Nearly 10 Months!

Hello everyone! Its been forever so I thought I'd better update this little blog!

Of course first on the list is baby girl. Who is nearly 10 months now! She is growing so fast. She is crawling a little bit now, and pulling up to her knees on the side of her pack and play and just this morning she did it on her crib for the first time. A bit alarming for me when I turned her monitor screen back on and saw that! Lol, time to lower the matress! She can also sit up from her knees and get on her bottom, and vice versa. She is clapping and waving now, and also does this funny clucking thing with her tounge. She also started laying her head over on your shoulder when someone talks to her like she is being shy, lol. Its pretty cute.

Her hemangioma looks really good. Getting lighter and lighter. Her doctor thought it was basically gone. So we go back in another month and she will probably be tapering her meds till she is off it. Then we will watch it to see if it comes back.

Shes eating well, loves anything we give her off our plates. Fries, bread, refried beans, rib bones, oatmeal, eggs, etc. STILL not drinking out of anything though. Sigh. I tried another sippe last night with no luck. But she will drink out of OUR cups all day long! I swear this child is too smart for her own good!

We went to the beach with her for the first time this past weekend. SO FUN! Although she wasn't impressed. She was really excited and happy right up until the wave got her feet and then she was done, lol! She didnt like the sand either! So we are hoping next year she will like it a lot more, :).

Anyway, not much else going on. Just going on with life. We did get rid of our F150 and bought an Explorer. Which I am LOVING! It has so much room and also a 3rd row so we can seat 7 in there. And we got a smokin deal on it. Its also black! :D Here it is:

We have been trying to get the house fixed a bit. Put some new blinds on the windows, planted some flowers, etc. I've got SO MANY other things I'd like to do but NO MONEY. Gas and food prices are just rediculous right now. We are glad to be out from under that 14,000 truck though. We have 8 to pay off now, between my explorer and Lees truck. That is our only debt save our house. So we get that done we can start on 3-6 months of living expenses (in case a emergency happens, Lee loses his job, etc.). Then we are supposed to put 15% of our income into Roth IRAs and such. Then we pay off the house earlier and save for Chlos college. YEAH! I can't wait. So we have to get serious about losing that 8k and building up our money for expenses. So if your wondering this is following Dave Ramseys plan. Check him out here! Dave Ramsey

Well Chloe is awake! She sleeps in the carseat for a few hours almost every morning, lol. Its so loud in here its almost impossible to get her to stay asleep more then 30 minutes. So our plan for the rest of the day is letting her play for awhile, shes in her pack and play now playing with my sunglasses, lol, and her car driving toy. Oh, now she has a spoon, haha. Then we will go get lunch at 12, come back and let her play some more. Then about 1 or so I will feed her. Then from there on its just swapping her from one thing to the other to keep her happy until time to go home! She might take another nap in there somewhere. Usually around 2 or 3. The fun part is getting her to TAKE it. She wont just lay down and go to sleep, lol. And now that she can sit up, she wont stay where you put her either! Speaking of, there she goes trying to go over the side of the pack and play, lol. Shes up on her knees holding on the edge.

Well thats about all thats going on. Here are a few pics of my girl!

 

Hello Spring!

Hey guys! Yup, really is me, geesh I am terrible at this blogging thing now! But I'm getting so excited about how warm its getting here. And the trees are blooming, the grass is coming in, YES!

So anyway, gosh where to start?? Chloe is 7 months and 2 weeks now! She is such a little person now. And man has she got a personality! She is going to be a firecracker, man I'm already praying for her daddy and I when she hits the terrible 2's, lol. Its going to be bad. She got my temper and impatience unfortunately. Sigh. I knew this was going to happen!! Lol, anyway, she is a sweet baby too. I love her smiles and laughs. Adorable. I can't wait until she starts giving kisses and talking, etc.

So right now she sits up very well, starting to reach for me. She is good a picking up her toys and loves to 'shake' them now to see what they do. She is eating baby food well, although we like our fruits much better then our veggies. Though we do love sweet potatoes, hehe. She STILL is breastfeeding. We never did get her on a bottle. She doesn't even like a sippee cup. She likes OUR cups though, lol. She will need breastmilk until her first year and then you can start with cow milk and most foods we eat now. Just cut really small etc.

