Dos Wubbies!

Allie Parker and her Wubbies...I should send a personal thank you to the inventor and creator of the Wubba-Nub.

The day I went in to be induced (June 10), Ben came home for lunch and brought me a dozen red roses and a little tiger (which I later on realized was actually a cat) connected to a Soothie pacifier.  I looked at the Wubbba-Nub and asked what the hell it was and Ben just laughed.  He obviously bought it because of the LSU tigers.

After about 3 weeks of maternity leave, and Allie constantly spitting out her pacifier in the middle of the night, I posted a comment on Facebook. One of the responses I received said I should look into getting her a Wubba-Nub because at some point (given the size and baby attached) she would be able to locate it herself in the middle of the night. It dawned on me (yes, Allie took 1/2 my brain, too!) that the little tiger Ben gave me was a Wubba-Nub so I located it and decided to give it a try.

This is the first picture of Allie with the tiger Wubba-Nub...I remember I sent this to Ben to show how big the pacifier was compared to her!

Since the above picture, we have invested in yet, another Wubba-Nub (just in case one were to ever go missing) and as you can tell, Allie doesn't get far from either of them.  We have coined them "Wubbies" so when she has both we tell her she has "dos Wubbies" and she starts smiling and laughing. 

It just makes my day...

As I have expressed numerous times, we we were so blessed when Allie was accepted to LSU.  The staff and facility are great...but her teachers are like family to us.  We would do anything for these two ladies!

It's wonderful knowing when I am on the road, that Allie is not only taken care of at home by Ben, but at school as well.  I normally call at least once a day when I am gone to check on her and I of course, always get the sweetest report from Ms. Annie and Ms. Crystal...it's almost like they know when I am going to call! 

My favorite thing is receiving a text from them with a picture - this simply makes my heart melt.  They truly know how to make a mom feel extra special!  The past two times I have been on the road, Ms. Crystal has sent these pictures to me with sweet notes from Allie.  How lucky are we?

What a week!

Wednesday through Friday of last week I traveled to Little Rock with two of my 3M co-workers and had multiple wonderful meetings.  BUT...I was RE-ADY to get home and see my fam. 

I was supposed to land in New Orleans at 3:45 - plenty of time to get on the road, drive the hour, and get AP by 5:15 - but just as my luck goes, my flight from Houston didn't take off until 3:15 (scheduled departure was 2:40) so Ben got Allie. 

Getting her from school is the best feeling.  In the mornings when I drop her off, she looks at me like "mom, would you please just leave so I can socialize with my friends?"  It's quite cute (especially for a social mom - LOL) but I would love to have one of those kiddos that gives you a big bear hug (maybe one day?).  In the afternoon when I pick her up, she is the complete opposite - whiny until I pick her up, says "mo-mma" multiple times once I get her and literally dive bombs my chest she's so tired and glad to see me.  This is what I so wanted Friday, when I came off the road. 

Little girl and I had a lot of the weekend to ourselves.  Ben had 7th grade basketball and LSU baseball all weekend so we took several walks around the neighborhood, shopped and enjoyed the awesome weather in south Louisiana.  Poor Allie - she was born in June, one of the hottest months down here, then once I went back to work and she was in school full-time (and the weather was nice)...she's never truly been able to experience "good" weather. 

I took some fun pictures of her over the weekend and thought I would share - she amazes me everyday.  This little girl has truly been one heck of an amazing gift from God and as I always say, she could not have blessed me with her appearance any sooner.  My mom shines in her and I often times wonder just what mom would think about her.  Who am I kidding - mom would be smitten.  Enough rambling and sappiness, here are the pictures:

Jumperoo

I went to pick Allie up from school one day last week and she was jumping so hard in their Jumperoo, I literally thought she was going to break it. During the week, Allie rarely gets in hers at home because she is so exhausted from school. This morning it was beautiful outside so I pulled her outside so she could play while I drank coffee. She's getting so big!

Tutu Practice

I purchased Allie's 1st birthday outfit a little over a month ago and finally received it Saturday.  I decided to go for a trial run and see what she thought of the tutu...

