(3 months 4 weeks 1 day)

I found out I was five weeks pregnant with Reese. See, I told everyone that Ground Hog Day would NEVER be the same! (And he did see his shadow today, so 6 more weeks of winter) I can't believe it's already been a year. So much has happened between then and now. It's amazing to look at Reese today and think that this time last year she was just a tiny bunch of cells… nature and human biology is just incredible.

I think that Reese KNEW that today was special, so she decided to sleep in until 7:00AM… however, my internal clock was still set at 5:35AM and I kept dozing off because I was anticipating Reese waking at any moment… I mean, she's been up in the 5:00ish hour the past several days… but she's been sleeping 8 ½ - 9 hours a night… Guess she just got pooped out from yesterday's attempt at sleeping in her crib, which she did for a good hour.

Saturday will be Reese's first visit (on the outside, I was about 3 months PG when we went last year for the Baby Fair) to the I-X Center for the Home and Garden Show. Scott's one of the representative sponsor for a 3 story home that Lowe's is selling for a mere half a million bucks… but it's worth it. It has the best of the best that Lowe's has to offer. Reese should enjoy just being out and about and seeing the sights and sounds.

Reese's face is 100% clear and her diaper rash is almost none-existent as well. Overall, she's a happy healthy baby!

(3 months 4 weeks)

I can’t get enough of that lil’ sweet pea. We’ve spent all day today just playing and talking. She really loves being on her stomach because she can look all around… it’s truly amazing how long she can hold that massive head up!

I’m also working on some Estate Planning for Scott and I. I know, a little morbid, but hey, I work for a Probate lawyer and Terry agreed to execute the documents if I pulled them together for him. So our Power of Attorney’s (HealthCare included), Last Will and Testament’s, etc. should all be finalized within the next few weeks. One less thing to check off the “things you start to think about doing when you become a parent.”

I was watching Regis and Kelly this morning with Reese and Deborah Messing was a guest. She brought up the subject of sign language and infants. I promptly called my MIL to ask if she was watching it because I had mentioned it before and wasn’t really taken too seriously by MIL or my own Mother. hehe I remember researching the subject about a year and a half ago when I had seen another talk show discuss it, and now I’m really wanting to get into it, because Reese is starting to understand her name and surroundings. Sign Language has been proven to help infants/toddlers communicate better when they can’t necessarily articulate their wants/feelings and instead of going into a tunnel vision tantrum, Reese will have the ability to let us know what she wants. I plan on running by Borders in the next day or so and picking up “Sign With Your Baby: How to Communicate With Infants Before They Can Speak.”

And as I’m typing up this update I AM SO PROUD OF MYSELF. Reese has been fighting napping all day, and forget napping in her crib, HOWEVER, I decided to let her “cry it out.” She would cry for about 5 minutes, flipped on her stomach, cried for about 10 more… dozed for about 3 minutes, woke up and started to “fake sceam.” I was feeling bad about letting her scream until I heard that one over the baby monitor (Mom, I must doubly again thank you for the WONDERFUL baby TV monitor you gave us… WORKS LIKE A DREAM!)… and watched her. HAHA I started to chuckle at the gum gritting angry scream. Within 5 more minutes… she’s now been out for 30 minutes and still going strong. 3 months 4 weeks this is her first nap in her crib… she usually is on her play mat and more often than not… in her bouncer. I feel like I’ve accomplished a good thing, and hopefully this will mean more good things to come with Reese on the napping side of parenting… and I’m proud of myself for NOT giving in.  How funny…. Dr. Phil’s show today is how to parent your child better. LOL

I’ve added 2 more sections to Reese’s website… I’ve been keeping them jotted down at home, just haven’t posted them online until now: Mensa Bound and First Foods. Check em out when you get a chance.

HA.... by the time I was actually able to POST this update Reese is now been changed twice, 2 meltdowns and is currently "talking" as loud as she can at her toy. HAHA

(3 months 3 weeks 5 days)

Sorry for the lack of updates, but not much going on besides the same ole routines. Reese’s face looks 300% times better than it did this time last week, so I think we nipped it in the butt. However, speaking of butts…. She’s fighting a bad case of diaper rash… not sure if this is a side effect of the Elidel or not, I’m going to call our Peds tomorrow if it’s not down more than it was today.

