Sometimes.....Change is a good thing

Change.......not something most of us welcome or enjoy particularly, especially when you are perfectly happy in the place you find yourself.  However change sometimes pushes you to experience things you wouldn't otherwise experience and meet people you might not otherwise have met.

Case in point is Chloe's sitter situation.  I have mentioned Ms. Sam several times on this blog.  She has been Chloe's one and only sitter since she was six weeks old.  We adore her and her family and have really come to have a nice friendship.  When she dropped (and I do mean dropped- without any inkling) that she had made the decision to close her in-home daycare to return to school to pursue her dream of being a nurse, I was devastated.  Sweetness and I have never felt so much peace and confidence in where our child was and who she was with all day.  Although I totally get and understand why she made her decision, I still hated in my heart.  Selfishly I didn't want to make this change.

But it was coming whether I liked it or not, and the dreaded last day arrived this.past Friday, April 27th.....

I got her two children gift cards (bc I had no idea what to get them) and they were soooo thrilled!!!

Here they are showing off their cards.....Dakota's was to Best Buy and Gracie's was to Justice.  I also gave Sam and  her hubby a gift card to the Outback   :)  I found myself tearing up when trying to write Ms. Sam a card. There was so much I wanted to say, but mostly a big thank you for loving my girl, and help her progress well in her learning curve.

They have 2 really sweet dogs.  This is Miss Lexi, the old soul that loved no the kids all day and was such a sweetheart.

And then there is this little fella.....Mr.Chino the terror  LOL!!

So we hugged and said "See you soon", not "Goodbye", because we will still each other- Ms. Sam wants to see her little Chloe growing up!!!

So fast forward a weekend and that  takes us to yesterday, when change has brought us a wonderful person we might never have met had it not been for this change in daycare providers. 

Meet Bonnie.  She is Chloe's new sitter and we could not be more thrilled.  She is so sweet and she loves my girl.  She has decided to watch Chloe at our house, so we dot even have to get her all dressed and out the door so early anymore----SO NICE!!!!

Chloe has taken to her right away and I am so happy about that.  Bonnie is a wonderful christian that will read all the bible books to her and teach her about Jesus during the week.  So today is day 2 and it just feels like this is a wonderful fit.  So this change that I fought so hard- I am embracing!!!

Another bonus about Ms. Bonnie is that she loves dogs!!!  So happy about that so she isn't afraid of my fur babies.  They just want a little loving on too and she is happy to give it to them.

Well that is all for this post.  But I really am so happy about this change in our lives.  Its turned out to be better than we thought.  I have so much peace of mind while at work and I have gained a new friend and a wonderful caregiver for my most precious angel.

Welcome to the family Bonnie!!!

You are here to stay!!!  :)

29 weeks old and and we found our feet!!!

Wow.... when I say I have a beautiful gift from the Lord, I am not kidding!!!  I know I am partial being her mom and all, but when I first looked upon this series of pictures that were taken yesterday before heading out the door for church- I literally stood still in my tracks.  These are probably my new favorite pics of my angel- but I just cannot get over the amazing child I have been so blessed to raise and love on this Earth.

Our angel is now 29 weeks old, approximately 6 1/2 months, and she has gained a whole pound!!  She now weighs 16 lbs, she was just leveled out at 15 lbs for about 4 weeks which is unusual for a growing wittle one like her.

Her personality has really started to change and come into her own the past 2 weeks a lot!!  She changes some each day and I can not believe how much she is picking up and absorbing so quickly!!

She is in a size 3 shoe now, I bought her some precious baby Keds with the little rubber across the toe, but they were the "mary jane" style with velcro--easy on, easy off- and her little piggies wouldn't even go in!!  So we are now in a size 3 shoe, still in a size 2 diaper.  She is long and slender  :)

She can no longer sit in her swing, she is just too big!!!  She can actually reach up and pull off the little stuffed bears swirling around her head, so I put the kibosh on that one.  So we traded the swing for the bum.bo chair, and the EXERSAUCER!!!

I scored a sweet deal on this top of the line exersaucer off Craigsl.ist!!  I kept looking until I found the one I liked on there that A- wasn't over $30 and B- wasn't nasty dirty and C- had all it's parts with it.  So this nice lady had saved all the little attachments in a big space saver bag so none were lost and it totally collapses down flat with a carry handle.

