Christmas... Here & Gone

That went fast! We had a terrific Christmas with my parents and family. Peter got out of work at 11 am on Thursday (awesome!) so we finished packing and headed out.

We all went to Christmas Eve service. I can't remember the last time I went! It was so nice to see people I knew growing up in church and to show off our sweet girl. Carina slept through most of the service but she still got a glow stick like all the other kids for the candle lighting. After we got home Carina opened her Christmas Eve present - pajamas (a Merrill tradition!).

Christmas morning we made cinnamon rolls (another tradition) and by the time Mom woke up Carina was ready for her morning nap. We just couldn't wait to open presents so the adults went to town on the gifts while Carina slept. Once she was awake and happy she opened hers. She preferred eating the wrapping paper to opening and playing with the presents.

Later in the day I made sausage balls and Mom made a fabulous dinner. Ham, baked pineapple, sweet potatoes, veggies, mac-n-cheese... yum! My brother's family came over and we all soaked up the joyful chaos. Later in the evening we went to my Pop-pop's and visited with lots more family. It was great to see so much family in one short day. Many hadn't seen Carina in a few months.

With all the Christmas excitement, Carina didn't nap well at all and her exhaustion reared its ugly head at bed time. She screamed and screamed and refused to be consoled - so unlike her. My Mom finally quieted her down but between being wound up, being in a strange place and having a bad cough, she didn't sleep well all night. She spent much of it in bed between me and Peter. It took a couple days of extra sleep but she made a full recovery, haha.

When we came home Saturday, the rain had depleted most of our snow. We weren't sad to say goodbye. Sunday I made cheesecake brownies - a recipe from my new cream cheese recipe book from Mom. We delivered them to some friends. We did a ton of laundry. Other than that it was a fairly quiet weekend. We had Peter's car towed to the shop because he started having brake problems last week. We picked it up yesterday and "Lucille" is now in perfect working order again. Sadly we had to spend our Christmas money on the car (not nearly as much fun as a Wii) but fortunately we had it. There's always the tax return, right?

Peter went back to work today - a sad day for the Jones household. Carina tried bananas for the first time this morning. She gagged a bit (as she did with the apple banana flavored oatmeal) so I'm wondering if maybe bananas aren't her favorite, haha. She's peacefully napping now. We have no intentions of leaving the house today as the wind is seriously crazy. I saw on the news this morning they saw 60 mph gusts in Lancaster! Hope my Dad doesn't blow away delivering the mail.

So now Christmas has come and gone... but not completely. I still light up our tree every time I'm downstairs. I hate the thought of un-decorating. Maybe next weekend. Till then it's time for hot chocolate and Elf.

Yup, That's Snow

What's with the crazy big snow storm before it is even officially winter? We probably got 8 inches or so. Our plans for the weekend included babysitting, hosting my parents overnight, teaching Sunday school and celebrating Christmas with my Dad's side of the family. Every single one fell through. So I made a chocolate cake, Peter shoveled for nearly 2 hours and then we did absolutely nothing all weekend long. Heaven.

Carina tried peas, prunes, pears and carrots this past week. She seems to love them all! Since we started solid foods she's had a little trouble with constipation. Rebecca said "P" fruits and veggies will help with that (peas, pears, peaches and prunes). Hence all her new food introductions this past week. I read today that carrots can constipate so we'll see what happens. I'm wondering if her cereal could be the main culprit so I plan to replace her multi grain (possibly rice based, I'm not sure) with flavored oatmeal tomorrow. Might help keep things moving.

Wow - I can't believe I spent an entire paragraph discussing my daughter's bathroom habits. Sorry sweetie (and sorry to those readers who have absolutely no desire to know such things)! In other (not so embarassing) news, Carina has started to roll over in her crib. For the past couple mornings she has been asleep on her tummy when I go in to wake her. I know she's strong enough to sleep safely that way and move her head or roll back over when she wants to but it still makes me nervous for some reason. I have to keep in mind that Peter and I slept exclusively on our bellies and look at us - all alive and well. Can't help but worry as a Mom I suppose.

Today was my last day of work till 2010. Woohoo!!! Twelve wonderful days with my favorite girl (with some hubby, family and friends thrown in for good measure too). If I don't write again before the 25th, have a warm, safe, love-filled, blessed holiday.

Bring on the Holidays!

Tree? Up and decorated. Cards? Sent. Cookies? Baked. Gifts? Bought. C'mon Christmas. Let's dance.

Last week Carina had her 6 month check-up. My Mom spent the night and came with me. Carina now officially weighs 15 pounds, 6 ounces and is 22.75 inches long. 50th percentile for weight but still below the chart for height. Our petite chubster. She got her usual 3 vaccines plus 2 flu shots. She took it really well but was fairly cranky for the rest of the day. The Dr. advised against giving her Tylenol because it could make the vaccines less effective but after 7 or so hours with a cranky baby... we figured we'd take our chances with the Tylenol.