Reese is also REALLY starting to pull her legs under herself. She LOVES being on her stomach now because she can hold her head up so much better. I mean she’s amazing at how long she can just sit there and look around.

I also printed out about 200 photos (hundreds more to go) of Reese to place in her tons of photo albums. I had to stop a few times while putting the photos in and placing captions with them to whip away a tear or two. Hormones are running so rampant in my system it’s ridiculous. I know she’ll ONLY be 4 months in a few days but…. But still, seems like it’s all going by at the speed of light.

Scott watched Reese all day yesterday while I had a morning of pampering. I went from “Mom Hair” to “Hip Mom Hair”


Before


After… hubba hubba right? Well, that’s what Scott said when he saw it. LOL

Though not a lot is going on, I seem to have ZERO time to do ANYTHING. Ahhh, the day in the life of a mom eh?

One thing I found out today… how to get Reese to giggle so much she gets the hiccups! Her little “Brave” stuffed frog that Scott felt sorry for because it fell off the shelf so we “had to buy it because stuffed animals have feelings too.” Reese was on her back and I held the frog about 6 inches off her stomach and dropped it and she DIED laughing. I did this about 20 times and every time the SAME effect…. So what’s a good mamma go and do? GRAB THE VIDEO CAMERA OF COURSE! And I also got raspberries on film! Those jokers are hard to catch. I need to get Scott to figure out how to transfer some film to my computer so I can upload them.

Hope everyone had a great weekend! OH, and I uploaded a few week 17 photos… more still to come, but thought I’d get a jump on them.

(3 months 3 weeks 1 day)

I uploaded photos to the 3 month section.... I can't believe our baby will be 4 months old on the 4th... where has the time gone?

I also failed to mention that Reese and I visited Andy at Barb's office Monday. Andy found out she was pregnant 4 months after me and is due any day now! I had to go by and see her before she gave birth to see just "how big" she had gotten. She looks GREAT! I had to do a double take because she got her hair cut like mine (that's 2 people now hehe) and she's ALL BELLY and looked like I did at 9 months! It was so good to see her and I'm still guessing she's having a girl! teehehe

Reese has also gotten GREAT at rolling over onto her stomach and from her stomach onto her back. And she's starting to pull her legs under her (3 months 3 weeks)... aka... she's starting to show signs of crawling any month now. But we are pretty good on the "baby proofing" front... remember we have a 1 year old puppy. hehe

AND.... I re-received my ring from Scott for Christmas in the mail Wednesday! I had to send it back to the company because it has some sort of protective coating on it that if the metal was stretched or reheated to resize it by a jeweler it would crack. I love it.... and it's a nice little reminder of Reese.

Some highlights from week 16 photos:

What Route 8 looked like heading to the Peds Saturday morning during the Blizzard. It's usually a 3 lane road.... pretty much made your own way.

Sunday morning up the street from our house... it was so beautiful... tood bad it was only about 9 degrees.

Since Reese has found her feet, it makes it almost impossible to change her diapers.... and you can see why!

HAPPY BABY!


"Pig in a blanket"


MMMMM feet

(3 months 3 weeks)

I called Dr. Keith this morning to get a prescription for Reese’s chapped face. I debated on calling Dr. Keith in the first place, because her face is healing, but by the end of the day, it’s right back to being as red as it was when it first appeared. Poor Reese. The office manager said that she would pass along my call to him when he got in and call over to our pharmacy. Good deal.

Scott and I had our first teeth cleaning of 2005 at Dr. Dutchman’s this morning. Scott hasn’t been in YEARS and I’m the one that goes pretty much every 6 months. Scott got a clean bill of health while I on the other hand have a cracked tooth and was told I need braces. BLEH. Oh well, Reese was a doll while she waited for each of us to finish. I let Scott go first while I held Reese. He’s DEATHLY afraid of the dentist and wasn’t happy with me at all for making the appointment….. but I have one up on him. I make the appointments and he’s forced to go because he doesn’t like calling and canceling. teehehe

Reese was “starving” so I fed her while I was waiting for Scott. The receptionist was so INCREDIBLY nice and said how impressed she was that I was nursing. She also asked when Reese goes to solids if I’d make my own food. I had given some thought to this. First from one of my best friends, Dawn, who makes all of Meridian’s food and then as I talk more to my mom… low and behold I WASN’T a 100% Gerber baby. I was a 10% Gerber baby. Mom and Dad would purée food from our garden for me to eat. Mom said that I even had dear venison…. Sounds almost as appetizing as ground up peas. hehe Anyway…. The receptionist was a nutritionist and was a big believer in making her own food. And the more I talked to her, heck, it’d be really easy to do. I’m not going to “pooh pooh” the idea, but put in the back of my mind as a possibility.

