Don't leave me Mommy!!!

Quick update on Lesley's reflux and eczema...the burping technique Dr. Decker showed me works about 80% of the time. First, I lay her on her stomach (see photo below), rub and pat her back. After about a minute, I roll her to her side and rub a little more. Finally, I sit her upright and usually with just a few more pats, we get either a "big girl burp" or some spit up. Either way, I'm happy because she's much more content and we can go on with either a nap or quietness versus fussiness. We think the culprit for the eczema flair-ups is the heat. Seems like if she gets a little too warm, her skin gets red and irritated. So, we are going to have to keep the house cooler than we normally do, not leave her in the car seat for extended periods of time if possible, and dress her lightly. If you see her without socks, it's not because we are bad parents, or forgot to put them on, it's to help keep her cool.

The latest task is going to be getting Lesley ready for Mommy to go back to work. I've only left her a couple of times, and it was always with Daddy. We've tried getting out of the house and leaving her with a babysitter (either Grandma Cheryl or cousin Lauren) a couple times. Not too successful yet! The first attempt was a couple Friday's ago. Jason and I planned to go shopping and get ice cream, just the two of us. We made sure Lesley was fed, changed, and happy before Lauren came. Right when we were leaving the house, Lesley started screaming! And I mean really screaming...after spending 30-40 minutes getting her calmed down, we decided to take her and Lauren with us on "date" night. Hmmm...Strike 1.

My second attempt was to just run errands for 45-60 minutes last Saturday afternoon while Jason was at the Royals game. Lauren was brave enough to come over again. Lesley was happy when I left but after leaving, she had another melt down. Lauren said she screamed for 30 minutes. Poor baby! And, poor Lauren. Strike 2 (although I did make it out of the house without her, so maybe we can say foul ball?).

Attempt three: I was in desparate need of a haircut and color (grey hairs have multiplied since Lesley arrived. Yuck!!!!) Grandma Cheryl was more than willing to babysit for the afternoon. Again, she was fed, had a clean diaper, and happy. And again, right before I left she had a melt down. Grandma Cheryl tried to calm her for several minutes, but ultimately I had to take over and as soon as I had her in my arms, she was peaceful and eventually fell asleep in my arms. So, I got out of the house but when I returned, the report card was that she was FUSSY the entire time. Grrr.... We'll keep trying since I DO have to go back to work and she WILL need to learn and trust other people. Strike out?

Step 1: Lay on belly, pat and rub back.

I love these pants...so cute! Even when her diaper leaked, the pants were saved and there was no way the pants were coming off. New onsie, same pants since they are so cute and Daddy hadn't seen her wearing them yet. (And, since Mommy knows the pants aren't going to fit forever. Wear them while they fit!)

We were so happy to have my college roommate and dear friend Alexis from California visit us for a few days. We learned that Lesley likes bouncing on the exercise ball. Unfortunately, they were some of Lesley's fussiest days yet, but I still think Alexis enjoyed some of her time here. She was able to visit one of her softball teammates, Jarrah, over the weekend and actually some some KC things with Jarrah. They went to a Royals game, Melting Pot happy hour, the Farmers' Market, and took a tour of the KC, MO investigations (think CSI) facility where Jarrah works as an investigator. We hung out at home and watched some movies while she was with us - just a reminder that a baby (and a hurt back) changes everything! I think after her experience with us, Steve and her will be waiting to have kids for a while. :)

Even with the fussy days, Lesley had a smile for Alexis.

We are trying to do at least one feeding a day with a bottle. Maternity leave will be over before we know it :( and she's going to have to eat while I'm out. Don't worry Katie, she'll be a pro by the time you start babysitting! That's our goal! (And, my secret goal is to have Daddy do a nighttime feeding if Lesley is still getting up twice a night to eat.)

After a very fussy afternoon with Grandma Cheryl, Lesley took a long nap. We actually woke her up after about 2 hours praying the late afternoon nap wouldn't disrupt her nighttime sleep pattern. Lesley took a bath and then we read some Elmo books before watching the Royals game with Daddy. Although she wasn't really saying any words, she certainly had some opinions on the book. Can you see her wrinkled eyebrows? I think she wanted one of Cookie Monster's cookies - well Mommy did even if Lesley didn't. Hopefully reading books will be part of her bedtime routine. She only needed fed/attention 3 times that night, versus the 18 times the night before. Maybe the book routine did it?

Hoping for a better week...next week!

