Leaving On a Jet Plane

Grammy and I took Haven on her first plane ride the Tuesday before Easter. She did...okay. I nursed her on the way up and she pulled off for a short wail a couple of times, but overall the takeoff and landing went pretty well. I think that is supposed to be the rough part, but for Haven it was the middle of the flight when she screamed because she was overtired but didn't want to go to sleep. Thankfully, she did finally sleep the last 30-40ish minutes and woke up just as we were pulling up to the gate.

We made it through security without a hitch. Just waiting to board the plane.

So tired...

but never wants to go to sleep.

I was pulling out all my best tricks, but trying to entertain her was not the easiest task. Drinking my water (although I think there was more slobber going into my cup than water coming out) and kicking the seat in front of us (luckily there was just a kid sitting there) were her favorite things.

Mr. Octopus is one of our favorites. We don't go anywhere without him right now.

Sleep Walking

If it's not one thing, it is another with this little princess. We've been taking our walks like this these days because Ms. Thing has decided she hates the Bob:

One day Haven had herself so worked up with no sign of calming down, so Benton decided to run home with her. Dutch and I decided to try to catch up, but we were a block behind and could hear her screaming. At least we know she has some very healthy lungs! I thought surely she would like the Bob without her carseat because she could face forward and see Dutch, but no. She still screamed. I fear the passers by think we've stolen someone's child because why else would she be throwing such a fit? I should probably add that we don't do this as a form of torture for Haven; it's not fun for any of us, but she usually starts out okay and gets progressively worse. We used to think she would cry herself to sleep, but we've now realized she will not and if we attempt the Bob we turn around at the first sign of a fit. I can only hope this too is something she will outgrow because going on walks is one of our family's favorite pastimes and we can't carry her in the Bjorn forever.

As for sleep...it is very broken around here right now. Haven rolled over for the second time in her swaddle, so we came to the sad conclusion that we can no longer swaddle her. The first night was Monday and it started out VERY rough (I went in 4x and Benton 1x from 8ish to 10ish to put her back to sleep), but then she slept all.through.the.night! Until 8AM! We thought, maybe this won't be so bad after all. WRONG! It has been progressively worse every night since then. We've been trying to not pick her up and just give her a paci to try to help her self soothe in preparation for the sleep training, but I'm not sure it is worth the battle at this point because no one is getting enough sleep. The last two nights I've caved and nursed her because I know that is a guarantee to get her back to sleep. I was hoping we could get her to sleep through the night consistently before we make her cry herself to sleep initially. I'm prepared to listen to her cry when we first put her down, but I don't know how I am going to deal with it in the middle of the night. Ugh...this is a phase that I am looking forward to getting past! I know it will be better for everyone in the end, but the road to get there isn't going to be any fun :(

What's Up Doc?

We took Haven for her four month doctor appointment on Monday afternoon. Once again, bad mama forgot her camera :( That was again unfortunate because I have never seen Haven turn the color she did after her shots. It wasn't sad this time...it was actually kind of funny. Who knew a child so young could scream and hold her breath for so long? She turned so red then purple, but was fine once I picked her up. Drama queen! Her stats were different than we expected...

Weight - 13lbs 14oz (50%)

Height - 25in (75%)

Head - 41cm (50%)

She is so chunky, I expected her to be a higher percentage for weight. I know it is too early to tell, but maybe she won't be a shrimp either?! And if you look back at her happy four month chair picture, that naked noggin looks large, no?

We are glad to know she is growing right on track and a healthy little munchkin. Dr. Curtis said we can start foods anytime now, but I think we are going to wait awhile. I'm not in any hurry and I don't think Haven is ready. We are, however, going to start sleep training after we get back from Destin. That should be super fun with our stubborn child!

Random Tidbits

I'm kind of all over the place today with my blogging, so I thought I'd do one post with some things I've left out over the last two weeks.

• I took Haven to the childcare at the gym and they told me she was the hardest baby to get to sleep (she is a definite sleep fighter). The lady told Haven "I have 30 years of experience and you are not going to win this." Haven was asleep when I went to get her.
• Pop and Giddy came to see Haven last weekend. They got to stay with her on Friday while I went to meet Benton for lunch and get a massage :)
• My aunt Dee stayed with Haven on Saturday night and either she is just being nice, or Haven was really good for her. Either way, Haven was asleep when we got home and didn't wake up until 7:15AM!
• Haven slept in her crib for the first night last Thursday. The only person bothered by that was me...but I'm over it :)
• Haven has not screamed in the car the last few trips. Could we have turned a corner? Only time will tell, I guess.
• I've still been squeezing Haven into some of her 0-3 month clothes, but it's really got to stop. They are just so cute I'm not ready to pack them away, but I can't have her looking like a nerd in high-waters.

