Parker's Birthday

Elsie went to her very first birthday party this weekend.  Our friends Chuck and Lisa's little boy Parker turned 3!  The party was a tailgate before the I Cubs game in Des Moines.  We went for the tailgate but passed on the afternoon game.  We have had such warm beautiful weather and it is too bad that this morning it was cold and windy.  I think the afternoon turned out a little bit nicer for the game.  

Amber and Cayden

Me and my little girl.  

 Orson and Kara. Their little baby Orson is snuggled up staying warm.  He is 3 months old.  

 Cayden borrowed my fleece jacket to try to stay warm :)

 Our family all cuddled together.  John wanted to hold Elsie the whole time

because it helped to keep him warm.  

I just had to get a picture of these cute little shoes.  We hardly ever put

shoes on Elsie because they never stay on.  These didn't stay on much past this picture 

Parker the birthday boy enjoying his birthday cake.  

Elsie having fun playing with her dad.  John was just amazed at how Elsie interacted with all the kids running around playing.  When Cayden would bounce the ball she would just giggle and watch him the entire time.  She loved looking around at all the kids.  

Elsie's Sleeping Habits

NAPS
This week we have been working with Elsie on sleeping in her bed for naptime.  We have gotten in a terrible habit to let her nap in her swing.  Now she either wants to swing for nap or be rocked to sleep and then laid down for her nap after she has fallen asleep. The past few weeks on my days off we have been out and about running errands so those naps have taken place in her carseat.  Naptime in general has gotten a little more difficult since it seems like she is always trying to fight it-even if we are rocking or she is in her swing.  I started this on Wednesday after struggling with her naps over the weekend.  Also up until this point she would just kind of nap whenever she wanted to and by no means were they regular.  Sometimes she has little short catnaps and sometimes she would nap for 2+ hours.  It just depends on the day.  I would like to get her into a little bit more of routine.  I feel like by the time she is clearly tired she is overtired and fights falling asleep.  So this is what we are working on right now.  Naps.  Also, I would like to ideally get her to nap in her crib so it isn't such a strange place when we transtition her out of her room but I think I am going to try to get her first to nap consistently in her pack and play.  Wednesday she napped for 45 min in the morning in the swing, 45 minutes in the early afternoon in her pack and play, and 45 minutes in my arms on the couch-not rocking.  One of the challenges I notice is that unless she is asleep when she lays down she will immediately roll onto her belly and then that really wakes her up and she wants to play.

I want to start to set little goals for this next week:
1.  At least one nap a day in her pack and play
2.  Set a naptime routine so she knows what to expect.
3.  Be home for her afternoon nap.

NIGHTTIME
Elsie's nighttime habits are so different than her naptime habits.  She goes to bed so well! I really can't complain at all since she has been sleeping for about 10 hours now since Easter.   We start the routine around 8:00 each night unless it is a bath night.  It really isn't much of a routine either.  We change her diaper into a nighttime diaper (either a bumGenius 4.0 stuffed with microfiber insert and hemp doubler or a Flip cover with and organic cotton Flip insert topped with a microfleece liner), her pajamas (cotton sleepers-our favorite right now are the lighter Gerber ones from Target-pefect for these warmer nights we have been having lately), and then giver her a bottle (about 6 oz).  Once she is finished eating she is ready for bed and we lay her down in her pack and play, turn the monitor on and leave and she is pretty much asleep.  If she is really tired she might fall asleep before she is done eating but that doesn't happen too often.  She sleeps until about 6:00 AM.  Most nights at least once she will let out a cry or two and then fall immediately back to sleep.  I can hardly get to her pack and play before she has stopped crying so I wouldn't even call it a cry.  I will put her pacifier back in if she is still restless otherwise I just let her be.  Most mornings she will wake up and immediately roll over onto her tummy.  I wake up to her making little "uh uh" noises as she is trying to roll back over to her back (which she has no problem with doing on the floor but she can't do it in her bed).

I really only have one goal for nighttime at this point since she has been doing pretty good:
1.  Read some books after we get her changed into her PJs but before she eats.

After we get back from Idaho this summer I will make the transition into her room in her crib.  I figure there is no point doing it before than since I want to wait until the 6 month mark and she will have to sleep in her pack and play anyways while we are gone.