When Scott was done, we switched Reese to Scott’s lap and while walking back Dr. Keith’s office called to let me know that they called in a prescription for Elidel. WOW, Reese’s first prescription. One of many… I’m sure, but this was the first.

After the dentist’s office Reese and I headed over to Wally-World to pick up my refill on prenatal and Reese’s Elidel. Yes, still taking prenatals, it’s suggested to continue taking them while nursing because of all the minerals/vitamins it takes to keep producing milk.

Reese’s face was looking really really really good by the afternoon, I think it was due to all the errands we were running it didn’t give her much downtime to suck her hands. Too much excitement going on around her. She seemed in a better mood also because of it, I’m sure this was because her face wasn’t hurting her so badly. The running joke is that she has “permanent breast face” teehehe

By the time we left Wally-World it was already 12:30 and I had just enough time to go home, feed Reese, feed me and then get her ready to head to Dr. Hamilton’s for our adjustments. Reese was FANTASTIC. Not fussy, actually enjoyed riding in the car and SLEPT. After today’s long time in the car I’m not dreading the 5 hour ride to Mandy’s in a couple of weeks. I can’t wait to see her… from the Christmas pictures of Aiden he’s growing like a weed…. And won’t hurt for Reese to meet her future husband. HAHAHAHA

By Jennifer Carlile
Reporter MSNBC
Updated: 1:51 a.m. ET Jan. 24, 2005

LONDON - Is the midwinter weather wearing you down? Are you sinking in debt after the holidays? Angry with yourself for already breaking your New Year's resolutions? Wish you could crawl back under the covers and not have to face another day of rain, sleet, snow and paperwork? Probably. After all, it's Jan. 24, the “most depressing day of the year,” according to a U.K. psychologist.

Dr. Cliff Arnall's calculations show that misery peaks Monday.
Arnall, who specializes in seasonal disorders at the University of Cardiff, Wales, created a formula that takes into account numerous feelings to devise peoples' lowest point.

The model is: [W + (D-d)] x TQ
M x NA

The equation is broken down into seven variables: (W) weather, (D) debt, (d) monthly salary, (T) time since Christmas, (Q) time since failed quit attempt, (M) low motivational levels and (NA) the need to take action.

‘Reality starts to kick in’
Arnall found that, while days technically get longer after Dec. 21, cyclonic weather systems take hold in January, bringing low, dark clouds to Britain. Meanwhile, the majority of people break their healthy resolutions six to seven days into the new year, and even the hangers-on have fallen off the wagon, torn off the nicotine patches and eaten the fridge empty by the third week. Any residual dregs of holiday cheer and family fun have kicked the bucket by Jan. 24.

“Following the initial thrill of New Year's celebrations and changing over a new leaf, reality starts to sink in,” Arnall said. “The realization coincides with the dark clouds rolling in and the obligation to pay off Christmas credit card bills.”

The formula was devised to help a travel company “analyze when people book holidays and holiday trends,” said Alex Kennedy, spokesperson for Porter Novelli, a London-based PR agency.

It seems that people are most likely to buy a ticket to paradise when they feel like hell.

“People feel bleak when they have nothing planned, but once they book a holiday they have a goal, they work toward having time off and a relaxing period,” Kennedy said.

“When you imagine yourself on the beach it makes you feel positive. You will save money, go to the gym and come back to the optimism you had at the end of 2004,” she said.

In U.K., up to a third get SAD
Research shows an escape to the sun can have real health benefits.

Up to a third of the population, in Britain at least, suffers from seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, also known as winter depression, according to MIND, a leading mental health charity in England and Wales. Furthermore, nine out of 10 people report sleeping and eating more during the darker months.

While most cases of the winter blues are not severe, 2 percent to 5 percent of those with SAD cannot function without continuous treatment.

However, it's extremely rare to find anyone with the disorder within 30 degrees of the equator, where days are long and the sky is bright year-round, according to MIND.

