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I finished making a shopping cart cover for my friend Katie.  She picked out the pattern (hello-Elvis!) and paid for the materials.  This was my second time making it and it went much quicker and was so much easier to make.  I guess I’ll get quicker each time.

My couch will have to act as a shopping cart because well, I don’t own a shopping cart.

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Regarding my post on Monday (hello-i-love-you-good-bye), I went to visit my grandma’s friend Mary on Tuesday.

So Mary finally met Mary.  My Mary Rene loved playing with Mary’s breathing tube.  She kept biting it and at one point she pulled it out. 

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My sister put a contract on a house and should be closing at the beginning of August.  Every time I hear about someone buying a house I get so tempted to look and put our house on the market.  But then I quickly snap back to reality—Trena, you only have to work part-time because your mortgage is so low.  I have to keep telling myself that a smaller house means more time with Mary Rene!  Oh but that grass looks so green over there.

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Yesterday I was at my parent’s house and noticed this

a shrine to Mary Rene.  Can you tell they like her a bit?  A week ago this table was filled with pictures of us kids.  Now, well, grandbabies rule I guess.

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Just for grins…

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Frank, Mary Rene, and I are heading to Piedmont, Missouri for the weekend.  My parents own property down there and we decided to celebrate the 4th of July.  Pray that Mary Rene does well during the 2 1/2 hour car ride there!  Happy 4th everyone!

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Mary Rene was so excited about our trip that she wouldn’t go to bed last night.  Hence, I don’t have a 7th thought because I’m very tired. 

I’ve been thinking about this verse a lot lately.  Personally I have been blessed with happiness in my life and there hasn’t been much sorrow.  But unfortunately, there are people close to me that are filled with great sorrow.  Maybe to the point that their sorrow is unbearable at times.  Since I personally haven’t experienced great sorrow I have no way to comprehend what a person is going through during these difficult times.

Which makes me think of Job’s friends.  Here is Job, a good and righteous Godly man, who is having his life stripped away from him.  He loses his entire family, his fortune is taken away and his health deteriorates.  However, he still praises God.  His friends keep asking him why he still praises God when he is in such misery (after all, didn’t God do this to you?)  But Job ignores his friends and continues to give God glory and praise.

Most people hear the story of Job and they see the undeniable faith of a man, no matter how bad it got.  Most people gain strength from his story and try to model their own life in his direction.  But for me, I am not Job but I am just a friend.

I pray that I am not like Job’s friends when my own friends are faced with sadness.  I want to be like Job and always give God glory and praise.  I don’t want to turn my back on Him.  Maybe this is easier said then done since I haven’t been faced with such sadness.  But I pray that God continues to give me guidance and strength in my life.  I need it, daily.  And unlike Job’s friends, I pray that I continuously see God’s will in our lives. 

I truly believe that everything happens for a reason.  Even the real bad things in life serve some type of purpose.  Finding the purpose can be the hard part sometimes.  But with God’s help, I think we can eventually overcome our sadness and weakness and become a much stronger, faithful person.

***

For those that don’t know the story of Job-it does have a happy ending.  God rewards him for his faithfulness and he is blessed with more children, double the wealth and his health is restored.  Truly he laughed and rejoiced again.

(yes this picture was taken today.  yes she is wearing her pjs in her sandbox.  yes it was 6:25 in the morning.!!!!)

Our sweet little princess is 41 weeks young today!  I have so much to say in this post that I will try and keep it quick and short so I can get it all in.

Mary Rene has been falling asleep to classical music for nearly a week now.  The first two nights she slept the night through!  But now she is waking up again at least once.  Having the music on in the background is really relaxing and one night I even feel asleep while I was nursing her to sleep!  I started keeping the music on for the entire night and just turn it off in the morning. 

This week Mary Rene started turning on her side to sleep.  Before she would stay on her back all night, just like her daddy.  But now when she is done nursing she quickly rolls to the side.  Halfway through the night she rolls to the other side.  Sometimes she switches to her back but for the most part she is a side sleeper now just like her mommy!