She loves playing with her daddy and her favorite toys are a big plastic saftey pin with a ribbon on it, her bee, and anything with a big tag on it that she can suck, lol! She is doing very well at nights. She wakes up around 5 or 5:30 to eat after going to bed at 9 or 10. Then I put her back down till around 8 or 9. She has been sleeping in her room in her crib since 6 months. We got one of those baby monitors with a video screen, it is SUCH nice security for me to be able to see her as well as hear her.

She sat on her first horse the other day! Hehe, I cannot wait to teach her to ride! And swim, and tons of other things.

She isnt crawling yet, but trying to get her knees under her a bit. She can scoot around on her belly and roll very well though! I put her on her hands and knees last night and she held her knees under her for a few seconds, hehe.

So! Those are the good things. Bad things, hm, the worst would be her refusal to be away from me. And not letting anyone but Lee or I hold her. Sigh. We have had TWO nights by ourselves for a few hours since she has been born. My mom took care of her and she basically cries hersefl to sleep and I get her up to take her home later. She won't stay in the nursery at church so that means I am distracted the whole service and usually one of us ends up getting up to go out with her because she wont sit still that long. Even with 100+ toys, lol.

She also has a very short span of contentedness. She is happy for a few minutes with one toy, but then its time for something new! She will go through 5 toys in a matter of minutes. Thats a little tiring for mommy! She also does not like to entertain herself for very long. So I don't get a whole lot done around the house unless she is asleep. And even then I have to be quiet so that is difficult.

But that is the joys of children! I love my baby girl and wouldn't trade her for the world. We are at work right now and she is sleeping in her pack n play behind me. She will prolly sleep for another 30 mintues and then it will almost be time to go home! Yeah! The inlaws just got back from a nearly 3 week vacation to OK, so we will probably go and visit them after work. We went with them to AK for a funeral but came back after 3 days. Lee and I can't be away from work longer then that.

We are going on a vacation next weekend though to Tennessee! A couple in our church small group is getting married in Pigeon Forge so we are renting a cabin for 2 nights and making a mini vacation out of it. Lee and I haven't been on one in YEARS! Hopefully we will have fun. Chloe did really well on her first road trip to AK, like 10 HOURS of riding in one day to there and back. She slept most of the way thank God. This will be like a 5 hour trip so that will be cake! Luke (my bro and sis in laws baby, they are coming as well) hasn't been on a trip yet, but he is so laid back, as long as he is fed, lol, that I'm sure he won't be a problem.

So not much else going on! I rode Tuff for the first time the other day! Its on my horse blog here. Haven't worked him again since, no time! Or its raining. He is also a little low on weight from the winter so we are working on getting him plumped back up. Thankfully the grass is coming in!

I guess thats all for now! I'll leave you with some recent pics of my Chloe girl. Ta ta!

Still Alive and Well!

I will hopefully have time to make a new blog soon, for now I just posted a entry that I never published 2 months ago right under this one, so that is all I have for now! Chloe of course decided to wake up from her nap as soon as I was about to post a more recent one! Oh well, I'll do my best to get one up asap! If I don't talk to ya before, Merry CHRISTmas!

Where Did Two Months Go??

Hi everyone! Sorry its been so long since I posted, I can't ever seem to find the time. When I have a free moment I always have something else to fill it up with.

Anyway, today my baby girl is 2 months old! She has her 2 month check-up tomorrow morning. I love finding out how much she weighs and has grown.

So anyway, she is doing well! She only wakes up once during the night to eat usually, and then once early in the morning. If I'm getting up for work at 8 I usually feed her when she wakes up at 6 or 7 and just leave her in bed with me. Or I get her up when she starts fussing and when I lay her next to me she will just go back to sleep, lol. I guess she gets tired of being in her bassinet next to the bed by herself and wants to snuggle!

