The verdict....

I love....I feel.....like a 26 year old, young, working mom...

The end is near!

After 9.5 months, I can still throw up at the smell of baby formula.... I have no idea how babies drink it!

I only have to stomach it a little while longer.... one upside to my baby turning 1... we are nearing the end of formula!!

Only 8 more weeks and Leah can start transitioning to whole milk!! (Birthday is in about 10 weeks! OOOMMMMGGGG!)

That means only 168.00 more dollars to be spent in formula....

Next step will be potty training.... I think we have about 75 more week till that one.... darn.....

Totally Brian!

Brian saw this commercial and even commented on how "him" this was....

New developments

It seems Leahs fever and sickness last week may have been made even worse by the two new bottom teeth that appeared this weekend! Uggg!

She has 6 teeth now though and looks sooooo cute when she smiles big enough to see the top 2!

Oh and the greatest development yet.... she started saying mama today!!!! 

swimming, swimming, in a swimming pool...

Today we thought we would take advantage of one of the last weekends of the summer and head to my Aunt and Uncles to go swimming....

Check out Leah in her shades! She loves the water... but it wears her out!
My parents joined us at the pool... Leah hanging out with her grandpa, splashing away

Afterwards we sat around, ate some food, and chatted....Leah LOVES cans! Usually she goes for the beer cans....

I cant wait till future summers when we can stay alittle longer... 1.5 hrs is our max... I always love visiting my aunt and uncle and their pool!

Proof that Leah is a Giant...

Leah is making her own line on the height chart...Not the same on the weight chart... Her doctors chart is a little different bc the doctor says she is more 90th percentile, rather than here that is 75th...
These long legs are definitely the culprit!

The question will be... Will she be taller than her mama at 5'11"?

Running!?!

Remember this post about Leah getting moved to the next room?

This morning when I dropped Leah off and was putting her bottles in the fridge, I could hear the commotion in the Starfish room that Leah will be moving to. (Leah is currently in the Angelfish room, and the rooms are connect by a jack-n-jill type kitchen area.)

Teacher: "You want to race again? One - Two - Three - Go!"
More than 1 child: the sound of them running around the room...

My baby girl can't join that! She can't even walk yet! She is going to be with kids that can run!?!! Leah is going to get ran over!

Goal for the weekend: Walking bootcamp!

She has stood for me a little more lately... yesterday she stood at the backdoor watching her daddy, and let go of the door for a few seconds, and this morning she would stand for me on her changing table while she tried to steal my glasses off my face. I think she can stand when distracted by anything, but the minute she realizes she is standing, its down she goes....

An interesting observation about Leah's daycare/school....

I am possibly the youngest parent there by far! One mom I usually see in the morning who has a baby boy in Leah's class, has to have atleasst 10 years on me... Brian is 30 and he even feels young next to the other parents....

Chopping it off!

Next Tuesday I have an appointment to chop off my hair!

I will be the big 2-6 in a few weeks and I am feeling the need for a new look! Plus its just too long to do in the morning... its too much to blow dry, too much to straighten.... I need less hair!

I always grow my hair out and then chop it all off... here are a few variations from the past...

No bangs... just all one length bob.... I am learning more towards this again.... and PS - this picture really makes me want to go to another Mizzou game... I love tailgaiting! Or we can have some bangs... long bangs of course...

Or do you have a totally different style in mind for me!?!

But she's my baby...

After Brian dropped Leah off this morning he gave me a call....
Brian: "They are going to start to transition Leah into the 1 yr old room. They will start taking her over there for 10 minutes at a time, and then 30 minutes, and then work her way up to all day, with her there fully by the end of next month for sure."
Me: as I start to tear up..."but she's only 9 months!"
Brian: "They said she meets all the requirements to move on."
I know my child is amazing and brilliant and looks like a 1 year old... but I am just not ready for her to move on! I think I can talk all I want about her 1st birthday, but the actual thought of no longer being considered a baby, being a year old, no more infant room, becoming a toddler, makes me so sad!
I just picture the 1 year old room with no highchairs, and sleeping on cots instead of cribs, and drinking out of real cups, and teaching the kids math and how to read, and the real 1 year olds picking on my baby girl!
I know it wont be like this at all... I know she wont really be in a cot until she is 12 months atleast, and Leah might be the bullier since she is so much taller than everyone else... side note, when I picked her up the other day I totally saw her ripping a toy out of a boys hands....
But I am just not ready for by baby to start growing up just yet! She is going to turn one, and then two, and then 10, and 16, and 18, and 21, and graduate from college, and get married, and have her own children.... all in a blink of an eye!
I need to take some advice from Kenny Chesney.... "Dont Blink!"

I CANNOT believe I did that....

I could keep this private and keep it between Brian and I... but I will admit it to all....

This past weekend when we were at the festival, I ordered one of these boards, while Brian's mom was nice enough to pay for it as my birthday present.

When I got home I started to tell Brian about it...