This is not a really good picture actually, but I finally snapped one of her in this thing the other night so you could see what I am talking about for those of you who may not know what an exersaucer is.  The big drawback (and only one in my opinion) is that this sucker takes about 27 AAA batteries!!!!  Each little part takes like 4 batteries to sing and light up- so we will see how long all these new ones we put in last with her making them all sing over and over and..... but hey it makes my girl happy- so what's some batteries???

So another funny thing she just picked up on this past week was SHE HAS FOUND HER FEET!!!  I love to see babies eating their toes and of course she is happy to oblige her momma!  Ha!  I caught her while I was sitting behind her in the above picture, so I snapped it.  I was afraid if she saw me she would stop doing it, but then I walked around front of her and she didn't stop when she saw me, and was quite pleased and tickled with herself as you can see in the shots below.

So that is about it with her new activities this week.

Meanwhile, we have had contractors in and out of our house all this past week and this week it will continue as they are rebuilding our Master Bathroom.  I mentioned it last week we had a leak in an interior wall pipe between our 2 bathrooms, and when we hired ServP.ro to come take off the one section of wall so we could have new drywall hung after a plumber fixed the pipe, they found mold!!!  eeeek!  So then it turned into an entire demolition of all the walls down to the studs!!  So it is all getting redone and remodeled while we were at it- and sucking up our entire tax return $$ Ugh! So I am taking pictures in a few stages and I will do a whole post of the rebuild once it is all completed which should be by this weekend!! It is going to look fabulous darling!

We had some other fun stuff this past weekend, but I am going to do a separate post on that and also about Chloe's last day at her daycare with Ms. Sam, where she has been since she was 6 wks old.  And today our new nanny started that watches Chloe here in our home---- and it went great today!!!  So I will blog about that next- so stay tuned!!!  Peace out!!!

The NoseFrida

I know you are probably asking yourself what is the "NoseFrida" ??  Well it is a contraption that has literally saved my sanity a many night now, and I wanted to share it with all the other mommies of babies out there, the way someone shared it with me (and I am sooooo thankful)!!!

Chloe had her first cold or maybe not a true full-blown cold, but she came down with a very congested head cold and VERY stuffy nose..... I commented on my private faceb.ook group of IVF Mommies that she was having such a hard time breathing and more importantly she couldn't even suck her bottle to eat because of the congestion and it was becoming a vicious cycle.  Well several of them commented  and told me to go get the NoseFrida, better known as the snotsucker!!!  LOL

 It came soooo highly recommended, I searched on where to find it, and they are sold of course in several baby boutiques in the area, (of which I am never off work during their banker's hours),  or you can get it online at good ole am.azon.com.  Luckily, I somehow qualified for free overnight shipping and it arrived just in time!!!

So what is this NoseFrida you ask???  Well it is a device in which you place the end of the blue collecting tube piece slightly in the baby's nostril and you put the red end in your mouth and you suck on it like a straw!!!  :)  Hence the term the snot sucker!!

 Right about now you are probably thinking, that is so disgusting and you must be really desperate to do something like that..... well I kind of was.  My baby was crying and she couldn't eat and, you'll do anything you can to help them.  The beauty of this device is that you can get a sustained suction which is nearly impossible with the bulb syringes they give you at the hospital (BTW, all babies loathe the bulb syringes).  Shockingly, Chloe doesn't even cry when I use the NoseFrida, and it really really works.  I was shocked at the amount of snot that was in the bottom of the collecting tube after one small suck on the "straw"!!!

The best part is it is completely sanitary.  As seen in the picture below, there is a filter at the top, totally preventing anything from flying up into your mouth. The box even came with 3 replacement filters!!!

I hope all you mommies can get one and use it if you need to help your baby breathe easier should they catch a cold or become a  little snuffaloffagus......lol

Please comment and let me know if any of you have one and what you think or if you get one and what you think!!!  I love all the cool baby gadgets out there now  :)

28 weeks old and a new babysitter!!!

28 weeks and counting..... Baby girl is ticking the weeks off faster and faster.  I want her to slow down so I can snuggle just a little more.  She is really blossoming into her own personality and showing her likes and dislikes so much more these days!!!  One thing that proves that point to me is the fact that she is determined not to smile for me when we do picture time each morning after getting dressed.  She holds her little lips in this pursed position just determined not to smile, and then finally when she can't stand it anymore, she burst out in laughter!!!  It really is sooooo cute!!!

I LOOOVE this smirk/smile she has started doing!!!

Just about to burst out in a smile!!!

She has such a beautiful face, and perfect porcelain skin!

