one of those days

Today has been one of those days that I feel absolutely useless for anything other than a soft spot for the girls. I have gotten absolutely nothing done today other than attending to two very needy girls. I had a feeling last night that this might happen, but it still frustrates me. I knew Mattie Leigh would be more needy than usual because she has a couple boo-boos from where she fell last night trying to ride her trike down the back steps. Don't ask me what possessed her to do that other than the fact that she wanted to ride her bike in the yard and thought she had to ride it down the steps to get to do that. I'm so thankful that her only injuries are scrapes on her left hand...it could've been so much worse. Poor Allie Grace is just having some tummy issues I think, but she wants to be held and screams if I lay her down or sit her in her bouncer or swing. So, we've been piled up in the recliner since we got up this morning and it doesn't look like that is going to change any time soon.

in the blink of an eye

Today has been one of those days that makes you realize how precious life is. We started out this morning keeping a really careful eye on the weather because the National Weather Service was predicting really severe weather and possible tornadoes. (By midmorning, a huge tornado did touch down in Yazoo City and did considerable damage and several people lost their lives.) As bad as this may sound, that was somewhat expected...I mean, you always hope that the weather calms down and doesn't get as bad as predicted, but you KNOW that the possibility/probability for severe weather is there when the forecast calls for it.

What wasn't expected was the news that one of Kevin's friend's wife had been killed in a car accident on their property. Kevin got the phone call while we were at my grandmother's for a family reunion. I didn't even know the lady, but the news broke my heart and I can't stop thinking about/praying for the family. She and her husband have a 17 year old son that has special needs that needs round the clock care. They have taken turns caring for him and doing things they need to do (like working and grocery shopping). Please pray for the Roberts' family...they're going to need the strength that only our Comforter can give in the coming weeks.

That news also made me think back to a night almost 5 years ago when I found out that my brother died in a freak 4-wheeler accident. I had been home from my junior year at MC for about a week. Earlier that night, I had gone to a friend's graduation party. I had been home for just a little while and was in a deep sleep when I heard loud knocking at the door. It was about 1:30 and no one knocks on my parents' door at that time of night unless it is an emergency. I waited to see if my mom or dad got up to answer the door, but after another knock, I decided to get up and see what was going on. My uncle and his girlfriend were at the door and he was asking for my mom. I went to my parents' bedroom, but neither of them were there. I was in a fog from being awakened so suddenly and didn't realize that her van wasn't where it was when I got home less that 2 hours before. My uncle didn't tell me at first what had happened...he told me my grandmother was sick and that she needed me to come sit with her until he could find my mom. I went to get dressed and when I came back, he told me the truth. My brother had been killed suddenly after he flipped off his 4-wheeler and it landed on his back. Needless to say, I was in complete shock...the news didn't really sink in until midmorning the next day when people started arriving at the house. I'll never forget that I went from celebrating a happy occasion with friends and in just a few short hours was mourning the loss of my big brother. Even at almost 5 years later, his not being here is strange. When I'm home, I expect him to walk through the door and do something to aggravate me. I still miss him a lot...especially when I see how Mattie Leigh does stuff like he did when we were kids. His death is one of the big reasons that I decided to get a counseling degree.

where to start?

If you've seen my facebook statuses lately, you know that we've had issues with Allie Grace's tummy. Kevin and I knew that she'd probably inherit our stomach issues...I was just hoping that it wouldn't start this early. I had already switched her to a formula specifically for gassy and fussy babies because of issues we were having with that. Then, I noticed that she seemed to be gagging a lot...not necessarily spitting up, but trying to swallow what was trying to come up. I called our doctor a few different times trying to get them to put her on medicine, but they didn't. Finally, I got really frustrated and just asked for an appointment. I knew it was reflux because we had so much trouble with Mattie Leigh when she had it. I was pleased that the doctor remembered that and just immediately put her on Zantac when we had the appointment. That has helped a lot...but we've had screaming spells from around 4 PM to 4 AM the last few days. We haven't had that so far today, so I am hoping she is over it.

If you've seen my statuses lately, you've also seen that we've had some funny Mattie Leigh moments. I have known for a while that she is verbal and has a great vocabulary, but she amazed me when I took her to the doctor for a throat infection. She told me she was "fwustwated" because the doctor looked in her throat. (I was proud...she's learning those feeling words early...like a therapist's child should.) She told Kevin recently that she thought he was a "good pweacher." We had a picnic in the backyard the other day and it was a little windy. She was talking to herself and said, "the wind is blowing my food. What am I gonna do with that wind?" My only issue with her is that she's become very stubborn with potty-training.