Me: I am getting this board made that will say 'GILMORE established June 25th 2008'"

Brian: June 25th? That's not our anniversary

Me: OHMYGOSH!!!!! I gave them the wrong date!!

I forgot our anniversary!!!

Luckily, I realized I had given her the incorrect date, called and emailed... and got it changed to the 21st!

So yes... I did it first.... not Brian..... if it means anything.... the June 25th is my parents anniversary.... I can atleast remember that!

Fashionista

Leahs new boots from her Aunt Jessica and Grandma...

Grandpa K said she could wear them with her new grey dress.... silly grandpa!  That wouldn't match!

virus-smirus

After being continually on Tyelnol and Mortin since Saturday, Leah still woke up this morning with a 101.9 fever!

I called Brian's parents to make sure it was ok to bring her over, and then I went in her room to rock her...

She just snuggled up to me so sweetly and looked at me like "mommy, just hold me OK." and I just knew I wouldnt be able to leave her. We rocked and then cuddled in bed together for the next 3 hours. Leah would wake up for about 10 minutes, try to play a bit, but just end up cuddling next to me and falling back to sleep. You could just tell she was miserable.

We had a doctors appointment for 11:30. Her fever there was still 101.5, but again nothing else seemed to be wrong. She does have a red little throat with white blisters in the back, but the strep test came back negative. They are going to coulture it to see if it will develop into strep, but if not... she probably just has a bad virus.

I hate hearing the word virus.... it means that she just has to be miserable and wait for it to go away!

When my throat hurts I love to eat ice cream.. so we stopped at Wendys on the way home and shared a frosty. I think it might have done its job because afterwards she actually played for almost an hour.

Hopefully the rest of the evening goes smoothly and tomorrow we will be back to normal! I hate hate hate hate having a sick baby girl!

traumatizing

Last night was rough....



Yesterday morning Leah, me, and my MIL, went to a festival in old town St. Charles... Leah napped in the stroller for only about 20-30 minutes.... the rest of the day her naps were a little off as well. She just couldnt sleep for very long, but was so tired and crabby and cuddly when she was awake. I figured she was just exhausted when she went to bed without a fight at 7:15.



Brian and I watched shutter island, and I headed off to bed a little before 10. I knew that with Leah going down so early, we would be up early...



At 1045 I was awaken by Leah's crying.



I walked into her room and Brian was holding her. He said "She is burning up!"



I sit down in the rocker for Brian to give her to me and I grab the tylenol. As I am holding Leah and trying to give her the tylenol, I notice that she seems to be twitching... twitching as in when you fall asleep for a second and then suddenly wake up, except Leah was not asleep, and she would start crying really hard each time.



I took her temp by the ear... it was 102.9.



Ok... she has had this high of a temp before, but the twitching freaked me out! I called the doctor's exchange, not really knowing what I would be told.



The man on the exchange takes my information, and then asks what is going on...



Me: "She woke up with a fever, 103 in the ear, and she keeps twitching/jerking"

Man: "if she is having a seizure you need to call 9-1-1"

Me: I just lose it.... start bawling!

Man: "Do you think you need to call 9-1-1? Do you think its a seizure!?"

Me: In my head I am thinking... I dont think its serious enough to call 9-1-1, but what if it is? what if I am a horrible mom and something is seriously wrong with my daughter and I do not want to call!? I somehow decide to say "I dont think we need 9-1-1"

Man: "Ok, I will put possible seizure on the message and make sure the next available nurse calls you back"



I take Leah back from Brian where she has stopped twitching and is starting to calm down some...



The nurse calls...



Nurse: "Is the baby concious?"

Me: "yes"

Leah: fussing some...

Nurse: "Is she there with you? Is that her I hear?"

Me: "yes"

Nurse" Tell me what is going on..."

Me: I go thru the story again.. trying to explain the twitches

Nurse: "Was she awake during it all? Was she looking at you or staring more off into space? Is it her whole body? Is she sleepy now?"

Me: "yes, staring off, whole body - yes, and yes - she is finally calming down now and trying to fall back to sleep."

Nurse: "She seems to be better at the moment, but I do think she had a seizure. You need to take her to the hospital emergency room to get looked at. You will probably be released tonight, but we just want to get safe. You are fine to drive her."



I get off the phone, start bawling my eyes out again, and tell Brian we have to take her to the hospital. The drive seemed to take forever... a million things just kept running thru my head!



We arrived at the empty ER and were taken over to the pediatrics area. A million nurses asked us what happened again, they changed Leah into a little grown, and took her temperature again... 102.7. The tyelnol I had given her was not really doing too much... They gave her motrin and told us to wait for the Dr.



Leah's body slowly began to cool down and she began to wake up. She crawled all over, and had her daddy help her open and close the cabinet doors...



The doctor came in, after spying on Leah thru the door and saw her playing away... everything else looked good as well.... just a fever....



As for the seizure, between the ages of 6months to 6 years of age, a seizure with a fever, is the best kind of seizure to have, and are some what common when a high fever strikes... as for Leah's though, he is not 100% that it was a seizure as I was describing it... maybe just waking up in a dellerious state with the fever, wanting to be asleep, but maybe she was jerkying herself awake.



