Week in Review

Recap of last week, when this week is almost over.

Sunday night (9/28), Hollon slept in her bed at night for the first time. She has slept in it for naps, but never at night. I fed her around 11:00, swaddled her and put her down. She did great. She got up for her middle of the night feeding, and then went back to sleep. She has slept in it every night since and done great. And I've managed to go in there to check on her only 10 times a night. 

Sweet girl sleeping while mom works

 Trying to take a good picture of her smiling is like trying to find a unicorn.

Sorry for the poor quality, I'm horrible at taking pictures with my iPhone

 On Tuesday night, we had a great & tragic moment.

The great moment was she infant giggled. (I don't know if it is a real giggle or some infant reflex, but I love it.) It was during her middle of the night feeding. I had fed her, changed her diaper and re-swaddled her. I was rocking her a few minutes before putting her back down in her crib. She was looking up at me, dozing in & out of sleep when she smiled & let out the sweetest softest little giggle. It was so pure & innocent. I remember when Jake would do it as a baby, and it was one of my very favorite things. It is the sweetest sound and melts my heart every time.

And the moment was ruin by something tragic. I stepped on & was stung by a scorpion.

While I was walking from our room to Hollon's room for that middle of the night feeding, in our foyer, I stepped on something that stuck in my foot. I knew it wasn't big enough to be a toy Jake left on the floor, so I figured it was a tac or needle. I brushed off the bottom of my foot & kept walking to Hollon's room. I have my sweet giggle moment, and then as I was walking back to my room, I turn on the foyer light to see what I stepped on. I figured it was a tac or something and I wanted to get it up before someone else stepped on it. I keep looking for something shinny on the floor & don't see anything. And then I see it. I flat scorpion lying on our floor. WHAT THE WHAT?!?! I nudge it with a piece of paper to see if it is still alive. It doesn't move, so I figure it is dead. I didn't want to throw it away because I wanted Robbie to see it in the morning. So I put a paper plate over it. I figured that way if I died, hopefully he would put 2 & 2 together.
Dead wife + paper plate over dead scorpion = cause of wife's death.
Of course the next morning, when I get up, Rob has already thrown away the plate & scorpion. He acts like it is no big deal & asked me why I didn't just throw it away last night? Um, because I stepped on a scorpion and it stung me. And I wanted him to see it and be as disgusted as I was. (He wasn't.) I questioned him at length on why was there a scorpion in our house. I've contemplated selling the house or having it fumigated. (He turned down both.) The horrible thing is the scorpion was the same color as our hardwoods. It blended in perfectly. (I know because I examined it at length that night contemplating if I would die from its sting.) So I now refuse to walk around barefoot in our house. Ugh.

On Wednesday, Hollon had her 1 month checkup at the doctor. (Post & same pictures below)

Thursday, Jake had a football game, and they won their first game! YEA! Way to go Pelham Panthers! 

I completely stole this off another mom's facebook page.
I'm not sure why they are holding up #2??

On Friday, Rob rode down to Auburn with his parents while I went to Prattville to my parents. I was giong over to the Auburn game on Saturday, but wasn't ready to leave Hollon for 2 nights. (I really wasn't ready to leave her for 1 night, but if I took her to Auburn, we'd have to waste a ticket on getting her into the game. Which is ridiculous a 5 week old has to have a ticket to get in to a football game!) LSU is the only big game I'm going in for all year, so my options were limited. Thankfully I knew we were leaving H in great hands.

So Saturday night (10/5) at 5.5 weeks, was Hollon's first night away from me. 

Friday night, we took Hollon to the nursing home my grandmother's in, so she could meet Hollon.

Hollon meeting Maw-Maw

She even dozed off to sleep for a few minutes

Me, Hollon, Maw-Maw (my dad's mom), Jake & Gran (my dad)
Please excuse my horrid look. I didn't realize we were going anywhere Friday night.

In typical Hollon fashion, she was a doll the first 10 minutes. And then she started screaming, so we quickly made our exit. She screamed until we were halfway home.

Saturday, I said good-bye to the kids & headed over to Auburn. I can't believe I didn't take one single picture of Robbie & I. (Go figure, I take the picture above with unwashed hair & hardly any make up on, but don't take a picture looking like a normal human being.)