Any suggestions for sleeping would be appreciated.  I feel pretty good about her nighttime sleep habits but am struggling with her naps.

Graduation For Three

This past weekend we headed up to NW Iowa for John's cousins's graduation.  His Aunt Becky and Uncle Denny had three children graduation this year.  We had such a nice weekend visiting with family and seeing his Grandma Evelyn.  I think she could have held all day!   

Elsie and Grandma Ev

All Tuckered Out!

The three graduates:  Kyle, Julia and Patrick

Elsie and Bev's Cousin Barbie

Elsie with Cousin Kylee (Barbie's daughter)

 Elsie loved playing on the floor surrounded by all the big kids :)

 Cousin Danny all tuckered out!

Cousins!

Elsie so wanted to play with Danny but he was not having it :)  He was ready for his afternoon nap.  

It was such a wonderful weekend!!  Of course it was too short.   Elsie did a great job being away from home.  She struggled a bit with her naps but that has been happening at home too. I can't wait to get the family all together again.  

Elsie Marie-5 Months

Wow this month has probably been the most challenging for us, mainly due to Elsie being sick.  Although challenging, I am so loving the stage she is in right now!  She is developing such a personality and it is starting to shine through.  I just can't get enough of her and her smiles!

Elsie's weight at the Dr. on May 1st was 14 lbs 4 oz.  That was two whole weeks ago and when I weighed her at home she was close to 15 lbs.  So we will go with that-15 lbs.  She is eating pretty good-still milk only, no solids yet.  5-6 bottles with 5-6 oz each feeding.  More on the higher end than the lower end.  I think she is probably getting close to starting solids.  Our pediatrician said anytime from 4-6 months but I know that exclusively breastfeed/formula until 6 months is ideal since that is still where they get the most nutrients from.  We will probably start them soon though in the next week or so.  She is still getting about a 50/50 ratio of breastmilk to formula.  My goal is to keep pumping until 6 months so that is only one month left to go.

Sleeping has been a little off this month.  The first half of the month she did great!  Sleeping from 8pm-6pm.  Well then a few weeks ago she got sick with a cold/ear infection/hand foot mouth or whatever it was she ended up being sick with and that threw her whole sleep routine out the window. It was a challenging few nights for us.  She was would sleep until about midnight and then wake up and have a hard time falling back to sleep.  Then she was up almost every hour after that.  We would pick her up, she would fall back to sleep in a few minutes and then do it all over again and hour later.  A couple of days later when she was starting feel better she wouldn't do the whole hour thing but she would wake up in the middle of the night and want to eat.  One night she was in such a good mood when she woke up.  She wouldn't go back to sleep so we went to her room to rock.  She was looking up at me just smiling.  Then she kept putting her hand near my mouth to play with me and then she would giggle.  I tried to tell her it was night time but not play time but I don't think she got the message :).  I think she is getting back into her sleep routine since the past three nights she has slept through the night again.  For our night routine we still just change her diaper, change her into her pj's and give her a bottle.  We start this around 7:45 pm.  Since she has been feeling better we have been able to lay her down awake again and she falls asleep on her own after about 5-10 minutes.  We have started using the video monitor the past couple of nights when she goes to bed and we are still awake.  There have also been a couple of times that I have woken up to her on her belly moving her arms and legs like crazy.

Well Elsie is still mainly wearing 3-6 month clothes but last night I had to put her in a 6-9 month sleeper for bed.  Sleepers are always the first thing that she outgrows.  I am having fun (maybe a little too much fun) shopping for her!  There are some outfits that are too irresistible to pass up.  We have been trying to get her to wear sunglasses and hat when she is outside, gotta get her started on good habits.  :)

Elsie's health up til this month has been pretty good.  No major issues.  Then she hit 4 months old and it all changed.  She first started out with a cold.  I kind of expected that since I had been battling a cold, then John, so it was only natural that Elsie would get one too.  Then as I describe in this post __________ she was first diagnosed with and ear infection and then hand foot and mouth disease.  It appears that he cold is pretty much over.  We helped ease her symptoms by using saline drops, the bulb syringe, raising the head of her bed up an inch or so, and using an humdifier when she sleeps.  She has been such a trooper.  Now this past week we noticed a few dry patches of skin on her body and First Nurse originally told us over the phone that it was ringworm but after talking with the pediatricians office they think it is most likely baby eczema.  We are treating it with CJ's BUTTer and it is really helping (this is also what we use for diaper rash).  So I think she is finally on the mend.  Let's hope she stays healthy now for awhile.