Whatever it was... is just a fever as of last night, but we all know that it can change in an instant... we are to be on the look out for other symptoms... but hopefully none appear and it is simply that.. a high fever.



This morning the fever is gone, but Leah is still seeming a little out of it... crabby, clingy, and tired... hopefully the fever stays away tonight though!

A always on her best behavor

Brian's cousin Luke is currently in St. Louis for work, so we of course had to invite him over for dinner.

Everything was going great, we had a delicous BBQ steak with potatoes, corn on the cob, and corssants... we all ate at the table like a happy family... Leah made her usual mess.

When we were all finish eating dinner, I just knew I needed to take Leah to change her diaper... as I pull her out of her highchair, she flips the top of it, making food fly everywhere.... then, as I rotate her to pick her up, we all see it.... the tremendously messy diaper... up her back, all over her pjs... all over her highchair....

Luke just gave a "Oh my" ... I was terribly embarassed....

Leah went straight into the bath... and Luke was kind of enough to help give her a bath!

This is his impression of the face he made....

Luke handled it all like a champ.... he is totally ready to become a dad!! .... So Luke... JUST ASK HER ALREADY!!!

Omg somemore...

Good thing she's cute!

OMG

Planning part 1 of Leahs 1st birthday bash!

My baby sister is thinking about becoming a pastry chef... I think she is pretty amazing!! I have ordered 36 cupcakes from her for Leahs bday bash and might be adding more! I am one proud big sister!!! What do you think??

We went for shoes and bought a dress instead...

Isn't it adorable?? I picture her wearing it with white tights!! I can't wait for fall!!! Go away hot weather!!

Celebrating Baby Jenna!

Brian's sister Tara is due with Leah's baby cousin Oct 2nd! Last weekend we celebrated the addition of another baby girl to the family and threw her a shower!

She does NOT even look pregnant!! I think she is 35 weeks here too!

Leah playing tug-o-war with Cousin Linda

Great Grandma Gwen (Brian's grandma), Grandma Karen (my mom) and Leah

Loving the presents... OK... since becoming a mom I have the hardest time of taking pictures of anything other than my child...

My mom, me and Leah... and who on earth is the person behind me!?

A picture painted by Kaitlin! Every baby gets one!

It was baby central.... Here is baby Olivia (3.5 months)

Macy and Selene, 7 months old, and 5 days apart!

We love our baby girls! Baby Jenna will be a very welcomed addition!! I can't wait for all the sleepover and play dates that I know we will be having in the future!!

9 months and counting

I love going to Leah's check-ups. I love hearing that she is growing strong and healthy. 21.5 lbs = 90th percentile
30.5 inches >98th percentile and way off the charts
Developmentally = 11 month old

Yep... She's awesome, and amazing, and ABSOLUTELY PERFECT!

Baby room, 9 months in...

All mother's to be think and plan out the most perfect baby room. They are proud to show it off! We think tons about the layout, the organization, the necessities to have the most efficient, yet cute baby room! But what about once the baby comes? ... I am happy to say, Leah's room is pretty much exactly how it was orginally, just with more ....stuff now!

Her bookshelf.... She LOVES to pull the books off the shelf, empty the baskets, try to fit into the bottom cubbies with her toys... yet its VERY useable for mommy! It houses the bibs, the bath stuff, some toys, the accessorites... The top is a must for me as well.... it holds the midnight bottle, and anything I need to put out of Leah's reach!

The toy basket is new... because I never thought she would gain so many toys and I would need somewhere to put them!! She also loves to stand at this one and empty everything out...

The contents of her bed have definitely changed... she sleeps with everything! I used to be the same way... in college I would study in bed, but never actually remove anything from my bed when I went to sleep... you could find pens, pencils, calculators, books... my alarm clock... anything! I might be forcing this habit on Leah...

The closet.... I rarely hang anything... only new things that do not yet fit her.... which all of these are! Her clothes are so little, and we have the drawer space, and no need to worry about anything getting wrinklie... so why bother? The storage boxes you see to the right, slightly hidden, include all of her too small, outgrown clothes that are saved for the possible little sister, that is born in the same season and size.... blah... I should just get rid of them... that is too unlikely!

And the dresser and changing table... changing table is missing the cover because of an incident with the childrens benadryl bottle... they really are NOT child proof! It is in the wash... and to the left is our stash of diapers and wipes... you never want to run out of those!

So see... totally useable and practical!

Trying to join in...

"HHHHHHey Cora!!! Whatcha doing up here!?!?" 'No!? You're just going to lay there?! You dont want to play with me?! That hurts my heart!!"
"Hey guys let me in!!" said Leah and Mommy repeated "No Leah! No!" while taking pictures! :)

And please notice this size difference... These 2 are litter mates... Cora (left) is a petite, fast, smart, sassy thing while Jax (right) the big boy is a big goofy, loving, giant!