Just a standin'!

Ben had another St. Aloysius basketball game (luckily only like 3 more left!) tonight so Allie and I hung out for a little over an hour.  She was EX-HAUSTED but we had a great time.  She spoon-fed 4 ounces of formula with 3 tablespoons of oatmeal and an entire 2nd foods container of mixed vegetables, then polished off a full container of strawberry yogurt.  Can you say growing girl?

We called and talked to Papa B on speaker – where Allie does nothing but lick on the phone and say “ba-ba-bah” – for 15 minutes or so, then she stood at the living room coffee table and watched Dora for probably another 20 minutes.  She is getting so independent and gives a nice “ugh!” if you touch her while standing…such a big girl.  It’s amazing how fast they grow and even more crazy how MUCH she has developed from the 6 ½ month point to now.  

9 months, really?

Allie turned 8 months on Friday...which means mom has been gone 9 months Saturday (yesterday). I wonder when I will get rid of this mentality?  It's insane to think I have not heard her voice in over 270 days. 

One of my best friends who lost her dad in December 2009 told me that she actually regressed in the whole grieving process...and I'm beginning to believe I am in the same boat.  How did I go 8 months with shedding an occasional tear to now, crying almost daily?

Tonight during bath time, Allie was doing her normal "ba-ba-bah" and beating on the side of the bathtub...and I just started crying out of no where.  The poor baby looked at me like she was astonished and stared at me with her gazing blue eyes for what felt like 10 minutes...I know she was wondering "mommy, are you ok?"  We got out of the bath and I propped her up on the vanity so we could complete our routine with her 20-second hair dry and I could not quit sobbing when looking at her absolutely beautiful face in the mirror.

I am so selfish in so many ways.  The biggest example - I am so glad my mom left us before Allie's arrival.  How selfish is that?  It's so sad mom and Allie never got to meet.  In fact, they were 30 days away from meeting each other.  Mom not being here to help me through every tough motherhood problem has made me a stronger person, and most of all, a better mother.  Mom would have jumped every time Ben and I said we were sick, or wanted to go for a night out with friends, or couldn't figure Allie out...she would have been there for the "rescue."  As hard as it is not having her, I have to see the positive and think she left when she did for a reason.  Perhaps I would have been a needy daughter, or been an out-right horrible mother if mom was here...I don't know (as I pull my hair out!).  Again, I have to think of the positive in the situation.

I got a new Blackberry for work last week and while I am very excited, it's sad at the same time.  Mom was speed dial "M" - I had to leave "M" blank on me new phone.  Randomly I saved a text message from her - dated January 1, 2010 - after LSU lost to Penn State in the Capitol One Bowl that reads:

"Sorry about the game.  What a nasty day.  Hope you were not out sitting in that weather.  At least football is over and you can get home and focus on Allie and getting her room ready.  She'll be here before you know it!  Be safe coming home.  Love you guys."

I hope work lets me keep the old phone as I am 99% sure the text is saved to the actual phone, not the SIM. 

On a fun note, I felt like mom was with me Friday.  Since Pro Tech was acquired by 3M, I am now a member of the 3M New Orleans Sales Connection team.  Long story short - 3M participates in a yearly community giving program and this year - 2011 - it is the Boys & Girls Club.  My mom and dad were HUGE supporter of the Boys & Girls program...check out her very last Facebook status.  Enough said.  Imagine how I felt when this was mentioned.  Yes, I will be an enormous advocate for the New Orleans Sales Connection team to win the giving program in mom's honor.

Our sweet, sweet baby girl

Ben, Allie and I had such a fun weekend. Ben and I went to dinner at Sullivan's Friday night and met friends for a couple drinks later on. Allie stayed with her favorite babysitter, Miss Anna...she is such a blessing to us! Saturday we plotted our new landscape project, went to Lowe's and Louisiana Nursery, then met the McAnelly's for dinner at Zippy's.  Their oldest kiddo, Kaitlin, is a total ham.  Here she is trying to fit in her 1-month-old brother's car seat...LOL

We all called it an early night. Sunday we attempted to go to church but Allie decided she would sleep until 9:30...so Ben picked weeds in the flower bed while Allie and I watched. We went to Louisiana Nursery and bought the first of probably seven rounds of plants we need, then we again, watched as Ben planted.