Elsie is still quite the mover.  She just kicks and kicks and kicks.  She spends most of her time playing on her belly now.  She has been playing a lot in her exersaucer and then just on the blanket with some of her toys.  I start by laying her on her back but in no time she is one her belly.  She still needs support when she sits up.  She is starting to have fun with bathtime kicking her legs and splashing in the water.  One of her most favorite things to do is be "Super Elsie" and we fly her around the house.  She just laughs and giggles.  I cannot get enough of that giggle!!!!  We go for lots of walks and for the most part does pretty good in the stroller.  We have transitions out of the carseat in the stroller and just her strapped in.  I think she stays a lot cooler.She is

"Super Elsie"

Here are some photos taken throughout the month from my phone.

Hanging out in her stroller in Pella

Sporting her new sunglasses

Shows how happy my little girl is when she wakes
up.  This must have been after falling back to
sleep after her breakfast since she has a bib on.  

Elsie and Aubrey on the way to book club.  My back seat has looked like
this quite a bit lately :)

Elsie also loves her feet.   She is always finding them and sticking them in her mouth.  Here are just a few snapshots of time I have caught of her.

We have had a pretty busy month!  We have spent a lot of time out shopping on my days off which means that there hasn't been a lot of time at home. We had a great lunch with all the mamas and kiddos who are off on maternity leave.  Elsie has two new friends that arrived into this world on the same day:  Greta Elizabeth and Wyatt James born on Sunday April 29th.  She got to celebrate her first Mother's day with me and spent a weekend with her Grandma and Grandpa Fenstra when they came down for a visit.  She went to emergency room for the first time, visited her daddy in the hospital, and had her very first fever.

Wyatt James Leonard

Greta Elizabeth Rodgers

 

  

Mother's Day 2012

Yesterday was a WONDERFUL day!  I woke up to a happy girl who slept from 8pm-6am for the first time in a few weeks!  We had a light breakfast and relaxed a bit before getting ready to go to brunch. I was also excited because I got a new Keurig coffeemaker for a gift this year!  I have wanted one for a few years now!  

We went for the second year in a row to brunch at the Gateway Hotel.  It is so yummy!!!  When we got out to the car to leave our house to go to brunch we realized my car key was still in the house-the locked house.  We were locked out of the house and did not have keys to the car.  John had to break into the basement window to get in and get the keys.  

After brunch we went to the greenhouse to get some flowers for our window boxes and for a couple of pots.  I am still amazed at how fast those things add up!  We got home planted them, relaxed a bit and ended the day with a nice long walk.  It was a wonderful day!  

Family Picture

Me and my little girl :)

Olivia, Elsie and Emma-all sporting their cool new shades

Cousins!

Elsie playing outside in the afternoon. 

Pella Tulip Time

This weekend my mom and dad came down from Minnesota and we decided to go to Pella's Tulip Time.  Pella is a Dutch community and they celebrate thier Dutch heritage every year with their Tulip Time Festival. I have wanted to go for the past couple of years but it has never worked out.  It finally did this year and I was excited to see what this was all about.  One of the biggest attractions is the massive amounts of Tulips that are planted throughout the city.  Unfortunately, with this years warm spring the tulip blooms have come and gone so we missed out on that.  

Throughout the day they have different performances by the dancing duchesses.  Here they are below doing one of their songs.  They sing and dance in full costume traditional Dutch songs, in wood shoes and all.  

We met up with Marc and Amber and the kiddos too.  They were there enjoying the beautiful day.  It ended up getting pretty warm though.  

We visited the Historic Dutch Villiage which was original homes to Pella when the Dutch immigrated there.  It is also where Wyatt Earp spent a few of his childhood years.  In each of the buildings they had volunteers from the community demonstrating what life was like back in the day.

I am not sure if you know this but I am a sucker for wood cut out photo opportunities.  Of course we had to take a photo here too.  

