this didn’t work he was going to have to send me to the hospital for a CT scan of my throat to look for abscesses and such. So Eric was off to the pharmacy yet again for an antibiotic and a steroid.
Kevin wasn’t in the office on Monday but he was concerned about me and called to check in that morning. I was still pretty miserable, but slightly optimistic. He agreed to let me wait until the afternoon to see if I had a marked improvement, otherwise off to the hospital. By early afternoon I was able to eat something for the first time in days. I could talk above a whisper for a little bit. I could drink water again without physically wincing and requiring a BIG act of courage.
Since then I have been progressively getting healthier. My throat is still pretty sore (on a regular sore throat scale) but NOTHING like what it was. I can eat, drink water, take my medicine, etc without much pain. I am still really weak, but that will remedy itself as I eat and such. Maylee had two supplemental bottles of formula on Sunday because I was worried she wasn’t getting anything to eat. She is starting to have wet diapers again, and we are watching for a poopy one which will be in indication that she is getting enough to eat again. Poor baby. Mommy couldn’t take care of her, brothers and sisters and daddy had to fill in the gaps. Thank goodness for them! I was so weak I didn’t even trust myself to walk with her.
It was not how I wanted to spend the 4th of July weekend, but I was very grateful that it was a 4 1/2 day weekend for Eric. He was able to shuttle me around to my doctors office, fill my prescriptions, get the baby for me, etc, etc. So, if you ever have a REALLY REALLY bad sore throat ask about the Magic Mouthwash. It was a lifesaver for me.

On Sunday Maylee had her 2 month birthday. I tried to get a few pictures of her, but she wanted NOTHING to do with it. Finally I just had the kids hold her and we got a few shots.

Maylee absolutely adores Brinn. Brinn can often get her to sleep when she is fussy. She also changes diapers quite regularly. She loves to try to get Maylee to smile at her, so you can often hear her saying “boogaboo” at Maylee cause it worked one time.

Tayla is the only person who Maylee allows to hold her facing them consistently. For the most part Maylee requires that you hold her facing outwards so she can see what is going on. But, Tayla is the special one. Maylee LOVES to have Tayla hold her and walk around with her. Tayla volunteers all the time to change Maylee’s diaper. She doesn’t even mind if I call her away from a movie or a game to change a diaper. Sure love her!

Kade is a great big brother. From the beginning he loved to hold Maylee. But, she is now starting to get too heavy for him to carry her around for very long. He is often the “babysitter” while I am taking a shower or such, and he is great at it.

I’ll have to get some pictures with Gavin later.

Maylee definitely has some likes and dislikes and she isn’t shy about letting you know one way or the other.

Dislikes:

Being held tummy to tummy
Being held laying down baby style
Getting her nose sucked out. This has had to happen multiple times each day for the past week or two, it is the pits!
Pacifiers - I know, it is sad. I keep trying, and she will take it occasionally. But, not for long usually. She usually refuses to even let it near her face. Ugh!

Likes:

She adores her swing. It is often the only place she will sleep during the day. But, you can’t have just the swing going, no way. You have to have the music turned on as well. Our swing is fancy and plays classical music if you want it to, so it is always on if she is in it (whether she is asleep or not!).

She loves to get her diaper changed. I know, weird! She can be fussy and crying, you lay her down on her changing pad and start the diaper changing process and she calms right down and practically coo’s with contentment. Right after her diaper is changed is one of my favorite times. She just lays there and looks around often smiling at you and everything around.

She loves to go to the movies. She has now been to 4 movies and has loved them all. She sleeps for part of them usually and then just sits on my lap and watches the other part of the movie. I think at Star Trek she watched about 75% of the movie. Silly girl!

She loves to be out and about running errands and shopping. She likes being in her carseat, and that is the other acceptable nap location during the day for her apparently.

She likes going for a bike ride with Eric and I. Eric puts her in the front carrier and straps her on (facing outward of course!). Then she enjoys the ride as we bike around Daybreak.

And she thinks that a bath is heaven on earth. She practically purrs with contentment being in her bathtub. She gets so relaxed. I usually scoop water over her for a few minutes just because she likes it so much. A warm washcloth over her body is an integral part of the ritual. She only gets upset when I am drying her off and getting her dressed again. She just wants to get back into her bathtub.

At her 2 month checkup she weighed 12 lbs 13 oz. She is definitely chubbing up quite nicely.