Other than baby girl growing up way too fast, tomorrow is our very last day with our amazing sitter Sam.  Our hearts are so broken we have to change, and this momma does not like change AT ALL.  But i know this is a good time in her life to make a career change- she has taken such wonderful care of my angel and I will forever be most grateful!!!  I snapped these pictures yesterday when I picked up Chloe at her house.

 Sam is on the right of course and on the left is her 7 year old named Gracie who is like a little second mother to Chloe.  She loves to get her car seat for me when I get there each day, and put Chloe's shoes on etc.

I just can't believe its all going to be so different come Monday.  But the new arrangement we are going to will have it's own good points.  We have decided after many interviews and much prayer, to have one of our dear friend's mother watch our angel.  She just recently moved here from Michigan to be closer to my friends' as they have just had a new baby themselves, her first grand baby.

She loves children and needs a job and I met her at church several weeks ago and she really took a liking to Chloe.  They heard we were looking for a new sitter at the time and she called and asked if she could do it for us.  So we have worked it out I think, she is going to actually watch Chloe at OUR HOUSE since she does not have her own place as of yet!!!  That is going to be so wonderful!!!  Chloe can sleep as late as she wants and take her naps and such in her own bed.  So the Lord has provided and we must adjust, but sometimes change is hard!!! 

I would say the biggest plus is that I will have peace of mind.  I totally trust Sam and do not worry one minute about her while I'm at work, and that was what I was looking for in trying to find a new sitter.  I know I can trust her to love Chloe as her own grand baby and you can't really put a price on that!!!

And on top of all that, we had an interior pipe leak in the walls between our 2 bathrooms, and we have had to totally demo our master bathroom down to the studs and it is now being remodeled.  I am taking pictures as it progresses, so I will do a blog post on it when it is finished, so you can all see the finished product.  It's going to be fabulous, we are installing a brand new tiled walk-in shower instead of a new bathtub--- Yeah baby!!!!

Ya'll have a great evening and I'll be back soon!!!

6 month doctor's visit!!!

Baby girl had her 6 month doctor's visit on Friday April 20th.  She was so happy and smiley in the waiting room.  But I had no idea that she was about to get 3 shots and an oral vaccine that day!!!  Ugh  I absolutely hate holding her down while they jab these long needles in her legs!!!  She literally looses her breath ..... and it breaks mommy's heart!!!

But the nurse was so nice, she was in this beautiful white smocked dress and the nurse was trying not to get the blood from the shots on her dress.  I have never seen a baby's leg bleed so much from a shot, she must have hit a vessel with the needle because it was a lot.

So her stats at the doctor were that she weighs 15 lbs  3 oz at the 6 month mark which puts her below average for weight, but the doctor said she looks great and as long as she is eating good and not vomiting she is fine.

She is 27 inches long and that puts her above average in length, so my girl is long and skinny!!!  I think she is going to be a bit on the tall side, however she has small feet, and your feet grow in proportion to your height, so I guess we will have to wait and see!!

Another little milestone Ms. Priss has learned, is how to hold her bottle.  As documented in the photos below, this was the first time I have actually seen her do it, and be able to tip it back so the milk could come out!!!  Yeah Chloe!!!

And last but not least, this week I stopped by Chloe's sitter to take some pictures of the group of kids that have been her first friends.  As I have said before, her sitter has decided to close her in home daycare and go back to school, much to our sadness and I wanted to document these littles for Chloe when she is older.  These guys were so cute, they all wanted to hold "Baby Cwooooweee" for the picture.....  Man I'm gonna miss these cuties!!!  From left to right are TJ (23 months), Naioko (4 yrs old), and Matthew (2 years old).  Of course Miss Chloe is all smiles and slouching down in the front.  We only have this week left at Ms. Sam's house before we move on to a new adventure with Ms. Bonnie watching her, but it's so sad to leave Ms. Sam, she has watched my angel since she was 6 weeks old!!! 

What a sweet memory!!

Settling on a church home

Those of you that know us IRL know that we have had a very hard time settling on a church home this side of the water.  Our church home in Hampton , Liberty Baptist, is where our heart is and where we desire to be, however the drive each week coupled with the inability to get involved during the week in the activities (again because of the distance and traffic on weeknights), makes making that our permanent church home not feasible.  ESPECIALLY now that we have our Chloe Bug that must be raised in church and have her friends there.   Soooo......

 So that brings us to this past Sunday, we finally decided as a family that we will be attending New Life Providence Church where most of our friends are, and make this our church home.  So we dressed up our little princess in her butterfly smocked dress and we were excited to go knowing that we are going to try to make this our "home", and that we are not just visiting again.