This is what takes place right before the parade.  The streets need to be scrubbed before the Tulip Queen can come down during the parade.  It is a yearly tradition for the people of Pella.  It is amazing how many of them there were!!!!  Hundreds of people of all ages.  They would use buckets and splash the water onto the street and then all the people would walk down scrubbing it.  What I love most is how the people of Pella get involved in their city's event and thier heritage.  It was pretty cool to see.  

It was a wonderful day and a wonderful weekend.  Elsie sure was tuckered out by the end of the day though.  She must have been tired because she has taken a 3.5  hour nap this morning which of course has allowed me to update the blog :)

Elsie's First Sickness

Elsie made her first trip to the emergency room.  For the past week or so Elsie has had a cold, no fever just a cold. Saturday evening she started to get a bit fussy and Saturday night she did not sleep very good.  I figured it was because of her cold.  Well Sunday she had her first real fever at 102.5.  So I called First Nurse and they had me count her respiration.  Up to 50 a minute is safe but Elsie's was about 55/min so they had us come in.  They said that it normally gets worse as the day goes on so we might as well go in and getting it checked instead of waiting around all day and then having to go in the evening.  So we headed over to Ames.  In the meantime they had us give her some tylenol.  Well by the time we got there her fever was down to 99 degrees and her respiration were down too.  When we finally were seen the physicians assistant told us her ears were red so her fever must because of an ear infection.  They gave us a prescription for an amoxicillan and sent us on our way.  Her 102.5 fever was the last fever she had.

 

This picture was from Saturday night. I finally got her to fall asleep 

after trying for quite a while.  

Waiting so patiently :)

John decided it would be a good time for a nap since we sat

  in the room for almost 3 hours. 

So Sunday we went home and I could tell Elsie did not feel well.  She was up almost every hour crying and wanting comforting.  It was a long couple of nights since none of us are used to this.  She would cry and cry and cry and we would have to hold her so tight to us to get her to calm down.  It was a good thing we didn't have daycare on Monday because she wouldn't have been able to go.  Monday during the day Elsie was back to her old self again.  Happy as can be except she hated taking the antibiotics.    We were supposed to go visit some friends at camp but decided we better not do to much with her being sick.  Monday night however was the same as Sunday night.  We were up again quite a few times during the night.    No fever since Sunday but I could tell things just weren't right.  I thought maybe her ears were hurting when she laid down because she would fall right back to sleep the minute she was in our arms. 

 We decided to take her to daycare since she was on anitbiotics, no fever for over 24 hours and she was happy on Monday during the day.  Well when I got her dressed that morning I noticed a rash on her belly.  Uhhh I thought for sure it must be a rash for the anitbiotics.  So I took her to Jo Jo's and had her take a look at it.  She thought the same thing.  After talking about it we decided to leave her at daycare and I would call the pediatrician to see if we needed to switch antibiotics.  

Well they wanted to see her and could get her in right away so back to Jo Jo's I went and took her in.  It did not take the doctor long to tell us the initial diagnosis was wrong and she did not have an ear infection.  What she did have was Hand, Foot and Mouth disease.  The doctor found a small sore on the roof of her mouth and one small dot by her wrist.  I have heard some nasty things about this virus but it appeared Elsie had just a mild case of it.  She said that this strain going around also leaves a rash on their body too.  So no more antibiotics and we just needed to manage the symptoms since there is no medication for it.  She said she would no longer be contagious once she was fever free for a couple of days.  She said by Thursday she should be safe to go back to daycare since she hadn't had a fever since Sunday.  We have no idea where she picked this up from since we know no one who has this.  

Since she was unable to go back to daycare she came with me to work.  We made up a nice little bed for her so she could take a nap while I got some work done.  Wednesday I was off from work so we stayed home but Thursday she was back at daycare.  Wednesday night she was sleeping so good and then around 1:30 am we had a tornado warning so I had to get her out of bed and of course she woke up and slept terrible the rest of the night.  Thursday night she was back to her old self sleeping through the night.  Her cold is still bothering her a bit but hopefully that will clear itself up soon.  

During this whole ordeal it just broke my heart knowing she felt so terrible and there wasn't much I could do for her :(.  I guess that is just part of being a mom.