Olives on the plane!

Our trip to Utah went great! I could not have asked for a better trip! Except for Maielle waking up with a fever of 101 the day of the wedding!


I bought a bag for Maielle's car seat and for her stroller and gate checked both of them. They did not get messed up and I had no problems gate checking them. The trip over there I was so worried about how Maielle would do on the plane. She did great! We had two flights going to Utah and two flights coming home! The first flight was only 20 minutes, but I would say this was worse than the 3 hour flight. We were on a very small plane that was hot! The second flight Maielle slept for half of the flight and then she played for the rest of the flight! She was excellent! Everyone commented on how well she traveled! I am blessed with a good little traveler! The wedding was beautiful! Maielle was great even though I could tell she did not feel well. We were not able to really sight see much. On Friday we drove into the mountains to go to the Rehearsal dinner. It was a pretty drive, but I did not feel well that night so I was not able to enjoy it that much. Even though Maielle & I were sick, overall it was a good, SHORT trip!

We had an experience on the way home that we will never forget! My mom changed Maielle diaper in the car right before heading to the airport and I remembered saying that it looked a little loose but we left it because we were in a hurry! We got to the airport, checked in and were sent to the front of the security line because we were late and had a baby with us! So we got on the plane…Maielle fell asleep…we ordered an appetizer to eat (olives, hummus, crackers, and almonds)…Maielle woke up and went to sit on my moms lap. While sitting on my moms lap, I saw the poop face! I just thought that this is going to be an experience changing a diaper in the airplane restroom. We continued eating and my mom felt something drop in her lap….sooooo she reached down to get what she thought was an olive. She picked the “olive” up and handed it to me…I looked down and saw that she was trying to hand me a piece of poop! I was laughing so hard, tears were going down my face! I took the “olive”, grabbed extra clothes for Maielle and rushed to the bathroom with her. My mom’s shirt & Maielle were covered in poop. Luckily my mom had a jacket so she just took her shirt off and zipped her jacket up. It was an experience trying to change Maielle’s clothes & diaper in the airplane restroom. Needless to say…we did not finish the rest of our appetizer!

Seasons

We all go through different seasons of life. Right now I feel I am in a transition season. I am trying to figure out how to be the super wife & super mom all at the same time. Throw working full time in the mix and there is no time to breath sometimes...let alone have a regular quiet time! So, yes I am trying to do it all...cloth diaper, make my own baby food, teach Maielle the skills she needs to learn, keep the new house clean, cook dinner most nights, make sure Maielle gets to spend time with family, give my husband the time I should & want....the list could keep on going! So as you see there is no time to just sit on the sofa and relax! How do I do it all? I feel I am running around like a crazy person from 7am to 11 pm! I need to make time for myself...I need to get back to having a regular quiet time! I feel drained and want to feel revived!

On another subject Maielle and I will be taking a trip next weekend without Marcus. Marcus has to stay behind and work (honestly he hates to fly so he will think of any reason to get out of flying if he can). I will be flying for the first time with Maielle. I would be lying if I said that I am not nervous about this trip! What if she hates flying? What if my stroller gets messed up while checking it at the gate? Those of you that have flown with a baby...did you bring your car seat and stroller combo? I ordered a bag to put both the car seat & stroller in when I gate check them. I am going to try to BF Maielle during take off and while landing or at least have her paci in her mouth. We will be taking 4 flights total! I will take any suggestions of things I need to make sure I bring or things I need to remember to pack!!! Please help!

Infertile?

Maielle is here for me to hold in my arms!

Yes my miracle is here. I can touch her, cuddle her, and feel her sweet breath on my cheek. In some ways the nightmare of infertility is over. I woke up and all that was, was just a bad dream. And a lot of others view it that way. Granted I am no longer part of the struggle. But, I WILL go through that struggle again. There are future baby plans.

Have I left infertility behind, though, since I have my miracle little girl?

Will I always be known as infertile, will this always be apart of me?

Yes, I am and will be forever changed. At the same time, however, the friends that left me in the dust while infertile now welcome me into their circle of parenthood advice. I now have my golden ticket into their club.

So have I left infertility behind? Yes and no.

So yes, I have left infertility behind…I can look at my little miracle every day in amazement, I am on the other side of the dream, enjoying every second.

But no, I am still there…when my doctor asks what form of birth control we are using…I just laugh and say none! We had to have many surgeries, many procedures, IVF and it wasn't until our third attempt that we got pregnant.