She has been a little on edge ever since. Mostly happy but just a bit crankier than usual. Our best guesses include a) she's still sore and off her game from her vaccines, b) she's teething and/or c) she's hit a growth spurt. The past 3 nights she hasn't slept through the night. She cries in her sleep 2 or 3 times and then around 4 wakes up. I feed her and she goes back down really easily but for parents who haven't been awake in the middle of the night in the past 5 months - this is tough!

Banking on the "it's a growth spurt" theory, we've started adding cereal to her morning routine and fruits and veggies to her evenings. She eats apple and yogurt flavored cereal and she likes it alright. She has tried sweet potatoes, green beans, squash and peaches. Green beans appear to be her favorite and she makes funny faces for the peaches. She is such a good little eater (aside from sticking her fingers in her messy mouth every chance she gets). It's so much fun to watch her enjoy these new foods!

One of Carina's sitters, Rebecca, recommended trying to get Carina on a nap schedule just in case she's sleeping too much during the day and it's preventing her from sleeping well at night. It's worth a try I suppose! That's the plan over my 12 days of Christmas vacation.

Ok, my dear hubby is looking lonely on the love seat so I'm going to go join him...

A New Perspective

Carina is sitting up almost entirely on her own now! Six months old and taking the world by storm. Watch out!

The Joneses are Getting Fat

Or we will if we don't stop keeping junk around the house!

Exhibit A: Our candy dish... within a candy dish.

Exhibit B: Our other candy dish.

Exhibit C: Our pantry.

And I won't even go into the Starbucks ice cream in the freezer... or the cookies on the counter... or the cake I plan to bake and slather in two * that's right * TWO tubs of frosting.

Perhaps we will try to be healthy after the holidays?

Turkey Day 2009

It certainly has been one WACKY week! Carina had the sniffles Monday morning but I sent her to Rebecca's. She was fine all day and then went downhill fast in the evening. She was so congested we couldn't lay her flat to go to sleep so I called Cheryl (a mom friend) and asked if I should call the after hours nurse line at the pedi. She said it was worth it for the peace of mind. So Peter called and they told us to go to the ER.

After a few hours of temp taking, pulse monitoring, chest x-ray, 3 failed attempted blood draws, poking, prodding, screaming, tears (hers and ours)... they said it was just an upper respiratory infection. Clean her nose, give her Tylenol, watch the fever and take her to the pedi. So we all came home and crashed at 3 am. Went in to see the pedi at 10 and heard the same thing. Peter went in to work late and I stayed home with the saddest, snottiest little girl in the world. All in all - $20 for the after hours call, $50 co-pay for the ER and $15 co-pay for the pedi but worth it just to know she's ok. It's so scary when you don't know if they can breathe ok. I was so afraid to leave her in her crib.

But Wednesday she woke up a brand new baby. All smiles, which made everybody in the Jones household a lot happier. The hospital nurse and pedi both told us there was no reason to change our Thanksgiving plans so after Peter got home from work we packed up and drove the 7.5 hours to Dayton OH! Carina was a champ. Aside from one little screaming fit and refusing to eat when we stopped for dinner - she slept most of the way. We rolled in around midnight and after unpacking, setting up the pack-n-play and giving Carina a bedtime snack, we all fell asleep around 1 am. Long day!

Thanksgiving was so great. We got to introduce Carina to Peter's extended family. Lots of great food, great company and great pictures. Carina was the star of the show and she was so happy and sociable all day. She took 3 tiny naps (she slept through her first Thanksgiving dinner!) but she didn't want to miss a minute of any of it. It was a really nice time.

As wonderful as Carina's first Thanksgiving was - Peter and I had a moment where we just really missed our grandparents who are no longer with us. My Nana Gill, Pappy Merrill and Peter's Grandma Wallace. I don't think it has really hit me (or Peter) as hard as it did yesterday just how heartbreaking it is that we didn't get the chance to inroduce our precious little one to some of the best grandparents out there. We really miss them...

Peter and I were ready to crash at 7 when we got back to the hotel but Carina was still in party mode. We all laid in bed till 10 and then Carina finally went down after her bedtime feeding. Unfortunately our upstairs neighbors were still partying (sounded like kids jumping on the bed - who knows). Peter complained to the front desk. We were desperate for sleep! In the end, we all got a much needed great night's sleep.

This morning we hit the road around 8 am and made it home by 3:30 - and that was with 3 stops! And snow! Carina did really well again. Ate better than she did on the way out and was mostly happy when she was awake. Had fussy times but no real screaming fits. What a great kid! We were all so happy to be home. Both of my sweeties are asleep right now. So cute.

We have so very much to be thankful for this year.

The Cutest Kid Ever

Why do I even bother to write anything? Nothing can top the pictures I post of Carina ;)

Got groceries Friday night. Yesterday Peter and I were able to get our H1N1 vaccines. Carina is still too young but we'll ask about that and the season flu vaccine at her 6 month check up (just around the corner!). Made a stop at Babies R Us for diapers, wipes, Mylicon and a new toy for our big road trip this week (you know - the essentials). I thought maybe Carina would appreciate a brand new toy to keep her occupied in the car but the truth is she probably won't even notice, haha.

