A Year to Remember

2008 will definitely be one of those years that stands out for our family. Let's recap:

January - Ripped out the kid's bathroom and remodeled it.
February - Found out I was pregnant.
March - Stayed sick, sick, sick.
April - Quit both of my jobs so I could focus on being sick. :)
May - Tiled the master bathroom.
June - Tiled the kitchen.
July - Helped organize and attended the big South Family Beach Vacation.
August - Sold the house.
September - Moved to the apartment.
October - Gave birth to Kira. Mike started a new job.
November - Moved to Austin.
December - Tried to settle in. Visited my dad for Christmas.

My goodness, this has been a busy year. No wonder I'm so tired! But our family has been greatly blessed. We are happy to be where we are and to have our newest member. We hope this year has been filled with happiness and good times for you and your family.

Merry Christmas - a few days late...

Christmas is all about the kids, right? So here goes:

Reid is doing well at the new school. He's taking three pre-AP classes which means he's getting high school credit for them. The subject he likes best is math. (Be still my heart.) He's taking Algebra and is doing great. He's also in pre-AP science and social studies. He's planning to go out for track in the spring. It's so funny because this guy we met in our new neighborhood commented on Reid having "a good stride" when Reid was running up the street. He's about the third person to say that to me. I guess Reid got some of Tommy's running genes. Hopefully he'll have a good running coach who can help him develop his apparently natural talent.

Zach seems to be fairly happy at the charter school. They don't have a whole lot of homework, so that makes him happy. He has enjoyed hanging out at Matt's house down the street. Matt is Mike's friend who's lived in Austin for several years. Matt's house is apparently a hang out spot for some of the neighborhood kids, so that has been nice for Zach. And on Matt's birthday cake, they put Zach's name too (Matt's birthday is Dec 13th, Zach's is the 11th).

*Harry Potter 7 Spoiler Alert*
Jacob has had a good time hanging out at home and at the Sudbury school for the past couple of weeks. He has developed a great love of reading in the past few months. He started reading the first Harry Potter book just before school started and now he's on the last book. When he first took the 7th book off the shelf, I witnessed (to my horror) him turn to the back of the book and read some of the last pages. He then told Cole that Harry didn't die. Mike said that his grandma used to read the last page of a book before she started it. Perhaps he got it from her. After he's done with this series, we'll have to find a new one for him. Suggestions are welcome. And he'll start school at the charter school after Christmas break. I'm sure he'll do well there.

Cole is quite spunky these days. He spends a large amount of his time wrestling with Reid. He also spends a lot of time building with Legos. He often comes into my room sporting his latest creation. Ships with lots of firepower seem to be his specialty. :) Overall he seems to be a fairly happy child. Which is all a parent can ask for.

Kira is growing fast. I weighed her at my dad's this past week and she was right at 13lbs. Everyone in the house is in love with her. And she's repaying all of this devotion with lots and lots of smiles and coos. She's really starting to interact with her busy surroundings. And, of course, she's keeping her mother guessing still. She seemed to really be helped by the acidophilus powder that I am giving her. So I thought, "Maybe it was that all along and not the dairy." So I had some milk the other day and she got fussy and a little gassy, but nothing bad... so I thought, "Okay, I'll try it again." This morning I had a bowl of cereal and then I spent the morning dealing with a fussy baby while Mike and the boys were at church. Then when Mike changed her diaper this afternoon there was blood in her poo again. So. I think that clears that up. Good thing she's so darn cute.

And we had a really nice time at my dad's house for the week. Darlene cooked and cooked and cooked while we were there. It is probably the first time in a long time that I've relaxed a little. The kids got lots of nice Christmas presents and we saw lots of fine family. And we were reacquainted with Texas weather. We started the week at 76 degrees, then we had two nights of 15 degree temperatures, then we ended the week with tornado warnings. And leaving my dad's house reminded me of the time I left John and Judy's house after Mike and I were married. There was no sadness because I knew I'd be back soon. :) Nice to be so close to my dad.

Two Whole Months!

Can you believe it? Kira is 2 months old (yesterday).

She is really starting to look like a baby instead of a newborn.

