4 Months Old

    Payton Joy is 4 Months Old! I can't believe how time has flown! She is 15 lbs 6 oz (75th percentile) and 25 in. long (50th percentile). She wears size 3-6 Month clothes, size 2 diapers, and size 1 shoes. At daycare, She drinks 6-7 oz every 4 hours. At home, she nurses for 10-15 minutes every 3 hours. We introduced formula for the first time shortly after she turned 3 months. I am not considering weaning her and don't have any plans to switch to formula anytime soon, but it made things a lot easier to have the option every now and again if necessary. For example, I keep an emergency formula stash in her daycare bag in case she goes through the milk I've pumped for her more quickly than usual and gets hungry again before I'm able to pick her up. They have needed it once or twice and that gives me peace of mind that she won't go hungry.  Right now, we are going through the 4 month sleep regression, so she wakes every 2-3 hours to nurse during the night, but she only nurses about 5 minutes and falls right back to sleep. We had started having her sleep in her crib at night until she got croup, then we put her back in our room. Lately between the sleep regression and the sickness, she's been sleeping in bed with me more than usual, which I don't mind the extra snuggles one bit!

      She is getting so strong! She can sit up on her own for about 3 seconds before she starts to lean and fall over. She's finally got the hang of tummy time and will play on her tummy for 30 minutes or more at a time. She loves to sit and stand and jump in all her different activity toys. At school, she likes to spend time in their walker, but she can't make it go very far. She also loves to sit in their bumbo and watch the other kids play. She is ALWAYS smiling and laughing. She will just start giggling for no apparent reason. We definitely gave her the right middle name!! She is such a happy baby. She brings so much joy to our lives.

     I can't believe how big she's getting and how much she's doing. I wish time would slow down, but since I know it won't, I cherish every moment I spend with this sweet girl. I give her lots of hugs and kisses and cuddles, and I definitely am in NO rush to have her grow up! I don't even mind getting up with her at night, because to me, that makes it feel like she's still a newborn, and it gives me a few extra minutes each night to spend just enjoying her.

So Much for a "Normal" Week: A Scary Night

      Well we were back into routine for one day, before things got crazy, but such is life, especially life as a parent of young children. Yesterday was a pretty good day, it was a typical Monday, I scrambled to get ready on time, dropped the girls off at daycare, and headed to work. Had a great day with my kiddos at school, Ryan picked up the girls and we were all home together by 5. Then it was time for Payton to eat, and she wouldn't. She was crying like she was hungry, but she would latch on for maybe 5 seconds at a time then pull back like she was in pain. I though maybe she was gassy, so I gave her gas drops and then put her in the bath, trying to give her tummy time to settle before attempting to feed her again. When she got out of the bath, she became hysterical for no apparent reason. She began making an awful "honking" sound, kinda like a goose, and we worried that she couldn't breathe. She kept making the sound, then started gasping for breath, she got purple in the face, blue around her lips, then she stopped. She stopped struggling, stop making noise, and went completely still in my arms; she was exhausted. I panicked and moved her postion, and she startled and went back to crying/"honking." I  immediately put her in her carseat, we put the girls in the car, and to the ER we went.

    By the time we got there, she had fallen asleep and was no longer making the sound. Her color had returned to normal, and other than a raspy wheezing sound when she slept, she seemed okay. But I knew something was wrong, and I was scared she was going to start up again and my worst fear was that she would stop breathing. We knew that ER visits could take a while, so Brandon offered to come get Rylee and take her home so she could sleep in her bed. That was amazing because Rylee was happy, and we could focus on helping Payton get better. As soon as Brandon got there, we were called back, we kissed Rylee goodnight and went to see about Payton. The nurse in triage took her vitals and  her blood pressure and oxygen levels were normal, but since she had become discolored at home, we were told she probably was low on oxygen at one point, and it was able to get back up to the normal levels once she calmed. We still didn't know what had happened, and I was scared they were going to send us home without any explanation since she wasn't doing anything at that point. We were sent back out into the waiting room, and she started "honking" again, but because we were in the ER, and I didn't feel as helpless, I realized what it was: she was coughing, not a typical little cough, a big, bad, croup cough.

