Christmas is Almost Four Months Away.....Really?

As you all know I have to plan everything. I am not a last minute person. In fact these type people drive me INSANE!!!!! Jonell has always waited to the last possible night to do her taxes before the dead line hits every year. God love her it drives me nuts. I don't know why. They aren't my taxes, what do I care? I don't know I  just do. I started doing them for her just to put my mind at rest. Weird I know. But she has her refund now a days before she would have even filed them before. That makes me happy! Again don't know why, not my taxes, not my refund but it just does.

Anyway, back to the point. I always create a Christmas budget several months ahead of time and start tucking cash away. This way when the time comes, Christmas is paid for. Yesterday it hits me Christmas is almost 4 months away and this year we have a youngin. So I decided ok budget time. But y'all what do you get a 10 month old that isn't a complete waste of money???? Me and Santa need to figure this one out. Any suggestions?



Until Next Time

Long Drive with a Youngin

Back during the first of summer Madilyn and I tagged along for a work trop Justin went on to St. Simon's Island in Georgia.

Madilyn was only 3.5 or 4 months at the time and had never been on a log car ride. Well as you can imagine I was a little nervous since we picked a doosie to start her out on. On a good day St. Simon's Island is about a six and a half hour haul. Add an infant who needs to eat every three hours  into the mix and it turns into more of a 8 hour drive.

We woke up around 6:30 on a Sunday morning, packed a few last minute things, fixed Madilyn's bottle, fed her, changed her and were on out way around 7:30. Madilyn slept all the way to Douglasville GA where we decided to stop and eat. Of coarse when we finished it was time for baby girl to eat. We were back on the road for what we thought would be a three hour haul until Madilyn was ready to eat again.

We thought wrong. As we neared Atlanta Madilyn started to turn 10 shades of red due to the surprise she was cooking up for me in her diaper. I knew we needed to start looking for an exit and a good place to pull over to change her. Well when her surprise began oozing out of the legs of her onesie and overflowing in her car seat I knew we needed to find an exit and ANYWHERE to pull over. As you would have it that meant pulling over in the worst possible neighborhood of Atlanta. We pulled into a gas station that had bars on the doors and windows. I was afraid to actually step foot in that place so we changed Madilyn in the car. We used an entire box of wipes!!!! I mean girl had poo, on her, on me, on her daddy, all in her car seat, poo was everywhere!!!

As we vigorously wiped down every service in our back seat we noticed an old black man pulling some hand trucks loaded down with Miller and Coors light. He pulled his beer filled hand tucks out of the parking lot, across the street and out of sight. Odd....... but we just kept on wiping and cleaning. Soon we noticed the old man coming back with his empty hand trucks. Huh....... we began to get the situation under control. As we began to get Madilyn's clothes back on and the dirty wipes thrown away we noticed the man coming back out of the store. This time his hand trucks were loaded down with Colt 45! Once again he pulled his loot out of the parking lot, across the street and out of sight. Y'all I don't know where he was going but let me tell ya he was going to have some fun when he got there....ha!

7 hours later and another poo accident later we found ourselves on St. Simons Island. We didn't get to visit the beach much since Justin was at work every day but we did get to go for about a hour one day....
'

It was extremely hot that day so Madilyn wasn't really digging the beach so we went back to the condo. But I loved staying in with her everyday for a week. It reminded me of my maternity leave days.....ahhhh. Those were the days :)

Fourth of July - Navarre Beach

We went to Navarre Beach Florida this year for the fourth. I was so excited to be headed back to the beach. Although I knew it would be a whole new world with a little one in tow. It was a whole new experience alright but not because of Madilyn. It rained pretty much the. entire. time. we were there!!! I am used to pop up showers at the beach but not a complete 29 mile/hour blowing wind and rain wash out. We did manage to take advantage of the beach our first day there.

 But we thought our time was limited, take a look at the sky....

It had started to look scary so we headed back to get ready for dinner. As you would have guessed as soon as we started getting ready for dinner the sky cleared. So we decided to take some pics while we had break in the weather. Still no sun but no rain at the time either....