I did take a picture of the grill the guys used to cook the food though!

Hollon's 1 Month Checkup

Last week, Hollon had her 1 month check up.

Weight: 10 lbs 10 ounces

Height: 21 inches

She is a healthy growing girl. I made sure to time her feedings, so she ate right before the appointment. She was fine during the first half, but after the nurse left, H decided that she didn't like being naked (even though she was wrapped in a blanket) and she was hungry (even though she had just ate 30 minutes prior). These 2 things combined = 1 very mad little girl. Which started her scream cry which takes forever to calm her down from. When her pediatrician came in to do her part of the appointment, she had to do it all with H screaming in her ear. And I had to ask all my questions with her screaming. It makes it really hard to hear the answers when someone is screaming in your ear. Then came the shots. With that coming, I knew there was no point in trying to calm Hollon down. I just held her & continued to talk to her. First, they pricked her heel so they could take some blood. The nurse was trying to get a drop of blood in each of the 5 circles on a piece of paper. Hollon was so mad, she was kicking her legs. There was blood all over the sheet of paper, and none in the little circles. So they had to keep trying, which just made her madder. Then they had to give her a shot in her leg. Funny thing is, after they gave her the shot, Hollon stopped crying. She just looked at me like "what was that?". And then she started screaming some more. Once it was all over, I went ahead & fed Hollon to comfort her. She calmed down pretty quickly after that.When we left, she was a happy smiling baby. I felt like as we were leaving, everyone was watching us, knowing we were the people in the room with the baby that screamed for 30 minutes solid.

I was looking back over Jake's doctor's appointments, trying to remember the questions I asked his pediatrician. I didn't write them in the blog, so I don't remember them, so I figured I'd write Hollon's down for my memory's sake. 

My Question: In the 1 month infant's guide, it states they should be drinking 2-3 ounces of milk per feeding. I know Hollon is getting way more than that from me. What should I do?

Pediatrician's Answer: 2-3 ounces is the minimum, 4-5 ounces is really the average. 7-8 ounces would be too much. Hollon is probably getting 4-5 ounces, which is perfectly fine.

My Question: Jake was a chunky monkey baby for his first 2 years. His pediatrician assured me he was healthy and it was not a concern. I fear that Hollon will be the same. Is there anything I should be worried about or cautious of? 

[Note: My worries about Jake's weight came certain comments people would make. I had no problem with people telling me they loved his rolls or how cute his chunky little legs were. But it was the people (usually strangers) that would make comments like "Oh my God, he is HUGE!" or "What in the world are you feeding that baby?". I took it personal and it made me paranoid about his weight. Like I was doing something wrong. How would you like it if someone told you "Oh my God, you are huge!" or "What in the world did you eat today?"? You probably wouldn't like it, so don't say it about my kid. I'm trying to prepare myself for those same type of strangers to make those same type of comments about Hollon.]

Pediatrician's Answer: She is not overly concerned about a breastfed baby's weight the first year. She said large breastfed babies tend to even out their weight after a year old. [Note: with Jake, it was more like after 2 years old. But he did loose that baby fat and now is completely average size.] Hollon's weight is just fine.

My Question: Hollon is still spitting up some after feedings. Should I worry?

Pediatrician's Answer: Considering her weight, no. She is obviously getting the food she needs to grow & be healthy. Her spitting up could be because she is taking on too much food, and that is her way to get rid of some of it. We shouldn't worry unless she is spitting up a cup after 3 or more feedings a day. As long as it is just a tablespoon amount here & there and it is not upsetting Hollon, we are fine. 

My Question: Any suggestions on what to do with baby girl's dandruff?

Pediatrician's Answer: Before bed, rub some olive oil on the top of the scalp. In the morning wash it off and wash her hair with dandruff shampoo. Do this 2-3 times a week.

[Note: I feel funny leaving olive oil on my child's head overnight. My BF Stephanie gave me the suggestion to try putting warm olive oil on her head and then washing it off. So I think I'll try that first.] 