To borrow her word, I'm frustrated with RTS. I thought I was finished paying for everything when I finished my hours...only to find out about $200 graduation fee I HAVE to pay, even though I am not walking. I also found out that I have to pay almost $500 in tuition and fees for the winter term...I honestly thought I had paid for it, but was told I hadn't. I hate that we have to pay that much when we're trying to pay off bills and save money...along with having enough month to month.

I am also frustrated with my attitude...I find myself losing my temper easily and I HATE that. I know a lot of it is because I am so tired, but that's no excuse. I am trying to work on that before it gets any worse.

a crazy week!

This week started with me calling to see if the lady who was supposed to be doing our taxes was in...when I found out that she wasn't, I told them I was coming to pick up our tax info so that we could get someone else to do them. I did that and then went to Peppy & Posh in Clinton to get waffle headbands and bows for the girls. I will definitely be going back there...they have lots of cute stuff. The rest of the week was spent with me trying to get in to get my eyes checked so I could get new glasses and contacts...I finally got that done on Thursday and was told by the optometrist that I NEEDED new glasses.

For some reason, Mattie Leigh has decided that she no longer needs to take naps...she has skipped them all week (and has been super cranky in the evenings as a result). I've tried to get her to sleep, but she refuses. She's also been pretty spotty on using the potty. I think it has become a game to go in her pull-up, but I haven't been able to figure out anything new to encourage her to go. I know part of her choosing to go in her pull-up is that she's a little jealous of Allie Grace and has reverted back to some baby things.

I can definitely tell that Allie Grace is growing. She is trying to hold her head up and refuses to lay on her back. I'm not sure how she's already able to do this, but she rolls onto her side to sleep. Our big issue with her this week has been her stomach. She has been extremely fussy and gassy...I changed her to Enfamil's Gentlease formula, but she is still having trouble. I'd given her a lot of Mylicon drops to help with that before we switched formula and she ended up constipated with those...after a few days and a couple suppositories, I think we've taken care of that. I'm hoping we're nearing the end of this issue and that we get our easy and always happy baby back.

whew! this has been easier than i thought...

Our transition to being a family of four has been easier than I thought it was going to be. I'm hoping that all the time we spent trying to prepare Mattie Leigh for Allie Grace's presence has really paid off and that we aren't going to have any problems in the next days/weeks. I'm really proud of our big girl for how she has adjusted to the changes. She really loves her baby sister and tries to help us with her as much as we'll let her. There have only been brief moments of jealousy, and the majority of those have been when we had company and they paid more attention to Allie Grace than to Mattie Leigh (which is totally new for her since she is such an attention hog). We have had a couple small instances where my focus had been mostly on Allie Grace and Mattie Leigh acted like she was going to hit her...she told me she was upset with me and that's why she tried to do it.

My routine hasn't changed all that much either. Allie Grace is a super content baby and adapts well to whatever we need to be doing. She rarely ever cries...usually when I'm changing her or giving her a bath. She also does really well at night and lets us sleep for good stretches of time...she would rather eat more during the day and sleep more at night (which is WONDERFUL because Mattie Leigh seemed to be up a lot at night until after her 2nd birthday).

I'm going to write a post sometime soon and highlight some of the similarities and differences between Mattie Leigh and Allie Grace during their first weeks. For now, I'll just post pictures of each of them during their first days...I thought I had one of Allie Grace in a similar pose to Mattie Leigh but realized that it is one of the ones that the hospital took and I haven't ordered it yet. Mattie Leigh is the one with her eyes open.

pictures

Here are a few of the pictures we have taken of Allie Grace in the last few days. My favorites are of Mattie Leigh holding her. Look on Facebook for other ones that aren't on here. Also, if you want to see the ones we had done at the hospital, go to www.newlifeportraits.net, search for my name and 3/3/2010 and the password to view them is 5968.

She's here!

On Wednesday of last week, I had started having contractions and didn't know it. I spent the night in the hospital so that they could monitor me and give me medicine to stop the contractions. We thought all was well and that I would be fine. However, Sunday afternoon I started having contractions again and they became really regular. I went back to the hospital and was given three more shots of the medicine to stop contractions, but it didn't work. Allie Grace decided that she wanted to be our early bird and was born almost 4 weeks early. She weighed in at 7 pounds 6 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. I would have had a baby elephant if she'd waited until her due date to make her arrival! We're home and trying to adjust to being a family of 4.