Ben has an event tonight so it was just me and my sweet Allie P.  We went to Wal-Mart to buy Valentine's for her class then came home and played for close to two hours.  I've attached a couple videos of just how CLOSE she is to crawling.  I can see it in her eyes that she is ready...she just has to figure out the last 5% to the whole process. 

Yes, I let her pick out her own Valentine's.  And yes, she picked out the ones with a HUGE dog on the front.  And YES, she screamed when I took them from her at the check out...LOL

Take 3...she stopped Take 2

Take 2...she loves mirrors!

Almost crawling 1

8-months-old and loving the computer

Ben had a St. Aloysius game tonight so Allie and I hung out.  I attempted to get some work done and you can see how far it went!  After an email or two the focus turned to watching videos of herself (yes, she is fairly vain but wouldn't you be if you were this cute!) then to "Moose and Zee" on You Tube. 

Fun night at the Hornets game!

Ben, Carley, DD and I went to the Hornets game Saturday night.  DD scored awesome club seats and we had a blast!

She's "somewhat" back to normal

I blogged last Tuesday about Allie's eating issues which ultimately lead to sleeping problems.

After speaking with our pediatrician and getting her oatmeal/formula/fruit recommendation 3x per day, Allie is somewhat back to her normal sleeping pattern.  Before Christmas, my sweet critter was snoozing from 7:30 pm to at least 7:30 am in her bed...with zero interruptions.  From talking to friends, we had it pretty damn good!  Since changing her food intake, she has improved BIG TIME. 

Last Tuesday night was tough because we had to wean her from the middle of the night bottle.  With Dr. Franz's advice, we combined 3 ounces of formula with 3 ounces of water (idea was to wean her from getting "full" at 3 am so she would want her 7 am bottle) and she guzzled it down.  So Tuesday night was a little out of the question given we had to start the new process.  She ate roughly 3 ounces of her 7 am bottle which was a slight improvement.

Wednesday night Allie went to bed on time but still got up to eat in the middle of the night.  This time she only got 1 ounce of formula to 5 ounces of water which made her extremely eager to devour her 7 am bottle Thursday.  Also on Wednesday she started the oatmeal/formula/fruit concoction and ate all 3 meals (2 at school).  She didn't drink all her bottles at school but she at least consumed 1 of the 2.

Thursday, Friday and Sunday nights (Saturday was bad because she was with a babysitter...threw her off schedule a bit) she slept the entire night in her bed.  She does wake up at least once in the middle of the  night and fusses, but I let her.  (Tough love SUCKS but I've learned you have to do it!)  After 5 minutes or so, she's back to sleep and she has two happy parents and bulldogs snoozing across the hall.

TO MY MOMMY FRIENDS OUT THERE - did/does your baby ever wake up and fuss like this?  Does it go away?  Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

Tonight we tried real bananas in the mesh fruit feeder (so Ben and I could eat!) and AP thoroughly enjoyed the treat.  Luckily we took her clothes off before...notice the mess!

Bath 2

After bath (we use lots of bubbles!) we spray Allie off with the handheld water sprayer and she thinks it's hysterical. Take note to her drinking the water...I personally think she's the funniest baby ever.

Also, notice the "ma-ma-ma-ma" - makes my heart melt!

Bath Video #1

Allie absolutely loves baths. After devouring half of a real banana tonight, we put her in the bathtub to begin our nightly routine. She has the sweetest, yet funniest personality and constantly surprises me with the things she says and does. This video is funny, but the 2nd one is priceless.

Al & pups

This one is pretty long and like an idiot, I turn my phone the wrong way...it's cute no matter what!

Yes our house is a zoo

Standing at 7 1/2 months

Ben was home tonight so we hung out and played with AP for a couple hours. Check out her newest trick...sweet kiddo.

Hopefully we have an answer

For those of you who see my posts on Facebook or the blog about Allie not sleeping well, continue reading. 