I had our outfits all planed out. I was going to wear a navy blue shirt and my white shorts. Justin was going to wear the shirt you see pictured and blue jean shorts and Madilyn was going to wear the jumper she has on in these pics. However my little spitter ate just a little too much and covered my shirt, shorts and her daddy's shorts with spit up!!!! so we had to change but her outfit remained fresh and clean..... go figure :)

Isn't she gorgeous????

The next two days were nothing but rain and scary high winds. (Scary because high winds and a camper are not the best combo). However they did shoot the fireworks anyway. I was super surprised they went on with the show but glad they did. Madilyn loved the bright lights in the sky (even if we had to watch them from the camper window because the cold wind was just too much for her).

Our last day there we decided to drive into Destin, which is about a 20 minutes from Navarre.Well, not that day!!! Due to the rain coupled with it being a holiday weekend we fought crazy traffic for about 2 hours, gave up and turned our selves around! Luckily when we got back to the camper it had FINALLY stopped raining and the wind had died down some. So we were able to walk on the beach....

Our baby girl loves this sling!! She loves to be carried faced out. I remember before Madilyn I would think women who wore thier baby looked ridiculous and now I am one of them. But hey whatever works right?

After our walk we were able to snap some more pics of our precious girl

Again with the feet....

In the middle of our shoot Madilyn spit up yet again.... this pic is right after (i spared you from seeing the during) Call me crazy but I laugh every time I look at this pic.... it is hilarious to me.

We went back to the camper to hang out. Madilyn played on her mat until she wore herself out....

Later she went for a piggy back ride.....or should I say doggie back ride :)

Until Next Time....

Madilyn is Five Months!!!!

Madilyn I don't have your exact stats but I have an estimate. At five months you are around 11.5 or 12 pounds and about 25 inches tall. You started eating cereal two times a day at a little over 4 months old and loved it!!!

Then you tried solid foods one week shy of five months. You loved carrots!

but didn't care for the green beans at all!!!

I kept trying to get you to eat them thinking that after a while you would grow to like them but no you just started to cry every time they touched your lips!!! I even tried mixing them with carrots, your fav and you didn't have that either!

Mommy has been making all of your food so far

You have tried, carrots, green beans, avocado, and green peas. You have liked everything except for the green beans. Next up to the plate is squash. We will see how that goes tomorrow :)


I can not believe how fast you are growing now!!! You are filling out nicely. I love those cheeks of yours so much!!! I must kiss them every minute we are together!

You discovered your feet around 4 and a half months and have developed a love affair with them ever since!!!

As I mentioned before you rolled over a few times at 3 and a half months (from front to back) but stopped and refused to do it again. But at 5 months you picked it back up and I got it on video... yippee

 We are still waiting for you to roll from back to front. You roll to your side and refuse to go any further, even if your nudged ;)

You are just the most beautiful baby I have ever seen!!!

Your one month pictures were taken in a similar outfit so lets compare to see  how much you have grown....

I think you favor your momma!!! Bless your heart :)

4 Months!!!!!

We have not actually been for Madilyn's 4 month checkup. We were supposed to go this past Thursday but just like last month baby girl got sick. So we didn't get shots but we did get stats......

Madilyn at 4 Months you are a whopping 9lbs 14oz and 24 inches long. Which is not to shabby considering that is 1 pound 5 oz and a 2 inch gain from last month.(teeny tinny girl)

You are finally out of newborn clothes and are in 3 month or 0-3 month clothes :).

You eat a complicated 4 ounce bottle every 3 hours.....complicated because its like mixing a stiff drink, 3 ounces of breast milk, one ounce of formula and 1 table spoon of cereal, followed by some gas drops or gripe water because whew baby you have gas problems :).

You sleep through the night but you have been doing this since you were about a month old (I know I know I am blessed). You have rolled over from belly to back 3 times and refuse to do it again. You love to be held up like a big girl and do not appreciate being held like a "baby" unless you are sleepy, hungry or generally don't feel good.

 

 

 

   

 

And you have Momma wrapped around your little finger......

 

 

 

 

Untill next time....

 

Brandi

Worst Week EVER!!! (warning long story)

Y'all last week was notably the worst week of my life..... no doubt. To fill you in I have to start back a week or two......

