Endless days and nights

I'm in a rut deep enough to hang up posters.

Reese is getting fussier every day. This means my days and nights are too long. How can both the days AND the nights be too long you ask? I think anyone who has ever had a fussy baby can tell you it's possible. You have to experience it first hand to relate.


I have spent my morning trying to soothe a baby that shouldn't even be awake yet. He is over tired and pretty angry about it. Unfortunately, he refuses to go back to sleep. So here I sit, posting on our blog while he screams it out for a few minutes in his swing. Hopefully a few minutes of crying will tire him out enough so that when I pick him up again he'll finally go back to sleep.

I better go, he's really lost it now.


Enjoy your day!

Volleyball 9/23/06

Maddie had her second volleyball game this past Saturday, the 23rd. These games were held in St. Clair, which was nice and convenient for us.

Her first set of games was played against Janesville, two 25 point games. Maddie's team lost both of those games. Her second set of games was played against Lake Crystal, two 25 point games and one 15 point game. Her team won the second 25 point game.
So it wasn't a total victory weekend, but the games were a lot of fun for everyone. She only has a few games left, as they are going to be completely done with volleyball in about a month.
So far, volleyball has been really good for her so I would really like to get her involved with another activity once this is done. Her grades seem to be pretty good so far this year, which is partly due to volleyball (we made it clear she can only stay in volleyball as long as she gets good grades).

Other than volleyball, we didn't really get out of the house much this weekend. We all spent time doing things around the house, and got caught up on some laundry. I canned some pasta sauce and organized Reese's bedroom. It's nice to have a weekend to work on little projects sometimes, and not have anywhere to go.
I am actually hoping to get our office re-organized some time this week. We are still "settling in" from the move. Our office and family room were just kind of thrown together when we moved in, and are in need of some adjustments.

I'm not getting anything done sitting in front of the computer, and I have some clean laundry calling me to come fold it. I will check back shortly.

Take care everyone, and enjoy the fall weather!

The going's on around here

I thought I better pop in and post to let everyone know we are still here. I am including two photos that I took of Reese this morning. I was making myself breakfast and when I turned around he was grinning at his toys. Of course, by the time I got the camera out I pretty much missed the moment, but he's still pretty happy in these shots.

Maddie is still enjoying school, as well as volleyball. Her next game will be in St. Clair at 1:00 pm this Saturday.
I really enjoyed the last game we went to, so I'm looking forward to this one as well.

Reese is growing at an alarming rate, outgrowing his size 0-3 month clothes already. He is 7 weeks old today, which means he's a big boy. At his last doctor appointment (one week ago) he weighed 11 pounds, 12 ounces already! This means we have to go buy clothes again.
He is now smiling and "talking" on a regular basis. We get lots of coos and gurgles, and it's very cute! He is a high maintenance baby, but very lovable.
He is still spitting up, but I am trying the "Total Elimination Diet" for two weeks to see if we can put an end to that. If so, I can start re-introducing foods one at a time to find out what is triggering all the vomiting. If I can get the spitting up to stop though, this will all be worth it.

Ben is taking one class this semester, but has to go three days a week. This means he has to go into work an hour earlier those three days in order to take time out during his day to attend class. He is really looking forward to finishing, and who can blame him?

Well, I will try for the fourth time to put Reese down so that I can get something done around here, we'll see if it takes this time.
Take care everyone!

Volleyball results and more

Maddie played two rounds of games on Saturday, each contained three games (two 25 point games and one 15 point game). Her team won both 25 point games but lost the 15 point game in the first round. In the second round the won only one of the 25 point games.
Overall, her team did really well, and we had a lot of fun watching them.

Reese is still growing very fast, but spitting up quite a bit too. Today I am starting a special diet, in hopes of lessening the occurrences. This means I can eat only brown rice, potatoes, yellow/green squash, and free range turkey or lamb. I am also allowed to have olive oil, salt, pepper, and pure cane sugar. I have to follow this diet for two weeks to see if his spitting up stops. If it does, then he has a food allergy/sensitivity. Once the spitting up stops on this diet, I have to start re-introducing foods to my diet to try to figure out what is bothering him. I have a chart so I know what foods to introduce first (which foods are least likely to cause a food allergy). We will see how this goes. If it works, it will be worth all the sacrifices I have had to make (and have yet to make).

My little spitter is fast asleep again, I am going to try once more to put him down so I can get something done around here. So far, he hasn't been tolerant today and we have had a pretty fussy day. Wish me luck.

Maddie's Volleyball Schedule

Please give me a call if you have any questions.

Staying afloat

Well, Reese's one month birthday came and went and we are all still intact.
He isn't really sleeping any better or any worse than before, though there are definitely good nights and bad nights.
I took him to the Pediatrician last week because the constant spitting up was wearing me down to a frazzled, weepy woman. Turns out he has acid reflux, which is really common in newborns. So I have cut dairy completely out of my diet and take a probiotic twice a day.
This has helped quite a bit, I would say about 50% less spitting up - but again, we have good days/nights and bad days/nights. Sometimes he doesn't spit up for hours, other times we go on a binge & purge spree that results in every burp cloth and outfit being soiled within hours (and in me having to feed him every 30 to 60 minutes).
I am going to give it another week, if the spitting up hasn't subsided further I am going to head back to the Pediatrician's office again. Our next step is Zantac for Reese, which is apparently safe and should stop the spitting up. In the mean time, we let him sleep in his carseat (which is sitting safely within the confines of his cradle) last night and it helped minimize the grunting he does all night in his sleep. I think maybe the acid reflux is uncomfortable when he lays flat, which is why he grunts so much. Either way, he was a lot quieter last night - yay!

I actually got his birth announcements assembled today! It's embarrassing how long it has taken me to get them out, but when you have a high maintenance baby things don't always go as planned. I can't blame it all on Reese, finding someone who would print 3.5 x 5 photos for the announcements was no small feat. I didn't realize that size print was now a dinosaur. Live and learn I guess.

Maddie's first day of 6th grade was today. She loves it so far. Volleyball practice starts tonight too, so things are really taking off for her now. Even though she loved school she was happy to get home. She told Reese that she missed him so much. I'm fortunate that my children are this far apart and there is no rivalry.

I got the baby sling I ordered, which means I can "wear" Reese around the house to get things done. I have used it some today, which is how I got the announcements done, and I really like it so far. Because it's new to both of us though, we need to take a break every few hours.

Well, Reese just had a fit because his hair was being pulled (by him of course), so I have my hands full once more. I had better cut this short so I can make dinner too, since we need to head to volleyball practice by 6:00.

Sending everyone our best wishes!
Love,
Janae, Ben, Maddie, & Reese