She still is eating every 2 hours if she is awake, otherwise she will sleep for up to 4 hours sometimes. Usually for an hour or two. Still breastfeeding! Yeah! It was rough the first two weeks, SO SORE, but after that it got a lot better. The only problem with feeding we are having is she will NOT take a bottle. No matter how hungry she is! We thought we had her a few weeks ago, she took one that morning from me and one from Lee that night. But then a week later we tried again and she totally refused it. As well as the other 2 times I've tried since. UGH!! Its so frustrating! She will chew on the nipple in the beginning and then just start screaming. Won't even try to suck on it. SIGH. I love breastfeeding her, don't get me wrong, but the husband and I are going to want to get out sometimes for more then two hours, and that will not work if she won't drink from a bottle! Also if something ever happened to me, God forbid, even just something as minor as being in the hospital, what is she going to do? So, we are still working on that, stubborn thing! ;)

Anyway, I'm so in love with her, I'm so glad I get to take her to work with me. I started back at about 5 or 6 weeks post partum. She does really well! I feed her right before I leave home and she will usually fall asleep in the car and then sleep a bit after we get here, then play with me a little (she is smiling so big now! I think a laugh is not too far away either) then she usually wants to eat again or nap. Then we just rinse and repeat. Some days I only have to feed her once before we go home, which I like. It makes me nervous feeding her here, even though I have a cover and all. Its just you know it would make the other person uncomfortable to know what your doing, haha, you know? Thats another reason I want to get her on bottles so I can feed her those in the day at work, and maybe pump once, then feed her regular at home.

So here are a few updated pics of my girlie!

This is her just yesterday laying on the floor at work :)


Here we are out hiking with her for the first time, she loved it!

Well thats all for now!

She's HERE!

Sorry I haven't blogged before! Little miss Chloe Leeann Mickle made her appearance Thursday August 5th at 11:50 in the afternoon. She was 7lbs and 8 oz, 21 inches long! Perfect size! I'm so in love, we both are. Although I aint gonna lie, its hard, especially when she won't stop crying for no reason or won't go to SLEEP or my nipples feel like they are going to crack open when she eats! Lol, but so worth it!!

I don't have much time to write right now, she has been sleeping for quite a while and is starting to get restless so I will write about the birth later, time for her to fill her little tummy again. She is quite the little piglet! Lets just say the labor was basically a BREEZE and I almost made a record at the hospital with how fast I had her. I went from 6 centimeters to 10 and ready to push in less then an hour. THATS UNHEARD OF for a first time mom! I pushed a total of 6 times (most first timers push for at LEAST an hour) loved all my nurses, the epidural was GREAT, the IV SUCKED, and thats about all for now. Anywho, here are a few pictures!

The night we went in to be induced!
Just born!

Proud daddy :D
Tired, swollen, but happy!!

T-minus 3 Days!

Hey all, sorry its been awhile. Haven't had a whole lot to report on! Still pregnant, still hot, swollen, and just BIG. But I see the light at the end of the tunnel! Won't be long at all now!

So my appointments have been going well. Two weeks ago I had my first 'examination' appointment. Which means you get to have your doctor dig her hand up to her elbow in you to see if you have dilated/effaced etc. (FYI: dilation is when your cervix starts opening, effacement is when it starts thinning, both need to happen to pop a kid out!)

Well at nearly 37 weeks I was not expecting to be either one, and I wasn't. But the next week I started thinking maybe I might be at least 1 cm dilated, but nope, nada. And I had even been walking a lot and accosting the husband, haha, if you know what I mean. Which are both mostly just old wives tales about getting labor/dilation started, but hey, doesn't hurt, right? Although you really need some sort of contractions to get dilation going, and I had had NONE.

Anyway, that was last Thursday. So the doctor then told me (after she dug up to her ARMPIT in there, lol, which it doesn't hurt, just uncomfy) that she wanted to do an ultrasound next week (this Friday) to make sure that the fluid levels are still good in the babies sack and that her size is good, etc. She then said if I have not done anything by 41 weeks we will 'make a plan' about inducing labor I'm assuming. Which I'd really rather avoid. But I also want what is best for little girl.

The thing is my OB is on vacation all this week. Yeah for her, boo for me! So I have to see a doctor I've never met before Friday after my ultrasound, who could possibly be making a very important decision for me. If the fluid levels dont look good or something, she could possibly recommend me to be induced that weekend. Without my doctor! :/ Which I have heard REALLY good things about this doctor, she is very sought after. My sister in law really likes her...but still, its kind of nerve wracking.