May 8th I started back to work (huge sigh and eye rolling inserted here). Madilyn did great!!! Both Wednesday and Thursday that week she was a different baby. Less clingy, happy, she even began liking hanging out with her daddy. However I noticed she had a runny nose when I picked her up that day. No biggy I just kept the Selene and the snot sucker close by. However that night she began coughing which concerned me. I decided to call the doctor that Friday since the weekend was approaching and I didn't want to have to take her to the weekend facilities.

Madilyn's pediatrician was out of the office until today actually :). So I had to visit another pediatrician in our area. Anyway he gave her antibiotics and wanted her back the following Tuesday for a check up. That Saturday after getting the antibiotics girl was a brand new baby!!!! Happy Happy Happy.

Tuesday we went for her check up and she was clear as far as what ailed her the previous Friday. However the pediatrician that was not our own ordered an upper GI to confirm our pediatrician's hunch that Madilyn had acid reflux. (She was already on Zantac for it, I think this guy wanted to take her off).  Anyhow we went the next day for the GI. The radiologist simply said "no reflux" and walked out.

Ok now fast forward to the worst day of my life!!!! The following Monday May 20th, I get a phone call from the pediatrician that ordered the GI. They said that Madilyn had a "malrotation of her lower bowel" and it could be potentially serious. Well of coarse the first thing I do is google it. I know  know I shouldn't have but I was confused and just wanted to know what we were dealing with. It isn't the worst thing your child can be diagnosed with but would most likely require surgery and there is a small risk of fatality. Any risk is too much risk and this momma cried all day and all night!!!

They scheduled us for an appointment in Birmingham with a pediatric gastroenterologist the next morning (Tuesday morning) at 9:30. To make a long story a little less long, I will skip some details and say the specialist sent us to have another upper GI and lower bowel follow through done at children's hospital. After being there a good three hours they said Madilyn did not have the Malrotation but indeed have acid reflux. We were sent home with all new meds (which have now given me a whole new set of worries)......

I was so relieved to find out it wasn't as bad as we had thought. However my relief was short lived. Thursday evening I receive a phone call that my maternal grandmother had passed away. She was found in her house by my Aunt. They suspect she had a heart attack sometime that morning. So needless to say our weekend was filled with funeral homes, tears and funeral services.

On top of all this Madilyn's new meds appear to be making things worse. I am now confused and at a loss. I am her mother I am supposed to be able to fix it but I feel like I am just making things worse. Pray for me folks because I am on the edge of insanity.....

3 Months!!!

I cannot believe girl is 3 Months old!!! At 3 months Madilyn weighs 8.96 pounds and is 22 inches long. Yes I know, I know, girl is little!!! It actually concerned me a little, well alot more than it used to now that a doctor seemed concerned last week. Not our doctor but another doctor we had to visit because was out for the majority of the month. 

 

  

 

  

Madilyn is eating/drinking 4 ounces about every three hours. We have now been adding one ounce of formula to 3 ounces breast milk in an attempt to fatten this girl up. This is what the Doc we visited last week advised. I complied against my better judgement. The thought of baby girl not thriving scares me more than not exclusively breast feeding. However, I have told myself when she catches up and begins eating some cereal and other solids I will pull her off the formula.... we shall see.

 

 

She is getting pretty good at holding her head steady for long periods of times. She does good when she wants to. Now will she do things when she doesn't want to????? Um no, girl is stubborn and has her momma's temper ;).

 

 

 

 

 



She will roll from her back to her side and stop. I am super jealous of the babies her age that can do the mini-push up and flip right over with ease. But I try to tell myself that it is not a race and she isn't behind yet. Plus she is still so tiny and just might roll from her back to belly first.

 

 

 

She just discovered she likes this one particular rattle and the first place it goes is in her mouth!!! 

 

 



She started daycare a week and a half ago and it must be hard work because girl is TIRED!!!! She can't even make it through her bath.....

 

 

 

 

 

And because I did not post month one and two, I thought we'd compare....

 





 

 

 

 

And just because I love the face she is making.....