The dreadded shots

Reese is 11 weeks old this week. She had her 2 month check up on Monday. She was so happy the entire visit until it came time for her shots. Once the first shot went in she dropped her pacifier out of her mouth, turned red and began screaming at the top her lungs. She was completely inconsolable and it was so sad. This photo is after I have been trying to comfort her for 5 minutes or so. Neal ended up taking her to the car and sitting in the back with her while I scheduled the next round of shots. She cried herself to sleep after a few moments of being in the car with him. I am not looking forward to having to do this again in the future but next time I am going to nurse her as soon as the shots are administered. After she woke up she seemed to be just fine and didn't have the normal bad effects like soreness, fussiness and fever so I am thankful for that.

She weighed in at 12 pounds and six ounces which is the 75th percentile on the growth charts. She is 24.5" tall which is the 97th percentile and she was the 90th percentile for head circumference (Neal said the big head is thanks to him). She is growing perfectly!

My assignment for the next 6 weeks is to eliminate one of the two night feedings. She has done this for me the past three nights which is a blessing. Last night she slept for 8 hours straight and went 9 hours and 50 minutes between feedings!!! I won't count on this happening again but it was really nice.

I love this baby so much and am so happy for a good report. Thinking about going back to work in just over a week is not an easy thought. I am hoping it goes well!

Home

I got to go home to Houston for an entire week last week! It has been a long time since I've been able to go home for that long and just relax. I had a great time with my family and I'm so happy that everyone got to meet Reese.

Reese took her 1st flight on the way to Houston. Neal flew down with us but he only stayed for the weekend so we flew back alone. She was perfectly behaved for both flights. Coming back I was especially nervous for two reasons...one she had been fussy all evening and two the flight was completely full and I was alone. She was so fussy when we got to the airport that the airline graciously allowed my Mom through security to help me out until we got on the flight. She cried all the way until we stepped on to the plane and was then perfectly content for the entire flight. She didn't sleep except for the last 5 minutes but was so good and happy. I was SO relieved.

While in Houston I got to do all of the things that I really wanted to. I got to hang out with the whole family and they got to meet Reese, Reese and I got to spend a lot of quality time with my Mom, I did some shopping and found some clothes that will fit me and my new and unimproved size, I got to hang out with Carrie one afternoon and had a very fun time with her, I got to eat the chocolate cake that I saw on the show "The best thing I ever ate" (it was $16!, I couldn't believe it), my Mom and I got our nails done, we went to Costco and I got to eat at all of my must haves. It was a great trip!

A week from tomorrow my Mom will be here and the rest of the family will be here for the following weekend for our annual 4th of July festivities. I am really looking forward to it and I will post some photos soon after. Happy Summer!

Sisters

My Sisters finally got to meet Reese! They have both been to NW Arkansas in the last week to visit and we all had a great time.

Chelsea came in to town two Saturdays ago and stayed with us through last Friday. We had a great time with her and she was such a help. She even took Reese in the morning a couple of the mornings and let me sleep, which any Mom knows that is a blessing. We made a picnic lunch one day and took it out to Lake Fayetteville, we went on many walks, we went to a lake in Springdale and Neal fished while Chelsea, Reese and I walked, we did a little shopping and lots of hanging out around the house. It is so good to have Chelsea back in the country and Reese loved spending time with her Aunt Chelsea.

Last Thursday Carrie, Alex and Jacob came in to spend the weekend and we also had a great time with them. It was fun to have them around for a few days and Carrie definitely has a great touch when trying to get Reese to sleep. She helped rock her to sleep multiple times and it was nice to have extra people around that were eager to hold her...I was actually able to get some other things done. I was able to get out of the house with Carrie and Chelsea and do a little shopping. They got a pool for the back yard for Jacob to swim in that we all enjoyed and we went out for some Monte Ne Chicken, which is always good. We took Jacob out to fish but he got his lure stuck on something within minutes and the line broke so that was short lived. It just turned into a long walk, which was also fun.

The past week or so have been really enjoyable. Reese has turned into a really content baby. We even took her to Tulsa yesterday to shop and she was so good. I am feeling better about the flight that we will be taking with her in a couple of weeks. She also slept from 8:30 to 8 last night with only one feeding in the middle and she went back to sleep after the feeding in about 15 minutes. I cannot count on this to happen again (it is not her normal at all) but I am so grateful for it. It at least gives me hope for the future!