Before our doctor's appointment:

I try so hard to catch her smile, but just catch this odd look

2014 Football Season - Week 4

Due to some last minute change of plans, we decided to go to Auburn for the weekend. It was homecoming, so we knew it would be a smaller tailgate and an easier one to take the kids to. We headed down to Auburn Friday after work.

Mimi holding Hollon

In her Auburn outfit Mimi & Granddad bought her

Game Day! Hollon did well sleeping in the RV. Jake was super excited to show her everything about the RV & tailgate.

Hollon, Granddad & Jake

Jake and Daddy played some football

Granddad & Jake went for a walk early Saturday morning. They stopped by the bookstore and Jake found a stuffed Aubie that he really wanted to buy for Hollon.

Hollon & her new toy

Game day outfit

Excuse the bad complexion and double chin, but look at that precious smile!

Brother & Sister first tailgate together

Hollon & Daddy

Our family

Me, Rob, Hollon, Jake, Mimi & Granddad

Mimi & Hollon

3rd generation tailgaters
Owen, Jake & Henry

Jake got a super fun surprise right before the game. 3 members of his football team & 2 of the dads who are coaches with Rob came to the tailgate & game.

Cade, Joseph, Jake, Joshua & Jonathan

Pelham Panthers at the Auburn game

Jake got to sit with his friends during the game

While brother was sitting with his friends, sister sat with mom & dad

Hollon's first Auburn football game - 1 month old
She slept throughout the entire game

The boys were leaving at halftime, so even though Hollon was still asleep and could have made it through more of the game, we met up with all of them outside the stadium. We all hung out and finished watching the game at the RV.

That night we headed back to Birmingham

2 very tired kiddos

It was a successful 1st trip to Auburn with the 2 kids!

A look back through the last 6 years of our Auburn pictures:

The Bush's (Mimi & Granddad)

Our family

The Vaughan & Bush Kids

Week In Review

On Monday, we went to brother's football game. 

Ready to cheer on the Pelham Panthers!

Getting to the field was quite an adventure. Jake had to be at the field about 45 minutes before the game, so my plan was to meet Rob there & drop Jake off. Then I could feed Hollon in the car, and with her nice full belly, she should sleep through the entire game. To make this work, I had to stretch the time between that feeding. She was fine when we left the house, and since the car was moving, she just slept, even though she was overdue for her feeding. There is a train track right beside the field we were playing on. Go figure a train was STOPPED on the track. Like not moving at all. And hadn't moved for over 10 minutes. It was so frustrating. You could see the field, but there was a train separating you from it. Us being stopped, of course Hollon woke up. The car was stopped, she was hungry so she was mad. And when I say mad, I mean she screamed her head off and completely clawed her face. This was an away game, so I didn't know the area. I had no idea another way to get to the field. So I just started driving while waiting on my iPhone GPS to pick up. After driving in circles around this town for 10 minutes (even though it seemed like 10 hours), my GPS finally picked up and led me on a crazy way through about 5 neighborhoods, but got us to the field. Hallelujah! Jake was about in tears because his ears were hurting. I couldn't blame him. Mine were hurting too. All you can do is laugh.

Monday was also Mimi's birthday. Happy Birthday Mimi!!

Hollon was going to start sleeping in her crib at night starting on Sunday, so I wanted to make sure she was comfortable with it. So she has been taking at least 1 nap per day in the crib.

I was trying to get some pictures of Hollon in her going home outfit, since I didn't really get any that day. 

Her gown & bonnet was made my Mimi

And she is over it

My babies in their going home outfits, each at 1 month old

They look nothing alike!

On Tuesday, we celebrated Robbie's birthday

Sign written by Jake with his & Hollon's handprints (well, Hollon's handmitten)

Sweet girl in her new swing

With Hollon's tummy issues, she likes to lie in your lap on her stomach. 

It's annoying when she gets a hand or leg out of the swaddle, but it is also so cute to see that little hand peeking out.

Having some tummy time to relieve the stomach issues. I know I'm breaking about 100 parenting rules right here. My child is on her stomach, she is lying on my bed, with lots of sheets & blankets. I was right there and she wasn't crying. So we let her be.

On Thursday, I got to see the photos from Hollon's photo shoot. I was pleased with the 5 I got to choose, and the photographer was so sweet. I will post those shortly!