Perfect Child

This doesn't happen often, but we had one day last week that Haven was the perfect baby! She napped well in the morning, didn't scream in the car, fell asleep on her own quietly at the mall, slept for two hours in her car seat while I had lunch with a friend, easy diaper change, nursing, and getting back in her car seat at the mall, no screaming in the car on the way home and we wrapped it all up with a happy baby photo shoot. She then took a good nap in the evening (which is very rare) which allowed me to make dinner. And to top off the day, Benton and I both got to watch her roll over for the first time on the monitor. If every day was like this, it would be a fantasy land!

Quatro

I took Haven's 4 month chair picture one day late on Sunday the 21st. Watching all those babies in the nursery at church is exhausting. Haven didn't want to nap through lunch, so she had a real attitude when we got home.

Before nap:

After nap:

Lucky

We participated in the annual St. Patty's Day debauchery on Greenville the Saturday before St. Patrick's Day. Given our proximity to Greenville, unless we move out for the weekend we kind of participate by default. However, it was a much different experience this year since we had Haven with us, but probably one of the most fun years. We only had about 8-10 people at our house, so it was very low key and stress free! We just grilled some burgers, drank a few beers, and watched the fools walk by. I'm not sure how many more years we can subject Haven to the ridiculousness, but low key is definitely the way to do it.

It's Carlos :)

I'm a bad mom and this is the only picture I took the whole day and it was with my phone. That's very unfortunate because Haven looked adorable in her St. Patty's green and pink shades.

Two Weeks Notice

Well, it's official...I'm not going back to work...not for good anyway. I talked to my manager last Thursday and let her know I have decided to stay home with Haven. I was super nervous about telling her so I kind of blabbered and told her I would help them out in the interim if they needed me to. (There is only one other recruiter and a coordinator on my team and the other recruiter is pregnant and due April 15, so I feel bad leaving them with the possibility of only having a coordinator for a few weeks.) Unfortunately (or fortunately) she took me up on the offer to help out so I'll be working from home (with Haven) for the next 6-8 weeks. I guess this will give me a taste of what it would be like if I ever go back part-time or do some contract work in the future. And it will allow us to beef up our savings for a few more weeks.

Shortly after we found out I was pregnant, Benton and I started stocking away my salary so that we would have the option for me to stay home. I am not good at making decisions and while my sweet supportive husband would talk to me about it as much as I needed, he said the final decision was ultimately up to me. I wavered and prayed about this decision for months. I wasn't going back, then I was, then I was but only part-time, then I wasn't, and now I kind of am, but only short term. I knew I didn't want to go back to campus recruiting because of the travel and I wasn't sure I wanted to go back at all, but my old boss and very dear friend wanted me to come back and work with her. All the doors just seemed to open so perfectly - she originally thought I wanted full-time, but I wanted part-time and the person she had slated for part-time wanted full-time, the timing was perfect, the position was approved, my mom agreed to help watch Haven three days a week so I was going to work from my parent's house. So I was fairly certain I was going back and was excited about it, but kept praying for God to not make it possible if it wasn't the right thing for me to do. My prayers were answered - He slammed the door on the part-time position.

I haven't ever felt strongly one way or the other - staying home or being a working mom - but I was initially very convicted by the book First Time Mom (by Dr. Kevin Leman). Although I wasn't influenced just by that book, I really think not working is the right decision for our family at this time. I want to be the one Haven spends most of her time with so that I can be her biggest influence, and I think I will be a better wife and mother by staying home. I think it may be hard for me to finally let go of work completely, but I know this is what God has planned for us...for now anyway!

One Year Ago Today...

we found out this precious child was on her way...

Some days are great, some days are bad, but we thank the Lord for her every day!

*I wrote this on 3/8, but was having issues with blogger so it's a few days late.

Jump Around

This is our new favorite toy:

We have to ghetto-rig it a little with a box because shorty can't reach the floor quite yet. But she loves this thing and so do I! She can be up off her little head, she loves to stand and I don't have to hold her up. It's a win for everyone! The only problem is in the last couple of days she has been getting really mad at the cat that hangs above her head. She grabs hold of it and then gets really angry when she can't pull it down to put it in her mouth. I may have to see if I can just take it off altogether because when I turn her the other way to distract her, she turns back around to the dang cat again.

Three Months Old

She's a growing (both out and up) girl. I've been saying for about a month now that I think this is kind of a hard stage because she is awake for longer periods of time, but doesn't really "play" so she is hard to entertain for those awake periods. We sing a lot, talk in the mirror, lay on her tummy time toy, sit in the bumbo...and then do it again. She's still not a huge fan of her swing, but she will sit in it most mornings while I feed Dutch, unload the dishwasher and eat breakfast. She's smiling a lot more and talking, which is so fun to hear.