Some good updates and some not so good updates this week. First, my back is doing better although still painful at the end of the day and whenever I have to carry Lesley around for an extended period of time. She's a chunk, weighing in at 11 pounds, 8 ounces as of last Friday. Luckily, my friend Alexis who has been visiting is married to a physical therapist who has had some great recommendations for stretches and treatment. I'm on the road to recovery!

We ended up taking Lesley to the doctor since she got fussier throughout the week and her rash kept getting worse and worse. The doctor said she has the worst case of eczema that he's seen in a 6 week old baby. I feel so bad for her, she just looked miserable and was so irritable. She also has some acid reflux which doesn't help. We got some really thick cream for the rash and raised her mattress on one end of the crib to help with the reflux. Both approaches have helped and we pray that she returns to her happy baby behavior soon.

Lesley and Lilly were scheduled to be baptized this weekend, but that is going to be delayed since Jason's grandmother who lived in California passed away and the funeral is now set for this weekend in Neosho, Missouri. We feel bad since so many family members planned to attend the baptisms, but unfortunately, this wasn't something we could predict. Hopefully we can get the baptisms rescheduled for early June - the rest of May is super busy for the family.

So, we are hoping next week will be better for our family - no more back pain, a happy baby with skin problems under control, and some great memories of Nanny.

Charlie Brown monitoring the storms in our area on Saturday night.

Lesley has discovered the mirror above her swing and seriously can spend an hour looking at herself, making faces, and then smiling. It's so cute! She's also found her voice, although she is in the process of perfecting each sound and trying to determine what each noise means. The other day she would start crying but then stop immediately and look at us like "what does that mean?". She did that for like 15 minutes while we just watched her. We could tell she wasn't upset, just trying to figure out what her voice was doing.

Grandma Cheryl bought this mobile for above Lesley's crib. In the middle of the night, I'd get up and feed her but it would be difficult to get her back to sleep. As long as I was at least standing next to her crib, she would be fine. I didn't necessarily have to pick her up, she just wanted to see me. We decided that she just needed something to occupy her while she feel back asleep. Now that we've raised the crib, she falls back a sleep very quickly so I think part of the problem was the acid reflux keeping her awake. She does enjoy the mobile when you lay her in the crib while she's in a good mood. If she's already crying, don't even try.

We visited Granny the other day and Lesley could not take her eyes off Granny. Granny of course loved this and has proclaimed that Lesley loves the vowels. A - E - I - O - U - and sometimes Y. It was funny to see Granny talk to Lesley and Lesley just stare at her with those big, beautiful eyes.

We love her more and more every day!

This week's challenges

Not sure if it's been an eventful or uneventful week for us. You decide.

Jason went to Dallas for a conference leaving me to care for Lesley...not a problem, until I managed to REALLY hurt my back on Tuesday. I spent half the day walking around like a hunchback and hoping she wouldn't need a lot of attention. Heather stopped over and brought dinner which turned out to be a blessing since I was in no shape to cook. Going to bed that night was the worst feeling ever since I could barely lift her in and out of the crib, and getting in and out of bed for me was painful. I felt so helpless! Luckily Jason's mom was able to come over on Wednedsay midmorning to help out by changing diapers, picking her up when needed, handing her to me when it was feeding time, burping her, etc. She even took me to get a acupressure massage (which I'm still debating whether that helped or not). I felt useless. Jason was able to leave the conference early to get home and take care of his girls. Thank goodness! Just knowing he was on the way home was a relief to me. Today is a little better although I still can't straighten my back completely and I've been avoiding picking Lesley up since it's just painful. Jason stayed home with us today so at least I don't have to worry about Lesley's needs. And, hopefully the chiropractor will help this afternoon!

Thanks for coming over Grandma Cheryl to entertain me while Mommy did NOTHING!

Lesley has also developed a rash over a lot of her body. It doesn't look too terrible but we are monitoring and putting a lot of dream/lotion on her. Probably just eczema, but still yucky.

On a better note, my college roommate is flying into town this afternoon. She's splitting her time between our house and one of her old softball teammate's houses. We're so excited to have her visit! It's her first trip to KC so there's certainly going to be some bbq involved.


Just a few photos from the week...


Lesley wore her blue jeans the other day - By the looks of the photo, she wasn't pleased, but she did look adorable.

MOMMY - please stop taking photos!

Don't let this photo fool you - she still refuses the pacifier. The other night when Heather was here, we tried again. This time she was nice enough to let the pacifier sit in her mouth, she's get a perplexed look on her face, and then she'd spit it out. This girl is just not having any of it!

Growing up so fast!

