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Teething and other topics

Well, I'm like 99% sure that Stella is teething. Here's why:


1) Tylenol actually helps. 
2) She chews on her hands constantly.
3) Is refusing the pacifier more than ever. It appears to make her mouth hurt when I try to get her to take it.
4) It totally feels weird when she nurses, like she's scraping my boob.
5) Is insanely fussy.


I had thought this was the "meat" of her 3 mos. growth spurt, but after begging for help on Facebook yesterday, it seems that I'm wrong. My mom has been insisting for about a week that she's teething. She saw the video of Stella chatting, and, in my most eloquent Pam vernacular, said, "With the way she's a'slobberin', she's teethin', Mindy." So, I looked up the symptoms.


When I say that she feels different nursing, it just feels like she's almost chewing on my boob. I know that seems weird, but I can tell her gums feel different. One of my old coworkers (who is an expert baby advisor) said to feel her gums. I didn't usually stick my finger in her mouth, so I didn't have a good point of reference. They just felt like baby gums to me. Yesterday, I noticed a different "feel" to her nursing, so I think I can safely say her gums are different. 


The fussiness is insane. I mean absolutely insane. Derek came home last night, and I was like, "Today was one of those days where I wish I could have some whiskey straight right now." It was rough. My back was aching from carrying her around all day. Obviously, she was in pain and wanted to be held for comfort. I can't blame her, but it is physically difficult to cart around a nearly 14 lb baby all day. 


I guess we'll see if a little tooth pops through soon. I hope it does since everyone has been telling me that the pain subsides then. I just wasn't expecting to go through teething issues already, but I guess every baby is different and there are many babies who teeth at this age. 


Thanks, everyone, for your advice yesterday. I sincerely appreciate it, and I do think the Tylenol is helping. She's at least able to be pleasant after she has it. 


In other news, Kaylie - our nanny - came yesterday. It was sort of like a "Stella Orientation" for her, heh. I showed her around our house, and I showed her how we do things. I have a dr appointment today at 2, and she's coming at 1. We'll see how she does with Stella on her own. I have some pumped milk in the fridge, and I already sat out some disposable diapers for her. I hope I don't scare her away! She's super sweet!


And lastly: Wow. Last night was crazy. After Derek came home and I complained for a good twenty minutes, he was sitting on the couch with Stella. I was eating, and he goes, "You're pooping, aren't you?" I was like, "She hasn't pooped in a couple days." Well, he checked. It was an all-out insane poop. Her poops have become crazy. She poops about every 3 days or so, and when she does, you need to call in reinforcements. Derek had to do a wardrobe change, and we had to wash all of her changing table stuff. He gave her a bath right away, too. Everyone said this would happen, but just wow. I had no idea it could be that crazy. 


I also think it's pretty darn funny that she waited until her dad had her ;) Maybe she was sparing me because she knew I had a rough day, haha. 


Stella seems to be waking up from her morning nap, so I need to run. I hope the teething is over soon! My poor girl is miserable! :( 

So I hops in my Schwinn!

Wow, so much to blog about! 


I'll tell more about our big "date" but first I have to share a few pictures and tell about our snazzy jogger! Stella and I went for our first run together this morning, and it was great! I ordered this jogger the other day at a super huge bargain! It was 50% off at Amazon! That is why I love, love, love Baby Cheapskate! Well, it came on Wednesday, but Derek and I hadn't had time to put it together. On Friday night, Derek and I assembled it while Stella took a nap... 

We had big plans of getting up and going for a Saturday morning run together, and we spent most of the assembly time talking about how excited we were. BUT we didn't think about the tires needing air... boo! :( So on our date last night, we picked up a bike pump. After Stella woke up from her little snooze, we popped her in to make sure everything fit well and we had the straps safely adjusted:

Well, Derek filled the tires last night, and this morning, Stella and I went for a short run while Derek cut the grass. I LOVED it! I am SO pleased with this jogger. I had heard fabulous things about BOBs since one of my former coworkers had a BOB Revolution. Let's be honest, BOBs are crazy expensive, like 400-450 dollars! Also, we had read that a swivel front wheel can be dangerous if you're running fast enough and turning quickly, so we checked out Consumer Reports. It rated this one as the number one jogger, so we waited for a good sale. And when I saw 50% off, I knew I couldn't beat that! 


