The Worst Mom Ever!

Sorry about the long post...I'm hoping this will be therapeutic for me

Well, yesterday I had one of those worst mom ever days. The moms out there know exactly what I'm talking about. No matter what you do, it's just wrong. It all started around 730 in the morning when she woke up. Jenna has started waking up soaked in the morning and so I got the great idea to try night-time diapers. We usually use Pampers Swaddlers, but the night-time diapers are made by Huggies. I didn't think it would matter. WRONG. Jenna woke up with the worst diaper rash ever! Like seriously bad. She didn't seem too bothered by it though. We loaded her up with Desitin and went about our morning.

So then it's around 9:00 when the second incident occurred. Our house is mostly tile floors which I'm beginning to HATE. Anyways, Jenna was sitting there playing, and I was right there so I could catch her if she fell over, but I took one second to rub my sleepy eyes, and of course, in that second, she fell over. She hit her head so hard, and she immediately started screaming. She cried so hard that she was silent, as in hold your breath silent. I immediately picked her up, burst into tears myself, and we both sat there crying for a good few minutes. I still get tears in my eyes when I think about it. I know what you're all thinking...suck it up, but it was really bad.

Jenna went to Dermers for a couple hours while I got a few things done that I needed to do. I'm working wednesday and thursday, and going out of town friday, so it was my only time. Anyways, all went well at Dermers but when she got home and I changed her diaper, I noticed the rash looked even worse. This time Jenna cried when I wiped her. Then of course we took her to the doctor. I felt like the worst mom as I sat there with my child and told him of her head bonk and then showed him the diaper rash. He reassured me that I was not the worst mom, and that Jenna would in fact survive. This did little to make me feel better. Then she got her 4 shots and cried like she had earlier when she hit her head and I, of course, cried again. Sadly, Jenna stopped crying before I did.

Once we got home and I took her diaper off, I was horrified. Her bottom is red and even a deep purple. There are two long spots on either cheek where the skin looked like it had peeled off and was oozing. She cried so much when I was trying to clean her. I bet you can guess who else was crying. So we did naked time for awhile and then used the Aveeno diaper rash stuff which our Ped recommended. We change her frequently throughout the day, at least hourly, and so does Dermers. Last night, we changed her during the middle of the night when she woke up for a feeding. This morning it looked slightly better, but it's still pretty bad.

So, needless to say, it was kind of a rough day for Jenna yesterday. I'm still feeling pretty crappy and emotional about it all, but I logically know that she will be fine, and I'm probably not the worst mom ever. Sorry there are no pictures, but there will be on the next post.

6 Months (and 2 days)

Pat and I cannot believe our baby is already 6 months old. That's half of a year. It's crazy how fast these first six months have gone. I think because of being in school it went even faster. I'm beyond thrilled to just focus on Jenna now that school is done. More about graduation in another post. But anyways, back to Jenna. Our internet has been a little sketchy the last few days so that's why this post is 2 days late. Oh well, it's actually better since we had her 6 month checkup today so now I have the official measurements as well.

The doctor's visit went pretty well. He was impressed with her sitting skills and with her rocking on all fours. He told us we can start giving her cheerios and those Gerber puff things, as well as pasta and potatoes. Poor baby got 4 shots again this visit and she cried so hard that I cried with her. I made Pat hold her down this time since I've done it the past two times. Next visit is at 9 months and it will be shot-free....Thank God!


So....at 6 months Jenna is:

• 17 pounds 13 ounces (75%), and 27 inches long (95%)
• Wearing 6-9 month clothing, or 6-12 months if it's Gymboree :-)
• Wearing size 2-3 diapers (only pampers by the way, we just figured out she is allergic to Huggies...ugh, terrible reaction)
• Eating 25-30 ounces of formula a day
• Eating a variety of fruits and vegetables, although she hates all the green veggies
• Using a sippy cup to drink water
• Sitting up and rolling all over like a champ
• Getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth, and then screaming when she doesn't go anywhere
• Still loving her nightly bath, and she has become a major splasher
• A much better car traveler, i.e. no more screaming bloody murder
• Loving her jumperoo, she goes nuts in it!
• Putting everything in her mouth, and drooling more than I ever thought possible
• Loving animal sounds, Daddy does the best ones
• Throwing her pacifier out of the crib in protest when she doesn't want to go to sleep
• Still not sleeping through the entire night. She goes down by 7pm and wakes up between 6-7 am, and eats once during the night
• Blowing razberries
• Still in love with mommy's hair, although no longer a fan of the hairdryer.
• Starting to get ticklish, and daddy gets major laughs by tickling this girl
• More interested in Baby Einstein DVDs, especially Baby Mozart and Baby Noah
• Loving storytime. Her new favorites include It's Spring, Barnyard Dance, and Dr Seuss stories
• The absolute sweetest little baby and the joy in our hearts.

Everything is Done!!!!!!!!!

Well, I am officially done with all course work for my graduate degree. I finished tonight around 1015 and I'm still shocked and giddy about it. I never have to study or do homework again!! I've spent about 22 years of my life in school, and it's finally over! I'm so very excited about all that is to come.

So since I knew I'd finish my homework tonight, I decided to keep Jenna home today so we could spend some time together. She has been going to daycare a lot lately because of my work schedule and all my homework. I've been seriously missing her. So she stayed home and we played and played. Papa came over and we went to Lowes to pick up some new outlets and light switches for our house. Ours are so old and loose and all our plugs constantly fall out. So anyways, Jenna went down for a nap, and my dad and I went to work on the project. We got a ton done and we are finishing up tomorrow. This self-portrait was taking today while we played.


Here's a couple pictures of Jenna showing off her new sitting up skills. She is seriously good at it now. However, our tile living room with the thin carpet is so not good for falling over. She smacked her head hard the other day and totally cried. I don't want to be one of those over-protective moms but seriously I can't stand her hitting her head. When she falls in her bedroom on the carpet, she never cries. Anyways, she is sitting there watching her new Baby Noah DVD, which she loves. She is seriously trying to figure out how to become more mobile. She is rolling everywhere but it's like she knows there must be a better way. She gets on all fours and rocks back and forth, and she moves her knees, but hasn't figured out to move her hands so she ends up face planting. I can tell it's coming soon though.

And just so you don't think we are total heathens, I've included a picture of her with all her clothes on. It was over 100 degrees that day and Jenna had drooled all over her top.

WOOOHOOO!!!! Finally Finished!

Ok first of all can I just say...my project is done!!! 50 pages later, and it is done. Seriously, it is a huge weight off my shoulders. I still have a take home final to finish and some hours to chart, but it's nothing compared to the work of that paper.

Anyways, I thought I'd post a picture of my Mother's Day gift. I LOVE it and it's even cuter in person. Jenna's hands and feet already don't fit in the mold. It's so crazy how fast she is changing. Check back tomorrow night for some pictures of her and some updates. I'm off to sleep, hopefully peacefully.

No....I'm not done with my project yet

So I'm still not done with my project but I only have one more chapter and the powerpoint left. We went to a birthday party today for our friend's daughter, Jordan who turned 1. It was so much fun to see our friends, and they were so excited to see Jenna. Anyways, we decided to try out the swing and Jenna loved it!! She sat in it for about 30 minutes and then later she got back in it, and she swung until she fell asleep. I have to figure out where we could hang one in our yard. The second picture is Jenna showing off her latest trick....sitting up! She is still a little wobbly and we've had some head bonks, but she's really getting good at it. She's checking out one of her favorite books, Barnyard Dance. She is really happy playing on the floor now. We throw a bunch of toys on her blanket and she rolls all around and plays. It's so much fun to lay with her and watch her explore. She desperately wants to crawl but it will probably be awhile. She has started scooting but so far she has only figured out how to scoot backwards. She then gets frustrated because she accidentally scoots away from her toys and can't figure out how to get back to them. Oh well, I'm sure she'll figure it out sooner or later. Well, I'm off to work on my project....wish me luck!