I looked at the calendar today and realized that Lesley is over 5 weeks old. Where has the last month gone to!? She's become much more alert lately, and is really starting to get a personality of her own. I've noticed that although our schedule changes a lot, she does have a routine as far as eating, sleeping, dirty diapers, and her afternoon "happy hour" (her "happy hour" is when she is all smiley and a very content baby). The routine is not always at the same time every day and we sometimes mess it up by taking her out and about, but it's still pretty predictable. Still no luck with the pacifier and she's starting to "snack & catnap" during the day which Mommy is not happy about - it means more frequent feedings since she's not filling up. We need to work on that, and her using a bottle so Mommy can have a little more flexibility.

Hanging out with Daddy...captured a few smiles!

Drool monster - check out her dress and the drool she managed to get all over herself the other day.

She is starting to like her dollie - well, she hasn't actually said that to us, but I think she likes the dollie so I've started carrying it around with us and showing it to her whenever possible.

Her cousin Audra gave her this cute pink, heart covered blanket. We cuddled up in it the other morning when Mommy was trying to get a few extra minutes of sleep.

Here is the activity mat - She's sort of started reaching for the lion from time to time. I thought she was going to end up on her stomach the other day when she just couldn't quite grab it.

I bought these cute headbands for her but quickly realized she won't be able to wear them except for a photo from time to time. She has a big head and the headband left some indentions. Oops! Thanks for the beautiful eyes AND the big head Daddy.

Lesley's First Easter

We had a great trip to Iowa for Easter. So much going on - Lesley's first trip to the Spaghetti Works, Good Friday Church Service, Clara's bridal shower, a trip to Grandpa Hoffmann's pond, black pot stew dinner and kettle corn for dessert, Easter Sunday church, Brunch at Uncle Nick & Aunt Barb's house, and Easter dinner with the Holtz family. The whole family was exhausted by the end of the weekend. Luckily Abby and Lesley could recover on Monday and I think we're back to a normal eating and sleeping schedule.

The Hoffmann crew after mass on Easter Sunday

Lesley in her Easter Dress with a little smile

Family Picture

Grandma Nancy was in charge of the girls - she knows how to entertain and keep them happy.

Lesley's first trip to the Spaghetti Works - Mommy's favorite restaurant ever!

She was all smiles one day and we got lots of good grins on camera.

The girls slept in the back of the explorer during their trip to the pond

Lesley was getting fussy so Grandpa Keith thought Lesley needed some chips. She loved them! (She didn't really eat any, just "gummed" them.)

This was when we made kettle corn - you can see the white popcorn on the ground. The black pot stew was great too, everyone brought something to "throw" in and it turned out amazing. I think we had 5 gallons which was the perfect amount for the 35 Hoffmann's in attendance.

Miss Lilly in her cowboy boots. So cute!

Weight gain and Walk update

Well, I took Lesley to get her weighed on Tuesday afternoon and I couldn't believe how much she has gained since birth. She was 10 pounds, 9 ounces (with clothes and diaper on). That's about a 2 pound weight gain in the 4 weeks she's been around. I'd say we must be doing a good job feeding her. She continues to do great at night - sleeping in 3-4 hour stretches. Jason usually gets her to sleep between 9-10pm so the first "wake-up" call is around 1am and then again between 4-5am, although this morning she lasted until 6am. Overall, I feel like I'm getting enough sleep which I'm thankful for.

She continues to love her baths. She's had a lot of dry skin and baby acne on her face which isn't going to win her any modeling gigs. But, hopefully all that will clear up in the next couple weeks. Baths followed with a thin layer of vasoline seem to help so it's a good thing she enjoys bathtime. We had our first major diaper blowout in her crib last night - which was not good timing since since we just gave her a bath before bed last night. Oh well, I guess if she starts smelling before the next bath night, we'll have to change the schedule. Today is laundry day - pj's, sheets, changing pad, swaddling blanket, mommy's clothes (since I was sleepy and didn't realize what was going on until it was too late and I had picked her up to hold her tight), etc.

We had awesome weather in KC yesterday and Lesley and I took full advantage of it. First, we went to Mommy/Baby yoga for the first time. I really have missed my yoga classes and although there wasn't a continuous 1.5 hours of yoga (Lesley interruptions - eating, diaper change, fussing), it was great being back. It was especially fun to see some of the other moms and meet their babies who had been in prenatal yoga classes with me.

