Swimming lessons from God

Ok- It's been a while since I have just written something that I liked, instead of updating on Caylee's status.  But yesterday, Matt ran to the grocery store for me after work and he came home with a 2012 calendar.  I LOVE calendars!  I know, they seem a little outdated with all that phones can do these days now, but I still love getting up in the morning and seeing an entire month laid out before me on the fridge.  I also love the scenes that come with it.  This time, Matt bought me a Seascape Themed calendar... perfect for this beach loving girl! 

I opened the calendar to find this very first quote:
**No man drowns who prays to God, and can swim.- Russian Proverb

Don't you LOVE that?  It's a great reminder to have faith, but not to be stupid.  Have you ever had a situation like that?  We used to lead a bible study and every week this person would come and ask the group to pray for financial needs.  This person would say they had no money for food that week or to pay bills, so would we pray?  Of course we'd pray!  But... then we found out this person DID have money, they were just spending it on the newest gadget out there.  They were buying the newest phone, newest Xbox etc.  That just drove me insane!  There are definitely times we all make mistakes with money (or in another area of life).  I won't even tell you about my freshman year in college and the money mistakes I made!!!  BUT, I really think if you pray, it should be to ask God for help in controlling that problem (like taking swimming lessons from God!).  I don't think we deserve to start making MORE money, just so we can pay bills AND indulge in the latest gift (although that'd be nice).  God wants us to learn from mistakes, He wants our hearts to change to be more like His.  You can ALWAYS pray to God, but I also believe that you can't be stupid in your requests.  You have to make sure you are taking the necessary steps as well-- you have to pray WITHIN God's will...
So... don't go dive in a pool if you can't swim and expect God to save you...of course He CAN save you, but it's just not smart! 

3 Months!

Caylee is 3 months old now!  Every month just keeps getting better.  Which is good, because I kinda panicked the first few weeks thinking I'd never get out of the house again!  I also panicked because I didn't know what her cries meant... now I know what they mean and she's a much happier baby since I usually know what she needs to fix the crying! :)  She is smiling a lot more, can hold her head up pretty well and is starting to interact with us more.  She still gets up once in the middle of the night, but I think it's only because we can't give her enough bottles during the day.  If she could just drink 5 oz at a time then I know she'd sleep the whole night, but 5 is just too much and we're short a few oz each day, so nighttime it is.  It doesn't bother me though because Matt still does the nighttime bottle. (He is a really great dad!)  I keep thinking that might end soon as his schedule is getting busier and more demanding, but we'll see.  She still takes great afternoon naps!  At least 2 hours, usually 3.  However, no morning nap for her.  She might doze on and off for 15-30 minutes,but that's not quality sleep.  She's wearing all 3 month clothes and will soon start fitting into some 3-6 month clothes... especially lengthwise, I think she'll get some of Matt's height for sure.  She has "friends" that are twins and 2 months older than her, but they are all about the same length and weight.  Granted, the twins were born VERY small, but still she's tall for her age. (according to the doctors anyways)

Here are some pics from the month!

These were taken at 10 weeks during that photoshoot at Matt's parent's house. 

These were iphone pics at about 12 and 13 weeks old

These  next few were taken with a friend's camera...

     *This pic is not staged, Diego only likes Caylee on his own terms, not forced- tonight he must have been extra tired and didn't mind sharing a pillow. 

3 Months! January 25, 2012

2 Month Shots!

Since Caylee turned 2 months on Christmas Day we had to wait until after the New Year to get her 2 month shots. (Offices were closed and booked up)  This past Tuesday, Jan 3rd we went in to get her shots.  I was nervous, just because she doesn't understand and also because the doctor I was seeing was not our usual doctor.  (I am definitely going back to our usual doctor next time!!)  Anyways, they checked her out and she is doing great!  She weighs 12 lbs 6 oz and is in the 71% for height and weight.  She obviously gets her height from Matt and the doctor was pleased with her weight gain for as tall as she is.  Then the nurse came in with the shots... there were 3 shots and one oral medicine.  Caylee took the first shot with no problem and for a brief few seconds I thought "wow, my daughter is amazingly strong and isn't even going to cry!"  But, by the time the cap came off the second needle she took one brief look at me and the wailing began.  Poor little thing.  Before I knew it, the nurse already had the 3rd shot in and I was picking her up to comfort her.  Her wails stopped, but the crying didn't and it became a very sad, pathetic babble.  She calmed down before we reached the check-out desk and was asleep in the car as soon as we got in to go home.  That afternoon we just took it easy and by the time Matt came home she was happy again!  The next morning she woke up with 101.3 fever.  I called the doctor, and as expected, they said she was fine, just to start the tylenol and make sure it doesn't keep going up and doesn't last for more than 48 hours.  We hung out on the couch for most of the day with her fussing on and off.  The fever lasted the entire day, but by bedtime had gone down to normal.  She had a rough time with her nap that day and sleeping that night, but she seems back to normal now.  We have many more shot days left, but now that I know what to expect I feel much better and I know in the long run she will be better off too!

This was taken before going to the doctor... shots may not be fun, but she sure looked cute beforehand!

Happy New Year!