I guess Mary Rene’s teeth were bothering her because we were having the hardest time feeding her this past week.  In order to get food in her mouth we would pretend like we were giving her a drink from her sippy cup.  When she opened her mouth I would quickly put the spoon in her mouth.  I hate force feeding her but she was constipated so I needed to get some vegetables in her.  She would be pushing and pushing but nothing was coming out.  I felt so bad for my little girl that I called the doctor.  They suggested that we give her diluted prune juice.  Frank and I both agreed that we didn’t want Mary Rene having juice for awhile so I wasn’t too happy to hear the news.  But the prune food wasn’t working since I was struggling to feed her.  So I gave in and bought prune juice.  Luckily, Mary Rene didn’t like the juice and I was only able to give her an ounce.  Hopefully she won’t need to drink anymore juice for quite sometime.  In case you are wondering she is eating again and having regular bowel movements too.

Twice now, Mary Rene has gotten on all fours and started to crawl.  She only crawled a couple steps and then went to her belly to slither.  I guess slithering is quicker and easier for her.

But more than twice, Mary Rene has taken a few steps on her own!  She has been cruising along the furniture for a couple weeks already.  But now she is going from one piece of furniture to the next without my assistance.  In order to get from the big couch to the small one she has to take two steps without holding on to anything.  The first time she tried she made it!  I was so proud of her.  Now I let her practice doing it throughout the day.  Walking has become her favorite thing to do now.  Forget the toys, let’s walk!

Mary Rene also stood, unassisted, this week.  I think she did this three times.  She was only able to stand alone for a few seconds before she started getting wobbly and fell.  But I quickly scoop her in my arms and she pushes against me so she can stand again.  We have a routine in the morning (wake her up by singing to her, change her clothes & diaper, pray and sing her Amen & Alleluia song, go say good morning to the dog next door, say good morning to Sophie, nurse) but lately she has been really fussy because she wants to get past all that and start practicing walking.  I think she will be walking before the summer is over.

The other day I was talking to my grandma’s friend Mary on the phone.  I used to see her all the time since she lived at the same apartment complex as my grandma.  Every time I went to visit my grandma, Mary was in her apartment.  They were the best of friends and Mary came to all of our family functions!  Since my grandma passed away four years ago we barely see or talk to Mary anymore.  I feel horribly guilty saying this but the last time I saw her was when I first found out I was pregnant!  I didn’t want to take Mary Rene to see her when she was an infant because Mary now lives in a nursing home.  And then the winter months came and went and well now it is summer.  Oh I feel like I have let my grandma down.

We chatted on the phone about her health and I updated her on how everyone in the family was doing.  At the end of the call I told her that I would call next week so we could make arrangements to come by.  She agreed and before she hung up she said, “I Love You.”  But let me tell you, I actually heard her and felt her say “I Love You.”  It was very powerful and when I said it back I meant it as well.

It was the first time, in a long time, that someone said “I Love You” like that.  Don’t get me wrong, Frank tells me he loves me everyday and I do the same.  But our I Love Yous have become as common as our hellos and good-byes.  It has become a standard phrase that is stung along with our regular conversation.  But the way we say it to each other doesn’t provoke the feeling that should be attached to it.  Our I Love You can be as simple as “how was your day?”

Is it strange that the “I Love You” I feel from an elderly woman is more powerful then the one I feel or have given to Frank in awhile?  I love Frank with all my heart and soul but somehow we have both let ourselves fall into the routine of love.

I remember Frank and I had this same conversation about a year ago and we both realized our I Love Yous had become standard conversation.  We decided to make our I Love Yous important and passionate again.  But we have fallen back into our old ways again.  So maybe I was supposed to feel Mary’s I Love You so I could start saying my I Love Yous the correct way to Frank again.  The last thing I want is for our love to be as typical as eating three meals a day. 

Frank, if you are reading this…

…

I

Love

You

This is Part XII on a series for new moms about breastfeeding. Check out Part XI on Sensitive Stomachs.

Before nursing, I bought clothes that were stylish and flattered my body shape.  Oh how times have changed.  Now when I go shopping, when I try on the top in the dressing room I always lift it with one hand to see if it will be easy to nurse in.  If I love the top and it is a good price but hard to nurse in I won’t purchase it.  Strange how nursing changes the way you evaluate clothes.  (Trust me-you will look at clothes a completely different way!)