    We were taken back to see the dr, and she immediately confirmed just by hearing her cough that she had croup. They wanted to do more tests to be sure nothing else was going on, too, so she ordered chest x-rays, a soft tissue throat x-ray, bloodwork, and an rsv screening. Her white blood count was a little elevated, and there was a small amount of swelling in her throat, but everything else was clear. They gave her a steroid shot to help her fight off the cough and reduce the swelling in her throat, and instructed us to take her outside into cool air if she began another coughing fit. This would keep her from becoming short of breath again. We were also instructed to have her sleep in our room so we could hear if she had a coughing fit or began having difficulty breathing, and were told to definitely not send her to daycare until she no longer had the croup cough, and finally we were able to go home.

     She was so worn out, she slept soundly last night. I kept waking to check on her, but she was fine. She coughed a little, but not a ton, and was able to get rest. This morning, she seems a bit better, very lethargic and tired, but not coughing a ton, and not crying. The crazy thing is she didn't have any symptoms before last night, her Daycare teacher said she was fine all day, I hadn't noticed anything that morning or anything. It hit her very suddenly, and that's what had us so freaked out. She also never ran fever, so I didn't think about a virus like croup. I'm glad she's okay, and I'm so thankful for my sweet baby girl. Rylee has never been to the ER, and was never sick as an infant. She got her first bad stomach virus just after she turned 1, and got her first bad cold that developed into bronchitis, when she was 18 months, but she was never, ever sick as a little baby. It was terrifying seeing Payton so miserable, and I'm so glad she seems to be on the mend.

[Trying to get] Back in the Swing of Things

    We had a blast celebrating the holidays with those we love the most over our Christmas break, but this week it was time to go back to school, or at least that was the plan. However we had record low temperatures on Monday and Tuesday, so they postponed our Teacher inservice to Tuesday, so that students wold not have to be out in the single digit temperatures waiting on the busses early Tuesday morning. And what joy it was to go to teacher inservice on Tuesday only to find our boiler had gone out and we had no heat! It was a long cold day, but they got the heat back working and we had our first day back with students on Wednesday. Then Wednesday night we got some ice that made the roads too hazardous to risk having the busses run, so we were out of school on Thursday. Friday we were back in school, but it was really hard to maintain any sort of routine this week.

     The weather has been super bipolar. We go from ice, to temps in the 50's and back to ice all in the same week. It's insane. But with all the cold weather we've been having, we've been spending most of our time indoors. Luckily the girls have lots of Christmas gifts to enjoy inside. Rylee has been super into drawing and painting lately. I like seeing this more creative side to her.

       On Thursday, I spent most of my day "off" working on report cards and lesson plans, but I did take some time out of my morning to work with Rylee. She has gotten pretty good at writing her name, but Thursday was the first time I ever had her attempt her last name. I'd say she rocked it for it only being her first time! I am so impressed at how far her motor skills have come. Her gross and fine motor skills have always lagged behind her peers, but lately she's caught up and even surpassed her peers in some areas. I can't believe my baby can write!

       Speaking of motor skills, Payton sure isn't behind by any means. She's started jumping in her exersaucer, grasping toys and bringing them to her mouth, trying to hold her bottle, rolling over both ways with ease, and scooting when she's on her belly. She's also super alert and observant. She loves to babble and coo and "talk" to everyone and everything around her.

        We are well-rested after our break, and I can honestly say, I hope for NO snow days this week. I am READY to get back into routine with my sweet students, and for my precious girls to get back into their routines. We discussed in Sunday school today how God is a God of order and her created the Earth in a certain order, and that is why we long for schedules and routines. That is definitely true for me, my family, and my students.  We are also trying to get back into routine of going to Sunday school on Sunday mornings and getting to church on Wednesday nights. Ever since we had Payton, we've only been making the Sunday worship service, and I've really felt it lately. It's amazing how if you draw nearer to God, He draws nearer to you, and it feels like a drastic change if you start missing any time with him. I definitely don't want to miss out. It's hard when you get caught up in the day to day things of having small children to care for, and work, and a marriage to tend to, but my relationship with God has got to take priority or else everything else suffers! I am definitely determined to do better and draw nearer everyday. We are doing a new series, Reading God's Story, at Mary's Chapel. It is the Bible laid out in chronological order. It has really been helping me shift my focus and things already feel so much better. I'm excited to see what blessings it brings throughout 2014.