It's absolutely perfect. It turns easily, and it's SUPER light. Stella just lays back and bounces along! I had asked Dr. DeMauro about joggers a while back, and he had recommended just waiting until she could hold her head up. He also mentioned laying it ALL the way back so she gets a swinging effect. It worked perfectly. We only ran maybe 2-2.5 miles since I wanted to be careful. I didn't want to be far away from our house and Stella have a complete meltdown or anything. 


I am SO pleased and I cannot recommend this jogger enough! I am in love! I'm so happy that I can run in the mornings now when Derek goes to work. I had been waiting for Derek to come home, but it's so hot here that I hadn't been running. It gets so hot during the day that the other day I thought my brains were cooking. Running in 100 degrees sucks. 


Anyway, so excited! :D


As for our date! Wow... we both nearly chickened out at the last minute. At around 3, Derek came in the nursery as I was playing with Stella, and said, "I am so sad. I just don't think I can leave her." I flipped. I was like, "I'm calling Ashley. We're not leaving." Well, we decided to be tough and just get it over with. Ashley came at 4:45, and we showed her around and left around 5pm. We had some dinner (which was mostly spent talking about Stella!) and then went to Target to get a bike pump and a few other things.


We wanted to get some onesies and sleepers for Stella and we figured we'd just pick some up there. We had these grand plans of going to the outlet mall, but the road into HHI was insane. It was bumper to bumper and all of Hilton Head was packed for the holiday weekend. We opted for good ol' Target. We can take the back roads there super easily. Besides, we love Target stuff. It's always super cute and at a good price! 


Derek had been wanting to buy Stella some plain white onesies since she was born, and I kept telling him that it was dumb. I finally indulged him after he said, "You could take a fabric marker and draw on it!" Haha! He likes to keep things simple, so I probably won't draw on them. I mostly gave in because I want her to have things that he picks out, too. I shouldn't hog that privilege. We bought size 6 mos. onesies, and they totally fit. I can't believe how big she is! 


We also bought a Halo Sleepsack since Stella hulks out of her old swaddlers. We want her to be warm at night, and we thought this was a good option. They had one on clearance, so bonus for finding a good sale! 


We also picked up some different pacifiers that mimic boobs. I'm trying to break her of the habit of sucking her lips. Sounds weird, I know. She does this thing where she starts sucking her bottom and top lips, and I want her to use a pacifier. Derek thinks it's totally fine for her to do that and says she'll likely stop when she has teeth. It just freaks me out for some reason, but she won't give in on the pacifiers. :( She hates them -- even the new ones! 


We had a lot of fun, but we definitely missed her. It was super hard to be away from her. It was the first time she wasn't with one of us since she was born. She's only been away from me for an hour or so when I've been running and Derek has watched her. I definitely don't want to do it all the time, but it was a good treat to get to eat in peace and just chat with Derek. 


Anyway, I want to get back to relaxing while Stella naps this afternoon! :) 

3 months old!

Wow... our little girl is already out of the fourth trimester. I can't believe it! Now, I realize she was born on the 31st, but June has no 31st so we're using today. All the same really. 


How she's progressing:


Weight: 13 lbs and 3 oz. She's a chunk! 


Milestones: can roll back to belly and belly to back, gets up on her knees and scoots a little during tummy time, lifts her head to 90 degrees, babbles and coos A LOT - we have some fun conversations!, brings her hands together, can use the iPad ;), can handle some weight on her legs.


Appearance: Her hair is lighter than it was at birth. It seems to be an almost auburn tone in places, and she gets that from her father. His hair is a much lighter brown than mine. Her eyes have changed. Right now, they're currently a shade of hazel. My eyes are a light brown-hazel color, so she seems to be taking after me. We'll see if they darken up anymore. Needless to say, she's definitely not a blue-eyed girl. She's also pretty chunky. She's not long compared to other babies, either. And, she definitely has my skin tone - very warm and golden colored. 


Clothes: She's currently in 3-6 months stuff. She can wear some 6 mos stuff, like creepers. 0-3 dresses still fit well, but 0-3 sleepers and onesies are too tight. Her shorts and pants are still 0-3. 