Oh course this isn’t a problem if you only plan on nursing at home.  But if you want to go out whenever and wherever you want you need to always be prepared.  I used to wear a lot of button down tops to work because I thought they looked classy/professional.  Since nursing I only own two of the tops and I only wear them to work.  (side note:  I wore one of those tops to a birthday party yesterday.  We weren’t planning on staying long and I didn’t think I would be nursing Mary Rene there.  Go figure I had to nurse her and I had the hardest time getting the buttons undone and then re-buttoned.)  As soon as I get home I always take the shirt off so I can nurse Mary Rene easily the rest of the evening.  Sure you can always unbutton it a bit to make it easier but I’m all about quick and convenience.

In the winter it is easier because you can wear a nursing tank under a sweater.  Just lift the sweater, unhook the clasp over your breast and nurse.  In the fall and spring you can still get away with wearing a nursing tank under a top and just lift the top.  But summer is a different story.  This is when it is important to practice nursing in the top before going out in public.

Regardless if you plan on nursing in public or not you should always wear a nursing bra or a nursing tank top.  This just makes sense folks.  I even have a nursing sports bra!  Easy access is what it is all about.

Next week I will write about: Nursing on Demand.

For all you moms who read my blog, please add your tips to the comment section.  The more tips the better! 

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We got Mary Rene’s 9 month pictures back.  The wonderful folks at JC Penney’s took the pictures.  I can’t upload the pictures here since JC Penney’s owns the rights to the photos.  But I do want to give you a tour of my house.

This is the red wall in our front room.  The other three walls are white.

You can see one of the three white walls here. 

We also got her 3 and 6 month pictures taken at JC Penney’s.

Even though our front room is red and white our bedroom is this color. 

Okay.  That was completely obnoxious of me.

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This excessively hot weather has really put a wrench in our stroller walks.  We haven’t been out for a walk in nearly two weeks now.  I feel like it is winter all over again but instead of extreme cold we have the extreme heat.  Could I complain anymore?

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Our friends, who moved to Vegas a year ago, are expecting and there is a baby shower for them tomorrow.  I made them a taggie blanket.

I just couldn’t bare the thought of their little one rooting for the wrong team.

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Along with the baby shower there will be a graduation and a house warming party at that same party.  Before we go to all those parties we are attending a first birthday party for my friend’s son.  I knew that having kids meant you would be busier but gosh I didn’t expect it to be this busy.

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My bridesmaid dress for my sister’s wedding arrived.  I ordered the size 8 back in March.  At the time we had not introduced solids so Mary Rene was still nursing every two to three hours.  Now that she is eating solids she is nursing every three to four hours.  I know that the older she gets the less she will nurse.  She will be 13 months when my sister gets married.  So I’m not sure if I will be able to fit in that dress by then!  I really believe that all the nursing is what is keeping me slim.  Once I stop nursing I’ll have to start being more diligent about working out and eating right.  That means when my alarm goes off at 6:25 a.m. I have to get out of bed instead of hitting snooze.  Gosh that doesn’t sound like fun at all.

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I easily could write a whole post about this but only want to mention it quickly.  I can’t believe Jon & Katie (plus 8 ) are getting a divorce.  Even though their marriage was in the tabloids a lot before the announcement I was really thinking that it was a rumor.  I’m just a bit shocked.  People are blaming reality tv as the trigger to their marriage’s downfall.  There there was Hulk Hogan and his wife.  Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey.  Should I keep naming all the reality stars that are divorced?  But really it isn’t just reality stars, it is reality.  So sad.

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My amazingly smart husband said that every Thursday night I should sew between 9 and 11 p.m.  That way I can start working on all these special request that I am recieving.  So on Tuesday and Wednesday I ironed out a few extra minutes here and there so I could get my pattern pieces cut out.  Last night I was ready to sew and quickly went to work at exactly 9 p.m.  At 10:11 p.m. I realized that I messed up and I have to unsew a huge piece of fabric.  It actually was the most difficult part, of course, to sew.  I worked on it until 11 p.m. and then called it a night.