So anyway, lets go back to last night. Well actually even the afternoon before. Monday afternoon the hubby and I went to wal mart to get a few things and I started feeling sort of 'weird'. That whole afternoon I was having the 'weird' feeling, and then was fine that night and the next morning.

Then yesterday afternoon/evening I started feeling that 'weird' feeling again off and on. I don't even really know how to describe it...I've been feeling sort of crampy last two days, and then I will get really short of breath and my belly feels tight...I'm assuming these are some sort of contractions. Yeah! But I really don't know...its not what I thought one would feel like, you know?

Anway, last night we went to bed about 11 or 11:30 (were down in b'ham to see the husbands bro who is in the hospital) and I woke up not long after that with that crampy, mostly just uncomfortable feeling. I kept turning on one side and then the other and it wouldn't help. Could NOT sleep. So finally I got up and got a tums for the heartburn I felt coming on and walked around the kitchen/living room a bit. I was wondering if it was ever going to progress into something more, but it didn't. So I went back to bed and tossed and turned for another hour or so and finally went off to sleep. Was okay after that! Well other then going to the bathroom every hour like normal, lol.

So I'm kind of excited! This is progress! I bet they will tell me I have done something Friday, might not be much, but it will be heartening to hear. To know that I'm not some freak that can't dilate on her own. I have my ultrasound at 1 and then an appointment at 1:30. Lee Lee is going to take off work early to come, yeah! He hasn't been to the last 3 or so of my appointments, mostly just because there really is no need for him to take off work for routine stuff. But we get to see her again this time! :D

In other news! I've pretty much got everything ready for her! All is washed and set up. I have some things packed for Lee and I for the hospital, and everything is packed and ready for her! I found the cutest diaper bag at wal mart that matches her stroller/car seat SO GOOD. Check it out:

And the nursery is mostly done. I need to hang her name painting and put some more stencils on the wall, but other then that, we are good. I just wish I have had the energy/time to get the rest of the house in order. Sigh. I have 2 freezer meals ready to go, so yeah for that. I have at least one or two more I'd like to get in there...not sure if thats going to happen though. We have been gone every evening almost either painting that house again (little stuff that we had to wait for the floors to be down for) or up at the hospital with his brother. Which is 50 minutes away. Yeah, loving the gas money floating out the window. We have started taking the s10 down there to save on gas, luckily we usually go down in the evening so its not so hot having no AC. I sure hope he can come home soon. He's been up there nearly 2 weeks now, with 1 week before that in our local hospital. Poor guy. :( And I hate that his mom will be torn between me and him if the baby comes soon.

Here are a few pics of the nursery! Click on them to make 'em bigger.


That is her take home outfit, along with the little flower headband hanging on the same hanger. There are also two bees, a dragonfly and a butterfly on that wall, but the wall color is too light to show them up well. :(

This is a cute saying I got from hobby lobby I loved and I stenciled the butterfly next to it. Again, the wall color really is too light for either one, that was a bit disappointing...not sure what to do about it.

I would have taken a picture of the crib but it is totally cluttered with blankets and her wash tub, haha, etc. I need to clear out a space in the closet. for it. Time, energy! I NEED YOU! We have to go paint again this afternoon, yeah. But it shouldn't take real long. Its just will I have energy when I get home to do anything besides get dinner and sit on the couch??

So I mentioned something about getting her car seat inspected the other day at the hospital. Well apparently they don't 'do that there'. Well, fine. Geesh. So we are just going to go with it. It got taken out and hasn't been put back in, so I think I should have the husband reinstall that soon. We have been looking for a truck the last little bit. We've only found one we thought might be pretty good for us, but as soon as we were about to talk to the dealer about it he came over and said he had just sold it. Great!! I was so disappointed. Anyway, Monday I found another one on autotrader that looks promising. Although its a good 3k below any other I've seen for sale just like it...kind of makes me wary, but hey, I will check it out! I called about it and he said they just got it in and it was getting work done on it, so he would call me when it was ready. He thought probably Thursday or Friday. So we will probably go to the hospital down there tomorrow anyway, if its done then, good, if not, I'm sure we will have time Friday to see if after my doctors appointment since he will be off early anyway.
This is it: 2004 F-150 Lariat
Pretty, huh?? Lee thinks its a tad girly looking but I said well, um, 2 girls will be driving it mostly anyway! Haha. There is also another one farther south that seems nice. Might check it out too.
2004 F-150 XLT This one is more moola tho...