Although their findings appear to support a key factor in Arnall's research for Porter Novelli and its client, Sky Travel, the charity warned against overemphasizing the psychologist's claims.

“These types of formulae, if anything, probably serve to oversimplify the complexities of real-life experience,” a spokesperson said on customary condition of anonymity.

Others in the medical field were less skeptical.

“I’m sure it's right,” said Dr. Alan Cohen, spokesperson for the Royal College of General Practitioners, referring to Arnall's equation.

However, “it is postulated that there are a number of different causes of depression,” he said.

“It may be something about one’s personality, genes or external events. For those who suffer from external events, [Jan. 24] would be the most depressing day,” Cohen said.

While travel companies hope to turn gloom into gold this date, for those unable to book a last-minute tropical getaway, Arnall might want to consider a formula for the “happiest day of the year.”

© 2005 MSNBC Interactive

(3 months 2 weeks 6 days)

We took Reese to the peds Saturday morning... during the biggest blizzard this season... all the interstates were covered, but I was so afraid of the rash that had formed on Reese's face.  It seems is a "drool spot".... it's just really chapped and irritated. The doctor said to put an OTC lotion, Eurc...something or other, and to watch it until Tuesday. If it's not better by then, give a call back.

Scott pointed out the fact that since Reese sleeps on her stomach at night and drools a TON that it's keeping that part of her cheek wet. So, until further notice, she's on her back until her cheek heals.... it wouldn't be that big of a deal, but since Reese likes sucking her hands she's constantly rubbing that portion of her cheek as well.

She's a big girl though! Officially 15.4 lb & 25 1/2 inches long!

Saturday night, we TRIED, oh did we TRY and get Reese to sleep on her back. It just won't happen. She HATES IT. She turns over to be on her stomach, but no worries, as of this morning, her face is healing NICELY! Linda commented this morning that it's just a trace of redness. Seems like every 2 minutes she's getting slathered up with lotion! It's funny when I go to put it on her face, she immediately opens her mouth… I think we may be starting Rice Cereal soon!

Saturday was pretty much a blur with driving 16 miles in horrendous weather (I-76 we just pretty much made your own lanes) to the peds office then came home to rest and relax, but the roads were clear by the time we came home (Go CUYAHOGA FALLS Department of Transportation!!) so Scott ran a few more errands while I started cleaning.

Sunday, it was sub-degree weather, therefore church services were cancelled and we all slept in, well, we tried anyway. Reese had other plans. She's SUCH a happy baby! And it was official…

REESE DID FIND HER FEET ON FRIDAY! It's so cute, but boy does this now make it difficult to change her diapers! Nothing like being bare butted to make it tons easier to bring a foot up to the mouth and to play with her toes. Reese has also graduated into 6 - 9 month onesies. Scott and I had been kidding ourselves thinking that the 3 - 6 month ones were long enough…. Wrong… they won't say snapped, or the legs get bunched right above her knee… we have such a long kid, oh well, I'm hoping for some "higher learning" to help out with sports scholarships.

I've managed to start printing out photos to fill up photo albums given during my/Reese's baby shower, Christmas gifts (bobble head, Thanks Shaun, that matches our wedding bride/groom bobble heads. ) and other misc frames that we've collected over the past year.

And I also emailed Barb to ask her if it was "normal" for me to be so weepy as of the last few weeks. It's nothing for me to break down into tears when someone brings up Reese, I start talking about her, someone does something nice for someone else, seeing something on TV, etc. She put my mind at ease by saying that it was perfectly normal because the same hormones that were racing through my body while pregnant are still present because I'm nursing. I've had a major life-changing event happen and as long as it's not getting in the way of enjoying lives joys and excitement it's fine. "Cry all you want." She finished up the email by telling me that I was a "wonderful mom." This then sent me into tears…. Scott came in to hear what Barb had to say and I started blubbering and he said, "Goodness Sue, am I going to have to email Barbara and tell her that your email about crying made you cry?" We both laughed.

I think that about does it as far as updates for this past weekend…. It went by so quickly, glad that I'm off tomorrow to try and catch up on it all! Scott and I go in together tomorrow for our 6-month dentist cleanings. I called to remind him and then asked how his day was going…. "it was fine until you told me that." He loves the dentist… can't you tell?