So yesterday around 9:30 a.m. Mary Rene started to yawn and was ready for her morning nap.  I usually rock her to Channel 5125, which is country music.  I had the music going and she was in my arms but I decided to lay her in the crib first.  I laid her down and walked in the other room.  I heard her playing for a few minutes and then it got really quiet.  I quietly walked in the room and as soon as she saw me she started to pucker up her lips like she was about to cry.  I was going to leave the room but I smelled poop!  Oh she pooped her diaper in the crib again.  Why oh why does she do that?  So I got her out and changed her diaper.  I was going to put her back in the crib but I knew at this point she wouldn’t have anything to do with it.  So I decided to just nurse her to sleep in my bed.  Within five minutes she was sound asleep.  I went in the other room, checked my work email and then decided…I was going to nap with her.  I haven’t done that in months and really needed to relax.  So I laid next to her and we napped together for another 20 minutes. 

Later that day during her second nap I checked my email and saw the wonderful comments from my loyal readers Joanne and Lerin.  Thank you so much for being honest with me.  I really needed to hear that.  What you said is what I felt but I was giving in to “western” culture.  Plus I keep hearing about all my friends who are able to get their babies to nap without work and I just felt like a failure.  But I’m glad you gals supported me because I really needed it.  And so does Mary Rene.

So last night, Mary Rene was really tired after swim lessons and ready for bed.  I started to nurse her to sleep like I always do.  She had just fallen asleep when…someone rang our doorbell!  Seriously.  Sophie started running around the house and barking hysterically.  I really need to get this on video someday so you can see how ballistic she gets when someone is at the door.  Mary Rene’s eyes opened wide and she tried sitting up to see what was going on.  I could have ran out there with my boob hanging out to scream at the person.  I was so extremely frustrated.  Frank came in the room and she started crying so we picked her up and Frank played with her in the front room while I worked.  Within 30 minutes she was yawning and ready for bed.  My plan was to try and nurse her to sleep again.  But Frank wanted to be inventive and put light music on for her.  He got the radio and we put it on the local classical radio station, 99.1 (thank you Melissa for the suggestion!)  So while the music was softly playing in the background I nursed her to sleep.  She was out like a light within minutes. 

We kept the music on until I went to bed at 11 p.m.  And the best part, she slept until 6:30 a.m.  She slept through the night!!! (and the second best part-I was not full!  No pain.)  She was up an hour earlier then usual and I could tell she didn’t really want to be up (she must have heard my alarm go off.)  So I quickly nursed her and she went back to sleep until 7:30 a.m. Perfect.

So starting today:

1. Naps: I will first try to rock and sing to her like I always do.  If she doesn’t surrender then I will nurse her. 
2. Bedtime: I will nurse her to classical music.

I like this plan much better.  Even though I have many friends who don’t rely on nursing for naps and bedtime, I also have many friends that do it.  I don’t know why I was trying to fit in a group that I didn’t belong in!

Our buttercup is 40 weeks young today!  Oh, has it been a long and hot week!  Baby girl has been doing a lot of swimming this past week.  With the way the weather looks this week she will be doing plenty more!

Mary Rene got her 5th & 6th teeth this week.  Four on top now.  Teething=crabby, crabby baby.  I wish all the teeth would come in the same week so you could have one bad week instead of…oh about 20.

Since Mary Rene was a couple months old, Frank has been taking his finger and running it up and down her mouth while she babbles.  It makes her voice sound different and she thinks it is funny.  This week she figured out how to make the noise herself! (at the very end of the video you’ll hear her try to say ‘I love you’ and ‘bye’)

Sounds cute doesn’t it?  The only problem is that she loves to do it and wants to do it all day long.  When I tried putting her to bed Sunday night she was so extremely tired but she kept making the noise.  She was crying as she did it but she just couldn’t stop.  It was really cute but then I felt bad for her.