Carina tried green beans for the very first time yesterday. She loved them! I was surprised because I tasted them and didn't like them at all. I've read that babies develope tastes for what mom eats while she is pregnant and I eat a lot of green beans so I guess that makes sense. If she's awake later she'll probably eat more tonight. Peter and I will have leftover Papa John's, yum!

After she wakes up from this nap we're going to go borrow luggage from a friend and then really get packing for our Thanksgiving trip to Dayton. I'm a little worried about how Carina will handle such a long stretch in the car but in general she's a pretty easy-going kid. It certainly makes things easier not to have to worry about packing bottles and formula. Although it could get interesting nursing her in the car, haha. It'll be an adventure!

Below you can see her in action rolling from belly to back.

Good Science?

The Today Show covered the new mammography guidelines this morning. Basically the guidelines used to say that all women 40 and older should have a mammogram every year or two. Today new guidelines were released from some government task force stating that only women over 50 should get mammograms and only every 2 years (unless the woman is considered at risk).

I was stunned... speechless. The reason breast cancer has become so treatable is because it is so often caught early. And here's the kicker - the new guidelines say that breast self exams are not worth the time and worry. I'll be the first to admit, I am positive there is plenty of research behind these new guidelines and I know there is good reasoning behind it all. Maybe if I read a few more articles and really tried to understand it all I could. But my gut reaction is fear. Fear that women of all ages will hear these new guidelines and stop being proactive. Fear that a woman who could have been treated and made a full recovery will miss her window of opportunity and die because she waited till she was 50 to get a mammogram.

My Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 46 (I think - sorry if I got that wrong, Mom!). I am positive it was before she turned 50. If not for breast exams and mammograms I don't know that my Mom would be here today. My mom wasn't considered at risk.

On the Today Show Meredith asked Dr. Nancy Snyderman (their medical correspondent) "Are they saying that early screening does not save lives or doesn't save enough lives to justify it?" My blood was boiling because even if Meredith could ask that question in her non-biased tone, I would have been spitting that question at Nancy. Her response didn't give me any warm fuzzies either. It was unsurprisingly indirect. She said "For women in their 40s, 1900 women must be screened to save 1 life but for women over 60, 400 must be screened to save 1."

So my new question is then don't those lives matter? If one life is being saved for every 1900 young women being screened, isn't it more than worth it? To me it is. To my mom it is. Are not the risks (small amounts of radiation, the possibility of unecessary biopsies, the worry) worth it if only to save one life for every 1900 screened? Meredith asked Nancy what her response would be to women who would say that a breast self exam saved their life. "You're going to hear anecdotes like that but those anecdotes and this big data of science are not the same thing."

Anecdotes? Interesting or amusing accounts?! To those women who are alive today because they had breast exams and mammograms before they turned 50 I don't think they'd find their stories amusing. Excuse my language but Dr. Nancy Snyderman is an insensitive twat. That 1 in 1900, she is somebody's daughter. She could be someone's sister, aunt, mother... she is not scientific data.

To see what the American Cancer Society has to say, click here http://tinyurl.com/yk8q8fu

The bottom line for me is this - if we have an effective screening for a disease, why are we telling women not to take advantage of it? I'm too emotionally entrenched to think clearly about the other side of the argument yet. I'm giving over my anger, frusration and fear and instead just praising my Lord that I still have my Mom.

Not Your Ordinary Week

Neither Peter nor I had any idea what day it was at any point this week. Peter was off Monday so Carina stayed home with him. We both worked Tuesday. Peter was off again Wednesday for Veteran's day so Carina had another day with daddy. I usually have Wednesday off but I figured I'd switch my days since Peter was going to be home (as nice as it would have been to have a family day at home in the middle of the week). We figured it would be better to have Carina home instead of with her sitters for an extra day. Thursday we both worked and then yesterday I finally had my day off. So yeah - wacky week.

Yesterday Carina and I had a lunch date with Cheryl and her daughter Mercedes. Cheryl watches Carina on Fridays. It was so nice to actually sit down and have a conversation (usually we only get about 5 minutes to talk when I pick Carina up to take her home). Since Carina is starting to get strange around people she doesn't know, Cheryl and I thought it would be a good idea to spend some time together so Carina wouldn't forget her in the 2 weeks they're apart, haha. Carina has always done really well for both her sitters but she screamed when I tried to leave her with my boss's daughter at staff day last week, the nice old ladies cooing over her at the grocery store made her cry and there's always a good chance she'll cry for my dad too.

She did have a really good visit with Peter's parents last Sunday though. I was a little worried considering she didn't get the nap I thought she needed but she was her sweet little self the whole time. She surprises us daily. Like this week when all of a sudden she decided she was going to start talking. No more just grunting and whining and boy does she have a lot to say! We put her in her high chair for the first time this week and she loves eating at the table with us. Such a big girl!