BIG Changes

Changing things up a little bit whole bunch. I was having issues with my hotmail account. So I decided to open a gmail account. Totally love it. Problem is, I can't link the gmail account to my current Blogger account. So I have to open a new one. No problem, I just transferred my blogs over and no problem. BUT then I decided to close my Etsy shop and sewing blog. I simply do NOT have enough time to keep that going right now. Jordyn is much more important =D But I still want to post some of my sewing and such, when I do get around to it. So I made a totally new decision. I'm starting over entirely with ONE blog. It'll cover our family stuff AND my sewing stuff. Much easier. It's going to be public, so I can link up with other sewing/crafty blogs. But I don't want all our personal info out there, so it's going to be partially anonymous. My first name, but no first names for Chris and Jordyn, etc. I've still got to get it all set up, but when I do I'll post the link here.

PS - For those of you that have private blogs, could you please invite me to them? anelson726@gmail.com Thank you!

Gallstones, Ocean Shores, and Sleeping through the Night

Whoops! Falling behind a bit! Well a lot has been happening the fast few days.

Last week I had two separate visits to the ER for severe back and stomach pains. Both times the pains lasted about 2 hours, and faded off while I was in the waiting room. The first time, they did a simple urine test for a Kidney infection. That was negative so they just sent me home with pain meds. The second time though I asked for more tests, so they did some blood tests. Something (they never told me what exactly) was higher than normal on the test results, so they did an ultrasound. It turns out.. I have gallstones. Yippee.. (Can you feel the sarcasm here?)

Yesterday I went in for some follow up lab work, and I'm meeting with my Dr. later this week to go over the results. I was told to avoid fatty foods, and so far it has been working. (No more attacks!) So I'm hoping this new diet will work, and I will be able to skip surgery. I am absolutely terrified of 'going under the knife.' We are talking scared-so-bad-you-lose-sleep-at-night-and-get-dizzy-just-thinking-about-it.

I know it's a simple surgery, and one of the fastest recoveries. Everyone keeps telling me to just get the surgery, it'll be easier than being on a special diet for the rest of my life. But I don't care. Surgery is surgery.

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On a much happier note, we went on a little mini vacation last weekend. We drove up to Ocean Shores to visit Chris's grandparents. In his family, there are 4 birthdays within a week or two of Father's Day. So they always do a big get-together for everyone all at once. Jordyn did absolutely fabulous for the drive up there. No complaints at all! We only had to pull over twice for a few minutes for a bottle and diaper change.

The weather there was pretty gloomy all weekend. Lots of misty wet air and cold temperatures. So we spent most of the weekend relaxing in the house. Chris went out with his cousins for some mini golf, basketball, and kayaking at the lake. I spent most of the weekend either napping with Jordyn or reading my book. We did get a tiny bit of good weather on Saturday so we all went out for bumper cars and Go Karts on the slick track. (They spray water on the track to make you slide on the curves). I got some great pictures there. I'll post them later today.

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Jordyn has been doing fabulous. She sleeps all the way through the night now, it's fantastic! I still have to wake up in the middle of the night to pump once, but at least I get to go right back to sleep now =D She usually falls asleep around midnight and wakes up between 8-9. We're also starting to get a bit of a routine going. It's fabulous =D

She is 7 weeks old today, I can't believe it! We took some photos a few weeks ago at Nana's (Jodi's) house for her announcement. I absolutely LOVE how they turned out. I tried posting them on here but Blogger is being dumb. I'll post them later today. I'm saving the best photo for the announcement though, so you'll have to wait to see that one ;-)

Send me an email with your address if you want one! anelson726@gmail.com.

One Month Already!!

I can't believe Jordyn will be one month old tomorrow! It seems like I was in the hospital just yesterday. You guys weren't kidding when you said that you forget all about the delivery after it is over. I would do that over and over again if I had to.

I think one of the things that has surprised me the most about being a Mom, is all the things that I have learned about myself. Want to know what you are capable of? Have a baby. I never realized how tired, loving, patient, exhausted, scared, or angry I could be. Talk about an emotional roller coaster! I think it's my body's way of putting me through a crash course to show how bad it can get, so I will appreciate the good times more.

Chris has been wonderful. He has really taken to being a Daddy. It's very natural for him. He is so comfortable holding her, and he spends a lot of time talking to her when she is awake. She absolutely loves his voice too. When she is fussy at night, Chris will hold her and walk around the house humming or singing to her, and it always calms her down immediately. He is always checking in on us several times a day, and I never have to ask twice for help.

I'm also amazed at how quickly she has grown and developed, and how much she has changed! I thought I would start making a list every month. One of Chris's cousins does this, and I've always thought it was neat. So here we go..

- She loves having her feet rubbed, and stretches her legs out for more.
- Bath time is one of her favorites. She coos and splashes and kicks like crazy.
- She has been picking her head up since she was born, and gets more control of it every day.
- She is happiest in the morning, and will lay there cooing and smiling while you talk to her.
- Occasionally she will laugh in her sleep, and it's the cutest thing ever.
- Half of her newborn clothes are too small for her.
- She has already outgrown all of the newborn diapers.
- She makes tons of noises when she eats, and she always makes it sound like she is really enjoying it.
- She doesn't like being in her car seat when she is awake, but usually falls asleep pretty quick.

The Best Baby Invention Ever!!

Okay, there may be better ones out there.. but this one is definitely at the top of my list!! It's a carrier called The Moby Wrap and I am absolutely in love with it.

 Little Miss Jordyn is having a lot of problems with gas, and it's making her pretty fussy. The only thing that seems to help is when we hold her upright against us. Something about this position makes her happy. I saw this wrap at Target and knew I had to have it. Finally a way to keep her happy, and still be able to do laundry, dishes, or make food. I've been stuck on the couch for so long, I've been going nuts.

It looks pretty complicated, but once I was able to figure it out in a couple minutes. And as soon as I put Jordyn in it, she went right to sleep. She loves it, and I love it. It's super duper comfortable, and completely adjustable. They only had the black one in the store, but I found tons of other cute prints and designs on their website, so I'll definitely be buying another one. ;-)

Our New Life

While Jordyn and Daddy are content on the couch, I figured I would catch up on blogging a little bit.

So far our little angel has been spoiling us. She has been so easy, we couldn't ask for a better baby. The only time she fusses, is if we take too long to get her bottle ready, or if we try to make her sleep when she is awake. We have had a few rough nights here and there, but overall it hasn't been bad at all. She usually sleeps for about 4-5 hours at night, and then quickly falls asleep again after her morning feeding, so we get to go back to sleep for another 2 hours.

Today we decided to try teaching a little bit of 'self soothing.' Instead of immediately picking her up as soon as she fusses, a couple times a day we will leave her there to fuss for a couple minutes. It has been sooo hard for us to let her cry. I would honestly rather go through labor again, than have to listen to her cry. But we both know that she needs to learn how to soothe herself. We're just taking it in baby steps.

Like this evening, she fell asleep and we put her in the cradle upstairs to sleep. She doesn't like the cradle very much, so she started fussing pretty quick. We talked to her while we put laundry away, but we didn't pick her up right away. After a few minutes of mild fussing, she calmed down. We went downstairs and she began crying again, but after a couple minutes she fell asleep. So I know it's working, as hard as it is =D

Well, she is asleep now, so I better take the opportunity to go to bed.