Well our pool got a bit neglected and decided to grow green algae, so we haven't been able to swim for a few weeks. We finally got time to shock the crap out of it etc and hopefully it will be ready by the weekend. Gosh those things need a lot of upkeep! I miss swimming!!

So work is going well, we just hired another new guy today, dad has SO much business we are seriously backed up. Which is good but also we don't need to keep stuff too long or people will take it other places! Although around here they keep them WAY longer then we do on a regular basis.

So lets do some belly shots!

38 Weeks!

39 Weeks!

Okay, WAY long post, sorry! I will shut up now, I'll try to update after my appointment Friday. Chloe is almost here!! :D

36 Weeks!

I canNOT believe I made it here already! I am one week away from my baby being considered 'full term'. Which therefore means that as of Sunday she can safely come at ANY TIME. :D I'm getting so excited. I can't wait to see her little face! Whose nose, eyes, mouth she has, what her personality is, how big/long she is, how much/what color her hair is, etc. Did I mention I can't wait?!

Anyway, sorry I haven't posted in awhile. Not really been much to talk about. Same ole' same ole'. Here are a few pics of my 35th week, and then my 36, this week!

36 weeks!

Check out the belly button, ugh! It is getting quite lumpy now, I wouldn't say it has 'popped' but it definitely isn't an innie anymore, haha. I'm also more round now then lumpy, thank goodness. I hated that!

So last Thursday was our doctors appointment that we were supposed to find out if my placenta moved. The one with the fun vaginal ultrasound, remember? Well that was really not that bad. I just took off my pants etc after the nurse left, laid back down with that paper sheet thing, and she came back in and did her thing. First they did a normal ultrasound, that was nice, though I couldn't see a whole lot. It seems like every ultrasound gets more and more fuzzy, our pictures were terrible this time! I can't tell much at all about them. It didn't help that her hand was in her face either, lol.

So after that we were sent back to the waiting room to wait on my doctor appointment. Which took another 2 HOURS of waiting, she was way behind that day. So finally we got in there and the nurse says, "did she tell you she was doing your strep b test today?" NO, I said. Well yippee, I get to take my pants off AGAIN. Lol, there is some kind of bacteria some people have that is totally not a problem for you, but if you deliver with it the baby can get sick, so they need to swab your ahem as well as your butt, YEAH, to test for it. So I got undressed below once again as Lee sat over there laughing at me, lol, and then we anxiously awaited the news of how my placenta looked. I was pretty prepared for her to say it hadn't moved. But she walked in and said "I have great news guys!" And I went OH YEAH. Lee was happy too, although he was all for the c section seeing as then we would know when she was coming and not be surprised! He's not big on surprises, lol.

So anyway, thank God it has moved all the way up where its supposed to be, so all is good! Now its just a waiting game! I hope she comes before my due date rather then AFTER. Right around it is okay too. But a week or two later, NOT FUN.

Although I can't really complain about much. I feel pretty darn good these days. We even went to a big flea market about a hour and a half away Saturday and walked around for a few hours and I was just fine, well except for walking up the hills, lol Lee towed me a bit. My back ache has subsided, it doesn't come every day now. The only thing now is really the heart burn every so often and my feet being swollen every day. I also had to take all my rings off because my fingers were getting too swollen. I was afraid I wouldn't get them off soon. I don't want them on when I deliver anyway. So I went to Belk and got a $10 CZ thats huge, haha, its pretty comical. I didn't want one that big but that was all they had in any size near what I need.

But our pool is great at getting my feet unswollen (is that a word??) and Lee and I have been having lots of fun with it. My bro and his wife came over last night and swam and ate, that was fun. She also helped me fold baby clothes.

That deserves its own paragraph. I had NO IDEA it was going to take that long to wash/fold/put away all her clothes! She has TONS OF THEM! I think I did at least 4 or 5 loads. And baby clothes don't take that much room up, so you know I had a ton in there. I also did some blankets too. She has quite a few! I am set for clothes to at least 6 months I think. Maybe longer if she is smallish, which I think she will be. I'm so glad I bought a dresser for her at kmart the other day. Otherwise I would have no idea where to put all her onesies and socks and hats and pants, etc. I had fun doing it though. Cant wait till I get to put her in them!