The Baby's Jarro-dophilus seems to be helping her a good bit. She had some trouble yesterday with diaper rash and general fussies. But when she finally nursed and went to sleep at 9pm, she decided that she was tired and slept until 4:30am. I did not complain one bit! Hopefully we can have more nights like that without the pre-screaming.

And we are enjoying our visit with my dad. We went to Shawn's 18th birthday party yesterday. Shawn is my step-sister's son. Seems like only yesterday that I took Reid over to see Shawn when Shawn was four and Reid was a baby.

And the kids are chomping at the bit to open presents. I don't usually put presents out until Chrismtas morning, so they have been deprived of the torture that it is to see presents under the tree for weeks before Christmas. It's kind of fun to see them getting all excited about all of the presents. :)

Losing My Mind

Yesterday was activity night at church. Reid and Zach (who's now in the young men's program) needed to be at church a little early to go on a service project. Since I didn't make dinner, Mike sent me with Reid and Zach and asked me to just stop at Wendy's and get them something they could eat on the way to church. He stayed behind and made some food for Jacob and Cole since they didn't have to be there until a little later.

So I get to Wendy's, drive up to the drive thru, and place my very specific order:

For Reid: A Gourmet Mushroom Swiss Burger Combo with a Vanilla Frosty. Can I have American Cheese instead of Swiss, please? 'No problem.' Thanks.

For Zach: A Baconator Combo with a Chocolate Frosty. (Hey, no modifications... go Zach.)

For Me: A #1 Combo. No onion, no pickles. 'Would you like cheese with that?' Well, yes, I'd LIKE it, but I don't want it on there. (Okay, I didn't say that, but I wanted to.) No. 'What to drink?' Sprite.

'That will be $19.21, please drive to the first window.'

I pull up, then realize that I don't have my purse. How could I not have my purse??? I tell the lady, "I'm soooo sorry. I don't have my purse!" She starts yelling, "CANCEL ORDER! CANCEL ORDER!"

So I pull away... what do I do? I ask the kids if they will starve if they don't eat until after the... "YES!", Zach interrupts.

Then I pause... and realize to my horror... my purse is right there. Right where it always is... why didn't I see it? Why was I so quick to assume it wasn't there?

So now what do I do? I tell the kids that I don't want to bother the Wendy's people any more and that we'll find somewhere else to get food. They fuss a little and I keep saying I don't want to bother the people again.

Then Reid, who likes Wendy's and almost nothing else, and who is a very reasonable and mature kid, says, "Mom. It's okay. Just go back and reorder."

Taken back by his directness and calmness, I obeyed. We parked, went in and I said, "Hi, I just went through the drive thru and cancelled the order because I didn't have my purse... well, it turns out I had it." 'Okay. No problem. Happens all the time.'

Really? Okay. Thanks. And thanks, Reid, for helping your poor mother out. :)

We'll Try Anything

It's not like Kira's fussing is so horrible. She's not screaming bloody murder all the time by any means. But when there's as much to do in a given day as there is in our house, having a high maintenance baby is hard to deal with. And knowing that her tummy hurts her is hard for me to deal with.

On Monday Mike was doing a search on acidophilus for babies and he came across a brand that I hadn't ever bought before (I've been taking some "probiotics", but not giving any directly to Kira). I read about the strain that it contained and figured it was worth a try.

So we're on our second day of this and it's possible that we're seeing some improvements. Yesterday, for the most part, she only cried when she was hungry or tired. She's had fewer bowel movements and her poo is more yellow (well, maybe a yellow green, but definitely less dark).

So maybe it's helping. It certainly doesn't hurt. And in a few days, I'll try some more dairy and see if the good bacteria will help her digest that.

And I'm not worried about her health at all. She's growing and developing normally. She's so cute. If you haven't seen my other blog lately, go to www.dailykira.blogspot.com and take a peak at how cute she is. :)

The Jury's Still Out

So... there's no rash all over her head, so that's a good thing. I ate the cheese pasta Saturday night. Then I had the leftovers from it on Sunday morning. I had about three bites of ice cream on Sunday afternoon and then had a little bit of butter in our dinner last night.

What I have noticed is that she's not sleeping as well. She has been having trouble going back to sleep after eating and this morning she woke up and was instantly screaming her head off.