We began this New Year by visiting lots of people!  Thankfully, Matt had a full weekend off, so we were able to travel a little to see his family and some friends.  He has no more off weekends though because farms around here are preparing for the birth of hundreds of foals and then the breeding season begins early February.  This will make for an intense few months for Matt, but hopefully they will go by quickly.

Here are some pics from the New Year's weekend....

New Year's Day 2012

First snow on our way to Ohio~ we made a stop in Bellbrook at McDonald's that morning... Matt and I met in Bellbrook when I moved there the middle of my 7th grade year.  

Courtney and Caylee

Michele and Caylee

Great Aunt LeeAnn and Caylee

Great Grandma Max and Caylee

Great Grandma Bergstedt and Caylee

Napping...

Early on Caylee slept all the time, but never in her crib.  (I've mentioned that before).  At 4 weeks, when the doctor assured me that she could cry in her crib a while, he also suggested I start putting her in her crib for naps.  At the beginning, every time she'd fall asleep I'd move her to her crib.  Well, after a few days I realized that would never work.  At about 5 1/2 weeks I started putting her in her crib 2 times a day and let her stay as long as she could... she only ever made it 30 minutes and I wasn't consistent because I usually run errands in the mornings.  Finally, I decided to clear my afternoons (not like I have anything to do!) and make sure that we were home between 1 and 3 every day.  After the first 3 days of this I immediately noticed a change.  She wouldn't fall asleep, but she would lay in her crib content for about an hour.  Yea!  By day 4 she was falling asleep for at least 45 minutes and would sometimes be in her crib a little over an hour! Yea again!  This past week, she has been sleeping a solid 2 hours in her crib every afternoon.  When I lay her down now, it only takes about 10-20 minutes before she is asleep and she sleeps 2 hours after that.  I have time to take a nap, do laundry, wash dishes etc! (sometimes I choose just to nap though) :)  These naps have really helped her in the evenings, she is much happier!

I'm sure we will have some rough days, but for now she is happily asleep in the afternoons!

This is not an ultrasound pic... this is a pic on our tv from the camera above her crib.  She has always slept with her hands up, so funny!

She sleeps so well, sometimes I have to go in and start turning lights on to wake up for a bottle. 

Christmas 2011

We had a really great Christmas this year with lots of new friends!  Matt was on call this weekend (being the new guy, you get the holidays) so we had to stick around Lexington.  He did get called to a few places in the morning, but thankfully the day was slow and he didn't get called in after that.

My friend and I went to church early with Caylee because they asked Caylee to be there a little early to get wrapped in her swaddling clothes (see previous post).  Then both of our husbands had finished their calls and were able to make it and joined us.  After church Matt and I took Caylee out to a friend's house (also clients of Matt's) where they had lots of food!  We visited with them for a few hours and had a really great time.  They were so sweet to include us with the rest of their family.  After that, we came back and headed over to Ann and Gabe's place (friends we went to church with... they live on the farm with us and he works with Matt).  We visited and had more food there!  We had a really great time at both places and enjoyed the company so much! Oh.. and Ann made THE BEST Derby Pie (it was my first time eating it), but it was SO good and I can't wait to make it for us sometime... 

Yesterday, Caylee was also exactly 2 months old!  Time flies when you're having fun :)  She is doing so well.  She still gets up once during the night to eat, but our afternoon naptime has gotten SO much better.  She won't always sleep during naptime, but she'll hang out in her room and babble to herself.  She started smiling a few days ago and she'll smile when I tell her she's "so pretty and so smart".  :)  She is starting to get a little more coordinated and will lay on her mat and hit her rings around for a while if I am doing other things. 

Here are some pics of the weekend....

Family Christmas Picture 2011

New friends!  (This pic is really yellow bc of the light)

Look at that mad face!  She was tired of pictures I think, but I couldn't get a good one of just her in her Christmas dress!!!

Happier now on Daddy's lap with her WubbaNub :)

2 Months!

Caught a half smile... :) (the bow looks really cute in person, but not so cute in the picture)

Baby Jesus

Yesterday, was Christmas Day and it happened to fall on a Sunday this year.  Our church had one joint service at 10:30am.  It was pretty neat how they did it to...

There was no nursery care, no children's church and no sunday school.  This meant that families worshipped together.  They did this yesterday and will do it again this coming Sunday for January 1st.  They understood that kids can't sit through a service very quietly, but they still wanted families to be together for this holiday season.  I really enjoyed this!  Also, instead of a typical service yesterday, they had members of their staff stand up and give their testimony.  This was really neat too.  So many people go to church on Christmas and hear the same story over and over, but they never really connect the dots.... they never really make the connection that Jesus the Baby is also Jesus the Savior of everyone... hearing testimonies helps make the connection.  They had several baptisms as well- which was exciting!

My Sunday School teacher and her family were asked to light the last Advent candle yesterday.  She was going to do a small monologue about the baby Jesus as well and wanted to hold a baby to make her point a little stronger.  She asked Caylee to take on the role as Jesus!  We had not yet brought Caylee to church, so yesterday was her first day and she got to be in front of all the people!  She did scream... and though the whole thing lasted maybe 2 minutes at most, 2 minutes of crying seems like an eternity :)  Oh well.. she did great and it definitely left no question as to whether she was real or a doll :) 

Here are some pics... but it was so far away that you can't tell...

Here is a pic beforehand with Caylee wrapped in her swaddling clothes