It’s the experience that has changed us. It is our experience that remains with us. And I know that I am different, set apart for having a success story, I also know that I will never be the same!

I’m not sure if it’s me who can’t leave infertility behind, or infertility that cannot leave me? Infertility will forever be intertwined with this family of ours.

It keeps me grateful.
It keeps me trusting.
It keeps me praising.
It keeps me…me!

NINE, 2700sqft, Guilty!

We now have a NINE month little girl! She started officially crawling right before nine months. I say she officially started then because a month before she was getting around just not on her hands and knees and moving forward. I have started planning her first birthday and I am very excited to have it in our new house! Maielle has still not been sleeping at night and she seemed to be getting worse. She would wake up and stay awake for 2 hours with us trying everything to get her back to sleep. So last night we decided to let her cry it out! I felt horrible listening to her scream and wanted to run in there and scoop her up and cuddle with her, but I was going to stick it out and see if this would work. She screamed for exactly 30 minutes and then just all of a sudden there was silence! Is she ok? Did she fall asleep? Marcus seemed to be even more worried than I was, so he snuck in there to check on her and she was passed out asleep!!! AND SHE SLEPT ALL NIGHT LONG!!!! So maybe there is something to the Cry It Out Method?!?!??! She also was still her sweet little self this morning when I went in there and she was not mad at me for abandoning her!

We have a contract on a house and hope to close this month! Our house still hasn't sold so if you know anyone please send them our way! We hope to not have to carry two house notes for too long! I am very excited to move into our new house. It is 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths and is 2,700 square feet...so we are moving to a house that is more than twice the size of the house we are currently in! That also means we need more furniture. Marcus & I have had fun so far shopping for new stuff!!!

The guy that robbed me while at work...plead GUILY yesterday! So that meant no testifying and no trial! The sentencing will be in September, so that is when we will find out how long he will go to jail for!

We just got back from a vacation with Marcus' family in Canyon Lake and it was a very relaxing vacation. It was hard to come back to work after being off for a whole week. We were worried how Maielle would do in the car for 5 hours but she did great! She slept alot!!! And only got fussy once and it was because she was hungry. I fed her and she fell back asleep! So more trips please, because we have a good traveler! Next month Maielle & I will be flying to Utah...without Marcus...I hope she does well while flying! We will see!

Parenthood!

Our first 8 months of parenthood have been great, learning every day and just when we think we have something figured out, she changes things up on us! She sleeps, she doesn't sleep, she wakes up just once a night, so we are still going up and down with her sleeping! We all think she is teething now...we can see two little white lines on her bottom gums for about two weeks now but nothing has broken through yet?!?!?!? So who knows, maybe she will be like her daddy and get teeth very late!

I am having trouble with CD at night. The CD's I have are Bum Genius & Gro Via. I have tried both and they both are leaking at night. I put two soakers in the Bum Genius and she leaked through so I put three soakers in and she still leaked through! She sleeps on her stomach (I know she should sleep on her back but if I put her on her back she flips to her stomach) and she wakes up in the middle of the night with her stomach all wet! I also tried the Gro Via single insert and also double inserts and she leaks through! So those of you that CD....please let me know what CD you use at night and your tricks because I am still trying to figure things out!

Marcus & I left Maielle for the first time! We went to Galveston for an overnight trip for our anniversary and we had a great time!!!! We relaxed on the beach, had a great dinner, and walked around and shopped! Overall a very nice get away! I am ready for a real vacation though! We are going on vacation with Marcus's family in a few weeks and I am very excited!

So there you have it...a short catch up on what has been going on around here! Loving parenthood and needing a good vacation away from work!

My 1st Easter...in pictures!

Good Friday we had a crawfish boil and I didn't have my camera so I don't have any pictures from that.

But here are a few from Easter Sunday!

Dressed for Easter Sunday!

We had breakfast Sunday morning with Maielle's great grandmother! Then headed to church!

 Maielle got a pair of sunglasses from both of her grandparents!

She will have to grow into these...until then she will go for the Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen look with her over sized sunglasses and over sized bows!

Maielle also got a bathing suit and swim cap from my parents...they just got a pool! 

Maielle had to get a chocolate bunny in her Easter basket...this is a stuffed bunny that smells like chocolate! 

We had a great 1st Easter with Maielle and look forward to many more holidays with her!