Overall, she's a very happy baby. She smiles and laughs a lot. It's so cute when she smiles. She'll usually bring her hands up by her face and make this sweet little smile. It's so cute! 


She's still sleeping in her bassinet, but Derek and I are trying to move her to the crib at night. She's attempted to do it on her own a couple times, but I'm such a wimp. We've finally stopped co-sleeping since none of us were getting any rest. She'd just root all night and kick Derek in the face. She's still using a swaddler, but she hulks out of it religiously. She doesn't ALWAYS use it either. She definitely naps here and there without it -- for some inexplicable reason. She's sleeping for about six straight hours a night, and she goes back down quickly after her change and feeding. 


Still breastfeeding! It's going super well, but this growth spurt this week has required a little formula. She'll have both boobs, and look at us like she ate nothing and start screaming. She usually will eat about 8-9 times a day, so the feedings have finally slowed a little.


I can't believe she's almost - emphasis on the almost - to the point that she can take rice cereal soon. I'm so excited for her to get to eat baby food. I think it will reveal more about her personality. I bought a book on how to make your own, and that's what I plan to do. I figure it's better for her since I'll know there aren't a bunch of crazy preservatives. 


The Zantac is amazing. Her reflux is gone, and she's so much happier. Her colon, though, is not, haha. She farts CONSTANTLY and it stinks so bad. Derek and I gag when she farts during a diaper change, and there have been a couple times that I've had to hand her over to him. He has a much stronger stomach than me... I guess it was all that poo burning he did during OIF 1, haha.


Our nanny, Kaylie, is coming on Tuesday to get familiar with our house. She's going to watch Stella on Wednesday so I can go to a doctor appointment. I'm using Mirena, and I need to go in for my follow up. 


And here's some big news! On Saturday, Derek and I have asked one of Derek's coworkers to watch Stella for a few hours so we can go on a date! Yes, a date! Neither of us have been apart from Stella in 3 months. I'm a little nervous, but mostly, SUPER excited! Ashley is great, and we know she'll be perfect with Stella. I just can't believe it: I get to eat an uninterrupted meal! We think we're going to go eat some Mexican food and shop at the Outlet malls in Hilton Head. I think it will be great for us to get to just chat and be like our old selves. We haven't been on a date together since January!  I guess that's where folks who live close to family have an advantage - lots of babysitters! 


Anyway, I know this blog isn't about me, but I am so excited that I still get to be in the NACADA Emerging Leaders program. I was worried they'd disqualify me since I left SCAD, but they said they completely understood. The woman in charge even said, "I did that, too. It's not a problem at all!" Derek, Stella, and I get to go to Denver in October for the National Conference. We can't wait! :)  I got my books from TCL, and I can't wait to start teaching. I think this will be perfect for me. It all worked out so, so well. I'm so thankful and happy. Alright already! Enough about me! 



Well, I need to clean up our house while Stella finishes up her nap. Here's a cute picture of her from the other day. Oh, and that sleeper so doesn't fit... haha. We plan to buy her some cute clothes on our date! :)

The Swimsuit Edition

Stella was in a good mood, so we decided to revisit the crab pool this morning. Remember this posting? Well, it went much better. 


While Derek blew up the crab pool, I dressed Stella for her swimsuit debut. Here she is, ready to play:

And, here is the crab pool... ready to go:

He's a bit of an amputee... one of his claws has a hole in it, so it stayed deflated :( 


We popped her in, and she seemed rather confused:

And we tried the bumbo to help things out:

That seemed to confuse her even more. She's not such a fan of the bumbo. So, I hopped in...

Don't judge me. haha.

She seemed to be having fun, splashing around with her legs. 

She seemed to be getting a little irritated by the bugs - which are horrible here - and by the sun. We had to do this early since it gets so hot here. By the afternoon, it's so hot that our dogs don't like to go outside. Being outside feels, I imagine, the way a lobster feels as he's placed into a stock pot. Hot and humid. Bleck.


Anyway, we came in.

Derek changed her out of her wet suit while I changed. Then, she ate and is now chilling in her swing. I think she had fun. She's still a little confused by it, but I think it will be perfect in October or so when the temperature is reasonable and she's a little more independent. I really don't want to take her to our community pool since it's full of chemicals. I worry they'd get in her mouth or irritate her skin.