We did a lot of work on the nursery this past week, it is almost finished! Just a few more things. I need to put the dragonflies/butterflies on the wall (I bought a stencil to paint them with) and I need to get a shelf and 2 pictures on the walls. Also wash her bedding...then we are done I believe!

I also need to get my hospital bag for me, Lee and Chloe started and set by the door. (squee!!) I need a few things from the store that are VERY embarrassing to buy, I ALMOST bought one of them yesterday but I couldn't make myself do it, lol. Buying a pack of Depends is just not something I want to do! I'll suck it up here soon though, I heard they are the best thing for the heavy bleeding right after delivery for a few days. I also need some heavy duty pads, and some numbing/pain spray for that area...lol. Fun stuff. I was thinking about getting a cute bag, but I'll probably just use a duffel bag of Lee's that has rollers. I also heard to buy some new underwear, granny style, lol, to hold the ice packs/pads they give you at the hospital, makes sense. I'm sure I'll want something comfy.

Heres the list that people came up with on my pregnancy board, to bring. Its huge! (I even took a lot of stuff off it) The first part is stuff I put myself that I definitely don't want to forget:

Chapstick
Gum/candy to suck on
granny undies/boy shorts
boppy
b. pump
nursing bra
book/laptop (Heartland episodes to watch)
phone charger
body pillow
slippers
Depends
overnight Pads
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* Picture I.D.
* Insurance Card
* ALLKIDS paperwork
* Birth Plan
* Glasses
* Toiletries (hair things, travel shampoo/soap things, toothbrush/paste)
* Pads
* Depends
* MP3 player
* Your Own Pillow
* Light Reading
* Nightgown(s)
* Slippers
* Socks
* Bathrobe
* Cell Phone and Charger
* Bras(Nursing or Regular)
* Notepad or Journal
* Pens or Pencils
* Going Home Outfit For Baby(1 newborn size and 1 0-3 month size. Hat and socks.)
* Going Home Outfit for You
* Carseat (Properly installed in car)
* Camera
* Video Camera
* Flip Flops (For the showers)
* Change for Vending Machines
* Dermoplast Pain Relieving Spray
* Laptop/power cord
* Change of Clothes for Lee
* Snacks/drinks for Lee and I
* Baby Memory Book(For foot/hand prints)
* List of phone numbers to contact
* Tuck pads
* Baby Nail Clippers
* Witch Hazel (In Peri Bottle)
* Nursing Pillow (Boppy)
* Lipgloss/Chapstick
* Lansinoh Cream
* Breastfeeding Pads
* Baby lotion/oil
* Hairdryer
* Breast pump(Lactation Consultant Can Help You Learn To Use It)

Phew! That truck is going to be crammed, haha. A lot of that stuff I'll probably leave in the car for 'just in case'. My main essentials are going to be our clothes, toiletries, boppy, pillows, etc. But then if I want/need any of the other stuff its right down in the parking lot, not 35 mins away at home.

Ugh its hot in here! We have a air wall unit and 2 fans and I still get hot. It was cooler last week thank goodness, but this weeks heating up again.

So, remember the car I got not long ago? The cadillac? Yeah, it died. -_- I swear I should have kept my camaro! So thankfully my dad gave us a little S10 he doesn't drive much so Lee is driving that and I am driving his truck. Yeah, ugh. That thing has such stiff suspension, it beats you to death! And its such a pain to park. At least I have air, poor Lee's truck didn't come with it.

We have been going back and forth with whether we should trade his truck in for a four door something or just keep it and pay it the rest of the way off and then get something else...or what. I just hate the thought of 2 years of wasted payments on that thing. We've got it down to $8,500, so still a long way to go, but we financed like 13k I think. But it really is not a vehicle I want to be using a whole lot with a baby. Its going to get old dragging her in and out of that middle seat in the back!

We have the car seat in there right now, I'm going to ask them at my appointment Thurs if they can come out and inspect it so I know it will be okay to take her home in. I definitely dont want to get there and not be able to get her home! Lol.

Well I guess I have yapped enough, until later!