So, could the sensitivity take time to build back up? Will it just keep getting worse? Or is it just my imagination? I don't know. I think I'll go back off dairy for now. What I know for certain is that a screaming baby is way more stressful for me than a restricted diet. Even if it's only helping in my messed up head.

Testing

So... today I ate some dairy. It's been right around 3 weeks since I had any (well, aside from the accidental chicken nugget). I'm waiting for the rash and general fussiness. If they happen, I'll continue to stay away from dairy. If they don't, I'll eat it in moderation for the next week, then go back to my regular diet.

So, I told one of my friends that I was going to drink a glass of milk and she suggested that I be more creative and maybe have some ice cream. Well... I decided that since I've been starving for the past few weeks, I needed to have some real food. So I chose some of the fresh three cheese tortellinis that you can buy in the refrigerated sections. Yum. They were really good. I did take a spoonful of some ice cream, but I didn't want to overdo.

So I'll keep you posted on her reaction. Given that I'm continuing to lose weight, I'm hoping that this doesn't bother her and I can get back to my cheese and sour cream.

Hallelujah

After weeks of caring for a sweet, but fussy baby, this feels glorious and well earned.

Rain in Fair Austin

We are having a bit of a storm tonight. If I wasn't so busy while it was lightening, I would have gone out on the porch to watch. Summer thunder and lightening storms were always my favorite weather in NC. I loved to sit out on the porch and enjoy mother nature at her finest. I didn't hear any thunder here, though. But it's still raining pretty hard, so maybe I should go out and take a few moments to breathe and relax. Something that has been eluding me for the past week and a half... wait... make that the past year. :)

UPDATE: Three minutes later... must be why I like SUMMER storms. It's freaking freezing out there! Guess I'll have to find my refuge somewhere else.

Or Just Very, Very Tired...

So my last post was a bit weird. I read it again today and thought, "Did I write that?"

I think the lost sleep is finally catching up to me. I haven't been napping much lately and with all the moving and packing and unpacking and having a baby!, I think I've finally developed a good case of the "I'm pooped"s.

What I was trying to say in my last post is that I find myself not handling change very well... and I interpret that as a sign that I'm getting old.

But I think it may have a little more to do with the fact that I'm tired. Really tired.

But, life goes on.

The kids start school tomorrow. Reid is going to the local middle school. Zach and Cole are enrolled at a local charter school, and Jacob is going to go to a start up Sudbury School for the next two weeks until a spot opens up for him at the charter school after the Christmas break. A little complicated, but only for a couple of weeks. Then the three kids will all be in the same school. That should be nice. And a couple of different people in the neighborhood have been surprised that we could get into the charter school. Apparently a lot of people try to get in and don't. So we feel blessed yet again.

So tomorrow I will be home most of the day alone with Kira. I think that may be the first time that will happen since she was born. Hopefully she won't freak out too much.

Oh... and on the allergy front, she's been doing better. That is until last night when I ate two chicken nuggets that Cole had left over from his kid's meal... Kira was up during the night and screamed for a good portion of today. The rash on her face also came back a bit. The nuggets have both egg and milk in them according to Wendy's nutritional information, so I still don't know if it's the milk, eggs, or both. But I think it's safe to say that it's definitely something.

I'm starving most of the time. I can eat a whole meal and still feel hungry. I ate large portions of kielbasa sausage, fried potatoes, and green beans for dinner and was still starving. Then I ate a huge apple that I sliced up and dipped in a massive pile of peanut butter. Nope, still starving. I guess my body wants its dairy fat. Being hungry all the time is really no fun. But it's funner than a baby that screams all day.

Anyway. It's good to be back to the blogging world. I'll have some pictures up of our place and the fam soon.

I'm Old...

Okay.  So here we are in Austin.  I'm struggling with all the new things to adjust to.  I didn't like the grocery store here that I went to last night.  I forgot a couple of things on my list because I was feeling flustered there.

And getting the registrations done for the kids at school caused me much stress.

I think I'm just used to my old places and people and I'm finding it difficult to adjust.

I'm thinking that the exhaustion of the past few months, the fact that I have a 6 week old baby, and just crazy life has made all of this adjustment harder to deal with.

But it's not all bad.  The kids have a couple of neighborhood friends already and one of the kid's in Cole's school classroom is a kid he already met at church on Sunday.

Okay.  Kira is ready for her mom...