Anyway, I think she looks adorable in her swimsuit! She's a natural beauty :) 

More on Nannies... and online classes!

So, let me start with the good news: I'm going to be teaching FOUR online classes! Yes, you heard it here, folks! No going in or driving to Beaufort or any of that stuff (not that it would've been hard). I'm so happy. So, I'll be doing my TAing for Ashford University - which I'm already doing - and that makes 1 class every four weeks. Classes at Ashford are 5 weeks long, and they always overlap by 1 week for the TA since there are never assignments due in week 1. Then, I'll have two classes that start on August 18th for TCL and then two more classes that start in October. Those two are for accelerated semester classes, so they're only 8 weeks long. I am SO excited. Best part: I get to teach 2 ENG 102 classes. ENG 102 is Composition and Literature. Yay!


Now, I did interview the girl I'm most interested in for the nanny position today. Since I'll be doing five classes at once, I knew I'd need an extra set of hands so I can get my grading done. Derek and I decided that we'll have the nanny come for about 2-3 hours one day a week, maybe two if things get hectic, just to watch Stella while I grade in our office. I'll be in the house with her, so I'll hear everything going on and I won't have to worry about anyone stealing her (thanks, Mom :/). 


As for the nanny, she seems super. Her name is Kaylie, and she's new to Bluffton. She just got married last month, and her husband is a pastor in the area. She has six years of experience, and she seemed really nice. She knows CPR, and her references have been fantastic. I really like her, and I think she'll be a good fit. I just hope I didn't weird her out. I was talking about cloth diapers and being environmentally friendly, and then, she asked where my husband works, and I said SCAD. After I left, I thought, "I bet she thinks we're total hippies." I was talking about how I like to let Stella make her own schedule and if she wants to be in a sleeper all day then that's cool with me. Oh well. Hopefully, I didn't scare her away. I'm sure she'll shit when she sees that Derek is covered in tattoos. 


She's really nice, and I hope that she'll accept the position when I offer it to her tomorrow. I really think it will work out well since I won't be worried about Stella and I'll be home with her. 


I spent some of this afternoon - between grading - setting up my office space. It had always been the hub for bullshit and coupons and random crap. I wanted to make it more "workable" and feel a little more like an office. I also moved Stella's swing next to my chair so I can have her right next to me when I'm grading. 


Overall, I'm thrilled with how things are turning out. I feel so blessed to be given the ability to be home with our girl. I would have really missed her if I had gone back to work full-time. Well, I better run. Derek is due home from work any second now, and I need to go throw the frozen pizza in the oven. Oh, how I slave over dinner... haha. 

Father's Day, Ikea, and Nannies... a quick update

Well, I only have a quick second for a posting. I still have a lot to do. Derek and I haven't totally unpacked from being out of town all weekend, and we have some new Ikea stuff to put away. I just finished grading, and I wanted to take a second to share some photos from our weekend in ATL.

Derek took this one when she woke up from her nap. We took her pack and play for her to sleep in. It worked out really well. 

Stella and Derek as we were getting packed up. 

In the elevator on the way out. I wanted to get a good "Father's Day" shot of them. I put that onesie on her - it says "I <3 Daddy" - but she wouldn't move her little pig arm. 

I hope Derek had a good Father's Day. I made his favorite dinner - pear and gorgonzola pizza - and I baked a chocolate cake since he LOVES chocolate. We just chilled and enjoyed spending time with Stella while she was in a good mood. We played some music for her to keep her happy:

Stella and Derek "dancing" to Miles Davis. Stella pooped out at this point, but it was cute to see Derek bouncing and swinging around with her :)

Anyway, all is well. I went and cleaned out my desk at SCAD today, and that made me really sad. I think it's always sad when you make a big transition in your life. I still need to pick up my books from TCL, and I caved and emailed Dr. Fletcher (our Dean) to see if she'd let me just teach the two online classes. I'm still waiting to hear back from her.

I interview a nanny tomorrow at 11am, and I'm still working on the backup. I found a great one from Hilton Head who has 10 years of experience. I think she'd be perfect, too. I may interview her on Friday. I think this nanny search will turn out to be good even if I don't teach classes regularly. We could use this person as a sitter for a movie night or something. We'll see what Dr. Fletcher says...

Well, I better run. Lots to do while the pig sleeps.