Speaking of putting her to sleep, well that isn’t going so good.  Last night it took us 70 minutes to get her to finally fall asleep.  It was such a struggle that I was in tears during my stay-in date night with Frank.  But he reassured me that she was just a baby and this would pass just like it did before.  On top of teething, I think she is going through her nine month growth spurt.  (Please dear Lord make it just be a growth spurt!) 

Mary Rene has progressed to stage three of waving hi and bye.  Wave 1 was hitting her hand against her leg.  Wave 2 was raising her arm and holding her hand out.  Wave 3 is raising her arm and moving her hand up and then down once.  She is so close to a full fledged wave!

Baby girl has been pulling herself up on anything she is sitting near.  The last few nights I have put her to bed she has grabbed me and pulled herself up.  What does she do next?  Try and crawl away.  Out of nowhere she has decided that crawling is cool.  She still isn’t crawling but nearly every time I put her in the sitting position she quickly gets on all fours.  But then she falls to the ground and starts army crawling.  

And the most exciting bit of news, Mary Rene is doing the sign for more.  Of course her sign is a bit different then mine but I know what she means when she does it.  I guess you can say she is also doing the milk sign because the other day when I said ‘milk’ and did the sign she opened her mouth and went right to my boob!  We have a smart baby on our hands!

The past couple weeks I have had the hardest time getting Mary Rene to take a nap.  The girl is tired but she just won’t surrender easily.  In order to get her to take a nap I have had to nurse her to sleep.  It works out great but the problem is I can’t do this forever.  And maybe the even bigger problem is she is expecting to be put to sleep this way.  I feel like I have created a monster. 

Many, many months ago her doctor told me to start letting her soothe herself to sleep.  I tried…for a bit.  It was so much easier to help her get to sleep that I continued to do it.  And now look where it has put me.  In a pickle that is. 

I know I need to be more strict and let her cry for a bit but I just continuously give in and pick her up.  I keep telling myself that, “starting today I am not going to help her get to sleep.”  When she is tired I lay her in the crib for her to take a nap.  She sucks on her blanket for a bit, tosses and turns, sings and then starts whining.  I wait a couple minutes and then I go in there.  My plan is to go in there and say, “Mommy loves you but it is time to take a nap,” and then leave the room.  And every time I go in there she gets quiet, looks up and me and smiles.  And then I smell poop.  For some darn reason she always poops when I lay her in the crib!  What gives!  I pick her up, change her diaper and then she is wide awake!  So I do the next best thing, lay her in my bed, nurse her and she falls asleep.

I feel like a failure as a mother in this department.  I wanted to hold her so much as a baby that I didn’t mind rocking and singing her to sleep.  Now I realize that I have robbed my daughter of  the tools she needed to get herself to sleep.  Ugh.

So starting tomorrow, I am really, really, really going to try and get her to sleep on her own.  I just have to be strong and do it.  Even if it drives me insane for a week I have to do it.  For her sake at least.

Francis-

Happy 1st Father’s Day!  Well, technically last year was your first Father’s Day but this year it is your first Father’s Day to hold your baby girl.  It is kind of weird to be talking about you right now as a father and not as a husband.  So many times I refer to you as my husband that to say father sounds foreign.  Even last night when we were reflecting on you being a father it sounded strange.  When I was looking over at you I didn’t see a father but I saw the man that I feel in love with all those years ago.

And now you have fallen in love with our baby girl.  It still amazes me that we created such an amazingly, beautiful and precious sweet baby girl.  I love how she has your cute little curls and your beautiful eyes.  Over and over again people say that she looks like you, which is a compliment because she is such a looker!  She’s gorgeous just like her daddy!

You are such a great father to our sweet angel.  I love when you get home from work and you wave really big and say hello to her.  She gets the biggest grin on her face and smiles away at you.  You make her laugh so hard that her belly hurts.  When you lay her on the bed and play the “I’m Gonna Get You” game she does her ‘laugh scream’ at you which means she is begging for more.  She could laugh all day with you.  I love how you tickle her so much that sometimes her face gets all red from your facial hair.  She doesn’t seemed bothered at all by it!  She loves her daddy.

I hope you have a great father’s day and enjoy every moment of this day with your precious baby girl.  We love you so much and are blessed to have you in our lives.