I've never wanted to grocery shop so badly

I have found that now that I have a baby I will go to great lengths to accomplish something that I never would have put so much effort into before. Today I really wanted to accomplish grocery shopping. I was actually looking forward to it because it would get me out of the house for a couple of hours. I have found that typically if we are in the car for longer than 15 minutes Reese will fall asleep and once she falls asleep in her carrier she is usually out pretty hard for a good while. So, I decided to go grocery shopping in Siloam Springs...I never before would have driven to Siloam to go to Walmart but this was going to give her enough time to get good and asleep. I fed her before we left and made sure I had my grocery list, wallet and all of the other things that have to go with us now that I have Reese.

When we first got into the car she was pretty happy but by the time we were to Tontitown she was fussing and once we reached Siloam she was screaming. I was not about to attempt grocery shopping with her this upset so we parked in the parking lot and I got in the back and calmed her down and got her to suck on her pacifier and begin falling asleep. I then decided to drive back through Springdale and head to Fayetteville to grocery shop, thinking she would be asleep by the time we got there for sure. She lost her pacifier as soon as we began driving again and she started crying again. Once we got to Springdale I decided to take 112 since it is a windy 2 lane highway. I thought the turns may soothe her??? It actually worked. She fell asleep soon after we got on 112.

She was out until we reached Walmart's parking lot. She woke up and was fussing again. It was only fussiness and not full blown crying so I decided to try it. I thought she may enjoy sitting in her carrier in the basket and looking around since that is kind of like riding in the stroller and she usually enjoys that. No luck, we made it through 4 items on the grocery list and then decided we were going to have to leave. I guess we will just have to try this again another day. Of course, she fell asleep on the way home and she is still sleeping now.

My very 1st Mother's Day

I have had such a great first Mother's Day! I think the best part was that Neal took over Reese duty all night last night and I got to sleep from 11 to 7 and it was soooo wonderful. He woke me up at about 7 to nurse Reese and while I was doing that he made me breakfast and gave me my gift and cards. Baxter and Barkley got me a card, Reese got me a card and he got me a card...they were all so cute. He also got me diamond earrings!!! They are so pretty. The idea is that these are my first diamond earrings that I will wear until Reese is 18 and at that time I pass them on to her and I get bigger ones. I thought this was so sweet and also a special idea. For lunch we went and ate at Primo and Reese was pretty good for one of her first restaurant outings.

While I have had a great day it has also been difficult thinking about how far away I am from my family today and every other day (especially holidays and worse now that I have Reese). I wish so badly that we could quickly get there and I want my extended family to get to meet her. My Dad and Sister's still have not met her and that really kills me. I know they will in time but it is hard. Even if I could be just a few hours away as we are with Neal's family it would make it a lot easier. I LOVE living where we do but this is one part of it that I do not love.

As great of this day is for so many I feel for all of those who have either lost a child or long to have a child. I know what it is like to long to have a child and be so frustrated on Mother's Day. I cannot imagine how hard this day would be if I had lost a child.

I made it...

This past weekend one of my close friends got married. She asked me to be in the wedding months ago and although I knew it would only be weeks after Reese was born I knew I wanted to do it, I was concerned about how it would go though. It ended up going perfectly.

The wedding was outdoors at this gorgeous barn just east of Fayetteville. I had to bring Reese with me to the rehearsal because it was at 5 and Neal could not get out of work early. Reese was a perfect angel. She slept through the entire rehearsal, woke up at the end and ate and went back to sleep on the car ride to the dinner and slept the remainder of the evening. The day of the wedding Neal took care of her the majority of the day as I had to get myself ready and get out to the wedding location for photos. She was a good little baby for her Daddy. Neal brought her to the ceremony and about an hour of the reception. She was so good! He brought her home after all of our friends that wanted to hold her got to and she ended up falling asleep in the car on the way home and stayed asleep until I got home and she wanted to eat.

I am so glad that I got to participate in Helen and Brett's beautiful day, it was so pretty and so much fun. Congratulations Helen and Brett!

A few photos

She is not a fan of bath time.

We were both so worn out when we got home from the hospital and fell asleep on the couch.

I love her big, pouty, red lips.

Our little family, minus Baxter.

Sweet baby.