The past several days have been interesting for me. On Saturday afternoon I got a spider bite just below my knee on my right leg. I didn’t feel it, or even realize what it was for a long time. I did notice it around 5 pm, but I thought it was just a little bump or something. Saturday night I was miserable. I had the chills (couldn’t get warm) for hours upon hours. My head was killing me and my knee was hurting. Once I finally got warm it then turned into the sweats. It was just an all around miserable night without any sleep. At some point during the night I figured that I must have a spider bite. After church on Sunday I was able to take a few naps, and at 5 pm I drew a line around the inflamed area around the bite so I could tell if it was getting bigger still or not. I took some antihistamine and slept a lot more.
We were concerned about it because our RS president had told Eric that if it spread to my knee joint that it could mean strong antibiotics for 6 weeks, and I would not be able to nurse Maylee. As Tayla was going to bed Sunday night all of the sudden she was crying. I asked her what was wrong. She told me, “I want Maylee to be able to eat!” I assured her that it would probably be fine, and Maylee would be able to eat. She couldn’t be consoled. She said that I only had a little bit of extra milk in the freezer, and Maylee would get REALLY hungry. I explained to her that there is formula that Maylee could eat if I wasn’t able to feed her. That seemed to stem the flow of tears and off she went to bed.
Monday morning the inflamed area and gotten larger, it was now about 4 to 5 inches in diameter. So, off to the doctors office I went. I am on a regular antibiotic, and it is working really well. My knee is still tender, but nothing like it was.
Tayla has the most tender feelings. I know I keep saying that, but I have to keep reminding myself. I have to be careful and explain things to her because she seems to gather information and then stew about it until she cries. Poor thing! She just needs to have all of the information and then she is ok. Of course that is true for most of us. Information and knowledge is power.

So, everyone knows that I love to shop. And I love a deal more than anything. I find it almost physically impossible to pay full price for things (it is something I am trying to overcome actually. Cause if I really love it, then I should be willing to pay for it. Right?).
Kohl’s has been having some good sales lately. Two weeks ago they had a coupon in the newspaper for $10 off a $20 purchase. So, I went and bought 5 papers. I got a few boring things (socks for Eric, etc) but I got some really cute things for Maylee as well. In one shopping trip I spent $15.08 and saved $105.86 and I got:

3 entire outfits, a dress, and an overall dress. Did I mention that I love deals??

Then, last Saturday Eric and I went out to a ton of yard sales with Mindy. Daybreak (the HUGE housing area that Mindy lives in just south of me) had their annual yard sale day. The HOA only allows the residents to have a yard sale on one day each year, and Saturday was it. So, as a result there were a ton! At one I totally scored! Later Mindy added up what she thought the stuff was worth if I had bought it full price, and she came up with $500. So, take a look at what I got (most of it is Gymboree with some Gap, Old Navy, and Naartjie thrown in) and see if you can guess what I paid:

At another one I got this super cute faux fur coat from Old Navy. It should fit her this fall/winter. Yay!

Ok, so what do you think I paid for the big group of stuff? $10! And for the fur coat? $2.50! Yay!!

Since Maylee has arrived I sing a lot more than my kids remember me ever doing. There is something about singing to a fussy baby to calm them down that just fits. I have several songs that I have just always sung to my babies. I learned them as a small child myself. One song that I sing quite often is “You Are My Sunshine”. Here are the words (if I have any of the lyrics wrong it is from my ageing memory! LOL):

You Are My Sunshine
My only sunshine.
You make me happy
When skies are grey.
You’ll never know, dear,
How much I love you.
Please don’t take my sunshine away

The other nite, dear,
As I lay sleeping
I dreamed I held you in my arms.
When I awoke, dear,
I was mistaken
And I hung my head and cried.

There are apparently more verses than this! But, I never learned them. Well, I was singing it one day without even thinking about it (it is one of the songs that I can sing while doing something else like reading blogs because it is so familiar). Suddenly I realize that Tayla is sad, so I asked her what was wrong thinking that one of the other kids had hurt her feelings or something. She told me that I couldn’t sing that song any more because it was sad, and that Maylee wasn’t my only sunshine. Sweet Tayla!

Well, a few days later I was singing it again without realizing it. Tayla was standing near me in the kitchen as I sat at the computer. She laid her head down on the counter and was just crying her eyes out. Silly me had forgotten that this song was outlawed. Through her tears she informed me that I couldn’t ever sing that song again, because it was too sad. She has such tender feelings.

So, I have been making a conscious effort to NOT sing that song any more. My children are all a bit of sunshine in my life and I do love them with my whole heart. They do make me happy, and I don’t know if they really realize how much I love them. I hope I never have to hang my head and cry. Although in less than 5 years I get to send my oldest sunshine away for 2 years, and I will probably cry (I’m pretty good about school and such though!).

So, thus ends my singing of “You Are My Sunshine”.

So we had a pretty good sale on strawberries (but NOTHING like what Holly and Karli got. Who ever heard of 3 lbs for $1???) so Mindy and I made a lot of strawberry freezer jam on Monday. I took 4 half flats of strawberries (24 pints) and made strawberry and strawberry-lime freezer jam. I still want to do some cooked jam that can be left on the shelf (freezer space can be at a premium sometimes around here). But, that will have to wait a few days probably. Good thing strawberries are on sale again this week. I got 18 pints and 15 half pints of jam made (by the time I got a picture the kids had already opened one and I had given one away). It feels great to have a good supply of jam on hand for my family. Yay!