In the Middle of the Night

I'm really not used to being at work in the middle of the night. To be honest, it's really quite nice. Very calm and peaceful compared to the utter chaos of the day. If I could actually get some sleep during the day, this might be something I could handle. But, sleep is quite important to me...
Ellie got to stay this weekend at her Aunt's house for the very first time. She was beside herself, she was so excited. She told Daddy about a hundred times not to pick her up from school on Friday, that she was probably going to stay two nights, so please pack her clothes. She seems to be having a good time.
Well since I have time...On Christmas morning I got unexpectedly cancelled. While that was great, that I got to stay home with my family, I couldn't go back to sleep after getting woke unexpectedly that early in the morning. So I laid their and for whatever reason started thinking of when Hurricane Katrina hit. After New Orleans flooded, some of the kiddos were evacuated to our hospital from the children's hospital there. I was charging Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and they came on thursday morning. We didn't have anyone here those days to accept donations, so that responsibility fell to me. I will never forget the outporing from the community. I spent the entire day friday and saturday accepting wagon after wagon full of donations. By lunchtime that friday, I had received over $1000 in gift cards. I had them all in a little paper bag by my desk, and I had a heck of a time walking away, even after I kept hiding them. Finally, the pharmacist gave me a locked bin in the medication machine to keep them in, so I wouldn't have to stalk them. The hallway was full of wagons of donations. I had never seen such generosity in my life, and to this day, that still sticks with me.
I don't know why I thought of that on Christmas morning. I can't even remember what brought it on. I just know I was thinking, I want to see this all the time, and I want everyone to know what it's like, to be so overwhelmed with kindness and goodness. I hope that my girls will someday know what that feels like. I wasn't the receiver of the gifts. But I tell you what. I got to hand out those gifts. And I remember the familes just sobbing and saying how thankful they were. And, of course, I cried a little too. So while those who gave so much may never know it, they truely made a diference. If only we could all be so lucky.

Cold Nights

I just gotta see my doggie!

Ignore the hair. Her daddy gives her that awful combover.
My big sister loves to feed me!

This would be a really cute picture if not for the fat black eye. Maybe I can photoshop it.

What?

Well, it has been super cold here. And Kailey's room is 20 degrees colder than the rest of the house. I'm not kidding, I took a thermometer to it to show my point. Matt took off the baseboard and put some fomey stuff under it and claimed it was warmer. I don't think so. I cranked up the heat in the house. Not very budget friendly, but the baby can't freeze!
Ellie and I are reading the Little House series. We just finished little house in the big woods. She is loving it so far! In the current book, Laura and her family are moving from Wisconsin to Kansas. And they travel through Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri. She thinks that is way cool since that is the way we go when we go to Minnesota. I think we will try to get to the museum up there when we go next time.

Both my girls have felt the need for overnight visits the last few nights, and I am dead tired, and gotta get up for work tomorrow. So not much from here on this boring night.

7 Months

Sitting like a big girl!

Showing off my cute teeth

I meant to write this post yesterday, but yesterday got away from me.

My baby girl is 7 months old.

That is, she is officially in the second half of her first year.

My little baby is literally growing up before my eyes. I know that happens. My first baby did the same thing. And now she tells me all about what a big girl she is.

Kailey is beginning to eat more food. She prefers food with texture we have discovered. She'll be demanding chicken nuggets soon too, I just know it. She has had her bottom teeth for a couple months now.

She slept through the night four straight nights in a row. And then realized the error of her ways and is back for her 1:00 am snacks. She does sleep better on her tummy, and she flops right on it as soon as we put her to bed.

She loves her big sister. Ellie can make her laugh almost on command.

She says Da-da. I sternly scolded her, and reminded her who it was that was ill for 9 months, endured countless doctor appointments, labs, and ultrasounds, went through 21 hour of labor, and has gotten up and fed her every night of her 7 months of life. But no, still its all DA-DA.

She is trying so hard to crawl. There is just too much fun stuff just out of reach.

She is an absolute sweetie, and I will try not to be sad that she is getting so big. Try being the key word here.

Nighttime Ramblings

It seems as though my girls are having growth spurts. Or, at least that's the standard reason for why they want to be up all hours of the night. Kailey has required a date at least 2 times each night the last few evenings. I know she should be past snacking in the middle of the night, but, she just screams and cries unless I feed her. I'm not that sure she's getting enough to eat in the evenings, and I've been supplementing, but that's not quite doing it. Here's to hoping this is just a phase.
Ellie, on the other hand, I just don't know. A few mornings ago, she woke up sobbing at around 5 am. Matt got up and went to check on her, Kailey and I were sacked out in bed, trying to catch a few minutes of sleep that we didn't get overnight. So I hear her crying and repeating the same thing over and over. It doesn't sound quite right, so I get up and go check on her. Sure enough, she's saying exactly what I thought..

"I want Baby Alive! I want Baby Alive!"

Now she did have this on her christmas list, but no one got it for her. Apparently, she is crushed. So, I told her we'd save our money and buy her. She has a chore chart that she is diligently working on in order to earn enough money for Baby Alive. This thing better be great, as much as she keeps asking for it.
Then, yesterday night, about 10:45, I'm getting ready to go up to bed. And here she comes, down the stairs, completely dressed, hair done, music shut off in her room. And ready for her day. Only problem was, it was still the night, and we hadn't gone to bed yet. She apparently woke up and got confused.

Today at school, she got clocked by some hard plastic toy. She has a fancy shiner on her eye. I hope it doesn't swell too much. She didn't seem too phased by it, just complaining of a bit of soreness. But I'm pretty sure that's gonna look quite pretty by morning.

Pray for Baby Miranda

Miranda Rae is the niece of a coworker and friend of mine. She was born on January 2, 2009 at 23 weeks gestation. April has started a blog in order for everyone to follow her progress as they begin the long struggle that NICU life brings. Miranda's mother has lost 2 previous babies, and she is their miracle. So please add her to your prayers tonight. She needs all that she can get.