When you have grown up in church all your life and have had that anchor of friendship and companionship all your life, it is very hard when you feel like you don't have it.  Infertility really isolated me and us.  We stopped going to church for awhile because I couldn't take seeing all the littles dressed for church and all the perfect families sitting in the pews.  It litterally broke my heart over and over.  But now I feel like I have that perfect "little family" that I wanted so badly and we are anxious to get back in the groove with our friends and to make some new ones!!!

I remember so well when I was in the midst of my depression and struggle with infertility, Sweetness and I were "visiting" this church one Sunday, and they had an amazing prayer time for those asking God to do something BIG in their life.  And both Sweetness and I were moved to go forward and pray with the pastor about our struggle to conceive.  I was hungry for God, I was desperate for Him to tell me it was going to be okay...... and you know what?  He did. 

When Pastor Dan prayed over us, he begged God to do something BIG and AMAZING in our life- that we would have a testimony to tell of what He did for us through the building of our family.  And to now see that prayer answered, and answered in such an amazing way!!!  So Sunday I had to let him meet my Chloe bug. 

He was floored at how beautiful she is and he said what I have been longing to hear..... He said "I would have never known.  She looks just like you!"..........  Oh be still my heart!!!!

We have not officially moved our membership yet, but that will come in time.  But I just can't tell you how wonderful it feels to decide that you "belong" somewhere.  It's a great big world out there and these people are just the most genuine, loving people and I feel that Chloe will have a great group of friends that she can form at this church..........

So after a great church service, we went shopping for all the items we need now to rebuild our Bathroom.  I have not told you this yet but we had a leak in an interior wall pipe between the 2 bathrooms.  When ServP.ro came over to clean up and demolish the walls in the master to find the leak, they found a bunch of MOLD!!!!  Ewwwwwww   not to mention dangerous........  so they cleaned it all (re mediated it) and applied anti-microbial agents to it, and the big driers have been drying it since last Thursday when they came.

So now we are going to  remodel it since its down to the studs and put in a tile shower with a door, not another bathtub that no one uses.  We are also putting in all new drywall, tile floor, vanity, mirror, medicine cabinet and light fixture.  It's going to be wonderful!  I will post the before, during and after pictures!!!

So after all that walking around Home Depot for a couple hours, Baby girl was exhausted, needing a nap.  We headed home and I changed her clothes and snapped these shots.  She was so smiley and happy I just couldn't resist.  So here she is hanging with her Daddy.....

The most precious little face......

And this picture above, is one of my favorites.....because this little facial expression is one I love...... its her little smirk!!  Gosh she is cute.....

Then she took a long nap and so did Mommy and Daddy!!!!  And let me tell you ---I looooove a good Sunday afternoon nap!!!  Yes ma'am!!!

Well that's all for today.   Friday is Chloe's 6 month check up at the doctor  :(  and then we only have next week with our favorite sitter.............We've got lots of changes coming up!!!   Hope you have enjoyed our little post for today- we will see you again real soon!!!!

26 weeks/ 6 months old!!!

Happy Monday everybody!!!  Well my little is growing up WAAAYYY tooooo fast!!! 

Today is her 6 month birthday!!! I can remember October 16, 2011 like it was last night and seeing her for the first time......  oh how my life has changed!!!!  :) 

 I snapped these pics this morning as she was on her way to her sitter's house.  She only has 2 more weeks with this babysitter who we love :(  but I believe the Lord has led us to a wonderful woman named Bonnie to watch my angel.

 Bonnie is my good friend's mother, she just moved here from Michigan and she loves children.  She is a christian and she is soooo sweet, so I will have peace of mind I am sure (and that's what all parents want right?).  So she will start at her house on April 30th.

 I have lots of fun pictures from this weekend to post, that I would have included in this post, but I am in a hurry here at work and I just wanted to get this post up today on her actual 6 month birthday!!!

Chloe is such an amazing baby!! I know I say it every post, but I am sooooo soooo blessed.  She weighs 15 lbs now and she is still in size 2 diapers.  She is now in 6 month clothes and she is very tall and thin.  We have had so many people praying for and over her with regards to her NF diagnosis.  And we are so thankful she has had no further issues or any more cafe au lait spots show up!!!

So happy 1/2 year birthday my sweet precious girl!!!  Mommy and Daddy love you more than you can ever imagine!!!!  I am just soooo amazingly blessed.......