After yoga, we ran a few errands then had lunch and went for a walk outside. You can tell from the photo above, she wasn't all that impressed but luckily she slept most of the time and I was on my way home when she started getting really upset. We plan to keep trying since I need to hunker down and really train for the Challenge Walk.

Speaking of, we are just starting our fundraising efforts and need your help! Some of you will probably get an e-mail requesting donations in the next few days so be on the look out. In the meantime, feel free to visit my online fundraising website at the following link:

http://www.active.com/donate/msborderwalk/AbbyCarlin

Or, you can visit the Heartland Border Walk for MS website for more information at the following link:

http://www.msborderwalk.org/

This year the walk is not sponsored by the National MS Society but rather is partially sponsored by the MidAmerica Neuroscience Research Foundation where 70% of the proceeds will go. Because of the new sponsors, these webpages will look different if you are a previous donor.

Thanks in advance for your support! Let me know if you have any questions. If you'd rather write a check, we can certainly make arrangements to ensure the donation gets to the right place.

Best Friends

We made our first trip to Iowa since Lesley was born. Although she'll get to meet a lot more people over Easter, she loved hanging out with her new Cousin Lilly, her Aunt Aimee and Uncle Mike, Grandma and Grandpa Holtz, Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Holtz, and Great-Grandma Hoffmann. Lesley did great in the car and we only had to make one stop on the way up to Iowa and one stop on the way back home.

Great-Grandma Hoffmann said "Oh my" when she saw how big Lesley was. Then, she turned to Lilly and said "Well, aren't you a runt?"

Poor Great-grandpa Holtz couldn't figure out which girl was which. Every time we handed him a baby, he'd ask "Which one is this?" We tried to explain that Lilly has blond hair and Lesley has dark hair, but that still didn't work.

Jason decided that Aimee's delivery HAD to be easier than mine. Look at those heads!

The girls didn't really care about each other yet, but we think someday they will be best friends.

Here is the quilt that Great-grandma Holtz made for Lesley. She spent a LOT of time working on it and we will forever be thankful.

We got a hand-me-down activity mat from her second cousins Megan and Brian. Lesley (and Daddy) like staring in the mirror and the little lion that hangs down. We've only had this for a few days and she's already kept occupied for several hours under it. Thanks Klein family!

Over Easter weekend, Lesley will get to meet more members of the Hoffmann family. We are excited!

Grunts, moans, and groans....

We've decided that Lesley is the loudest sleeper ever! She is constantly grunting and moaning and groaning (and farting:), not very lady like but we'll excuse her since she's a newborn. We've had to turn the baby monitor down really low and face it away from her in the crib so we don't hear every noise she makes. And, I've had to learn not to react to every noise, just the crying. Luckily, her sleep pattern has been pretty predictable so I can guess if she's really upset, or just making noises - she wants fed every three hours. Last night she had two four hour stretches which was amazing!

Nicole, Matt, and Clara came over for dinner last. Lesley pretty much slept the entire time but hopefully next time Lesley will be awake to hang out with Clara. It was nice to have visitors and share some of our parenting adventures. Sounds like we are experiencing some of the same adventures that the Van Denabeele's have run into. As an example, they claim Clara was a big grunter at night too. Must a be girl thing?

We had a major diaper blow out tonight. Jason was relaxing with her on the couch while I cooked dinner and I swear the floor shook while she filled her diaper. The messy diaper was all over her outfit and earned her a trip straight to the bathtub. She didn't mind since she loves the bathtub. We only have a handful of newborn clothes that are pink, so looks like I'll have to do more laundry tomorrow. Since we didn't know if we were having a boy or a girl, we didn't get a lot of newborn clothes. And, with her growing so fast, I refuse to buy anything less than 0-3 months, so it feels like laundry is an every day event with Lesley in the house.

We put the final touches on her bedroom last night. Take a look - we love it and I think she does too.

I'm trying to get her used to a pacifier but she really has no interest. I'd like to start using one when she thinks she's hungry even though I'm pretty sure she's not. Or, just as a soothing device when we are trying to get her to sleep or calm her down. So far, no luck as she is resisting and acts like we are putting sour milk in her mouth.

Jason's cousin Emily stopped by to visit us - well, let's not kid ourselves, she really just wanted to see Lesley. Lesley was showing off her big, beautiful eyes and wouldn't keep them off Emily for quite some time. Every day her eyes lighten up and we are pretty sure they will eventually be blue like her daddy's.

We are taking our first road trip tomorrow, up to Iowa to meet more family including Lesley's great-grandparents and new cousin Lilly who is just 12 days younger than she is. Hopefully we'll have more great photos next week...