What's the deal?
November and December 2010 were like heaven for us around here.  Allie was on an actual "schedule" and it was N-I-C-E.  She would come home from school, eat, play, take a bath, then bed time by 7:30 pm.  We wouldn't hear a peep out of her until 7:30 or 8 the next morning.  We went home for Christmas and her great sleep habits went down the hill....FAST.

I have traveled every week since January 1st with the exception of this week.  Her lack of sleep has to be due to the fact that she's not taking in as many ounces of formula as she needs at this point.  She refuses her bottles at school and barely consumes 10 ounces per day.  Her teachers are so sweet and worry about her just as Ben and I do so they make up for the lack of formula by spoon feeding her 3 meals per day.  Yes, we have lucked out with Mrs. Crystal and Ms. Annie.  :)

Now her sleep habits are terrible BUT I've realized from talking to friends that it's not as bad as I make it out to be.  Allie still goes to bed at 7:30 pm, but she wakes up between 12:30 and 4 am to EAT!  UGH!  I feel like I have a newborn all over again.  And not only does the little turkey eat, she DEVOURS a 7-8 ounce oatmeal bottle in like 2 minutes. 

Now I'm not a rocket scientist but this all tells me she's starving and not getting enough calories during the day.

So now what?
Yes, don't you love how I've set up titles for my post?  I'm in a weird mood!

I called our pediatrician yesterday.  She's a total saint, LOVE that woman.  She called me back around 5:15 pm and we talked for 10-15 minutes about Allie's eating, sleeping, etc.  To be honest, the sleep doesn't bother Ben and me as much as the fact that we KNOW she isn't getting enough food.  As a parent it is hard to stomach the fact that your child is hungry and it makes it even worse when you can't figure out why they won't eat when it is presented to them. 

Dr. Franz always has the answers...again, I love her.  I have been doing this whole "mommy" thing SO wrong.  For my friends with new babies, take note:

Rather than feeding Allie oatmeal mixed with formula and fruit to taste, I thought I was being "super mommy" by giving her the pricey Gerber containers with ground up filet mignon and potatoes.  (Not really, I'm just using this as an example of why I thought I was being super mom.)  At school she would get a Level 2 mixed veggie in the morning followed by a Level 2 oatmeal with blended fruits then a Level 2 vegetables with whole wheat pasta.  Sounds good, right? 

Well Dr. Franz crushed my "super mommy" tag.  Apparently the foods I was giving her are merely "empty calories" so even though it seemed like Allie was getting quite a bit of food, it wasn't enough to really sustain her, especially since she was not taking her bottles.

Dr. Franz suggested we feed Allie three oatmeal/formula/fruit to taste meals per day to coat her little tummy.  If she denies a bottle during he day, but has her three spoon feeds in, it's not the end of the world like it was before when she was eating "empty calories."  To END the 12:30 to 4 am feeding, she suggested we give her 5 ounces of water and 1 ounce of  formula so she didn't get "full" and try to survive on that single bottle during the day.  We tried this last night and sure enough, she was a Starvin' Marvin this morning and made a happy bottle before school.

The past month has been very stressful.  It is amazing how much you can love "something."  I am not a very patient person, but with Allie it's amazing how I have an automatic "patience increase" when dealing with her eating issues. 

So what have I learned?
Point blank...she's smarter than me and Ben but Dr. Franz trumps her 110%...I think her theory is working.  :)

Allie and Toby

Grubbin' & Tootin'

Sweet kid

Ben was gone tonight during Allie's rituals (eat, bath, bottle, bed) so I took a couple pictures of her while playing at her playland.  School wears her out so keep in mind - she wasn't in the greatest of moods but we still had fun!

Playing with her Maryland Terrapin, compliments of Randy, Jeanette & Alex

SO close to crawling

My grandparents gave her this doll that has the creepiest laugh but she LOVES the thing

What What?

Laughing at the creepy laughing doll

She will kill me for this picture one day (dear Lord look how nasty she is) but it was quite the turning point of the evening...

This is why her playland is a total disaster

"Hey mom, give me that camera!"

Trying to lunge forward without face-planting