Petting her rocking horse

Three months old - 2/20/10

Sip and See

Grammy hosted a Sip and See for Haven on Valentine's Day. It was good fun and lots of excellent food. We didn't get a lot of pictures, but here are just a few:

sweet high school friends, Annie Pat and Reagan

Forcums and Judds - lifelong family friends

Bootie cupcakes!

Aunt Amy with Dutch (jealous much?) and Haven

So Much SNOW!

The Thursday before Valentine's day, we got something like 10 inches of snow in Dallas. I was up with Haven between 3-4am on Thursday morning and it was snowing and just never quit. It was awesome! Benton came home from work "early" on Thursday so we could play in it, then was able to work from home on Friday and had Monday off for President's Day. We had a little mini family vacation at home which was so nice!!

Where's Haven?

Oh, there she is!

looking down our street

Our sweet neighbor came over to meet Haven and take a family picture for us.

I love the huge old trees in our neighborhood and they are even better all covered in snow.

We took Haven to dinner at the Porch on Thursday night and she was a perfect date.

The big trees caused quite a bit of damage around us. The tree from across the street split and was in our front yard on Friday morning. I assume that was the loud crash I heard when I was up with Haven at 3am Friday morning.

BFF4E

When we found out Lucius had lymphoma we were sad for all the obvious reasons, but also sad because we knew he would be so great with kids and we were looking forward to experiencing that. We (nor anyone else that knows him) ever felt this way about Dutch and kids. Dutch is sweet, but he is a rotten little dog that doesn't like anyone he doesn't know and HATES little kids. As I have mentioned before, he surprised us with how well he has taken to Haven and he continues to exceed our expectations.

Dutch loves to lick Haven's face and she usually opens her mouth wide for it. While it is sweet, I realize the underlying goal here is to get any leftover milk and/or spit up that he can. Yes, he is a nasty dog. When Haven is napping in her crib Dutch is the first one to hear her on the monitor and he takes off upstairs whining and jumping at her door until I open it, then whining and jumping at her crib until I get her out and she stops fussing. He has actually jumped into her crib a couple of times; I guess he thought I was taking too long to get her out. They have sweetly become best buds and I am so glad! My dad was just sure that he and my mom were going to inherit Dutch after Haven was born.

snuggled up together

bracing herself for some "kisses"

Cribs

Even though Haven is still sleeping in her cradle in our room, we spend a decent amount of time in her room. The crib and mobile serve as a great babysitter post diaper changes so I can wash my hands and while putting away laundry. I wanted to check out what was so fascinating about the mobile, so I jumped in with her for a few minutes and Benton grabbed the camera.

This is for Pop, Giddy, Donna, Tom, and everyone else who doesn't get to hear Haven talk much. You can't see her very well, but she really gets to talking.

Superbowl Sunday

A little Sunday cleanup; I think this was the 2nd time Haven hung out in the sling happily. She doesn't typically like anything that makes my life easier :)

Then we loaded up and drove a few blocks to Will and Leigh's Superbowl party. It was fun to meet some new folks in the neighborhood and eat great food. Haven did pretty well until she got hungry and refused to take her bottle, so she had a pretty good meltdown which was our cue to leave. This marked the beginning of our bottle frustration, which is possibly more frustrating because she used to take it without any problems. (Keeping with the theme mentioned above about making my life easier.)
I took this after we got home, so her eyes are puffy from the meltdown at Will's and subsequent screaming in the car.

I think this is my favorite outfit she has right now. I just don't think it gets any cuter than this!

Daddy Duty

I went to my dear friend Amber's bachelorette party in February, so Benton was on daddy duty for the day and most of the evening.

Haven LOVES her daddy and he is a GREAT one.

I went to run an errand and came back to find them both snoozing.

Doing a little tummy time.

Amber joined the band for some tambourine action.

Amber's night was proof (as if I needed it) of how much my life has changed in the last year. I had 2.5 beers, left to head home a little after midnight, came home so I could get up in the middle of the night to feed Haven, and made it to church the next morning. None of those things would have happened at a pre-Haven bachelorette party! It's definitely a different life, but I really am loving it (almost all the time)!

Just an Ordinary Day

Guest blogging from Haven Caitlynn:

Hanging out in my lamb seat while mom gets ready in the mornings...

Spending some time in my crib. Usually on my tummy for naps, but standing for the picture...

Sitting in the bumbo...

Before I took naps on my tummy, this was a breakthrough moment. I fell asleep on my own! My mom was dancing with joy because just days before this she was in tears because the only way I would sleep was if I was being held.

Hanging in my inner tube-thing...